Volvo XC90 owner faces nearly £400 extra cost from battery safety recall

Volvo XC90 owner Christian Hansen is facing a bill of at least £384 in additional fuel costs to run his 2019 plug-in hybrid SUV for six months because a safety recall means he can’t recharge the car’s battery pack. 

He was told in early July to stop charging the vehicle because it needed some battery modules replaced. His dealer said that the required replacement parts were on backorder from the factory, but that there was no firm repair date, just a suggestion that it may not be available until December. 

His daily commute to work is 40 miles each way, and he was previously able to do half of it on electric power because he was getting a pure electric range of 20 miles from the Volvo, and then charge up for free at work. So the fault has added another £2.95 a day to the cost of his drive to work because his XC90 only averages 28mpg when it’s running on petrol power. Over six months of weekday commuting this adds up to an extra expense of £384. 

Christian’s car is one of many affected by a worldwide safety recall of 73,000 electric and plug-in hybrid models announced by Volvo in March 2025. The models affected are the 2018-2023 Volvo S60, V60, 2016-2023 S90, V90, XC60 and XC90. 

The problem is with the high-voltage batteries inside the transmission tunnel in the middle of the car. Volvo stated that there had been two “thermal events” caused by an internal short circuit in these batteries. Although these didn’t result in any injuries or deaths, there is a potential fire risk, so a recall notice was sent out to owners, telling them not to charge their vehicles until they had been checked by a Volvo dealer.

After being told he could no longer charge his car, Christian asked for a courtesy car while he waited for his car to be fixed, but he says Volvo declined to provide one.  

He commented: “It's been an incredibly frustrating and disappointing experience. My local dealership has been supportive, but Volvo UK's handling of this issue has been appalling. They have effectively turned my fuel-efficient hybrid into an expensive petrol-only car, yet they refuse to acknowledge the significant financial and environmental impact.”

“The worst part is the open-ended nature of the problem, with no timeframe for a fix, leaving me with ongoing costs for a vehicle that isn't fit for purpose. It’s not the experience you would expect from a so-called premium brand."

We asked Volvo about the issue and why it’s not providing courtesy cars for affected customers and received the following response: “As no ‘stop drive’ warning has been issued for this recall, customers may continue to drive their vehicles as normal.

“Because the vehicles remain safe to drive, loan cars are not currently being offered in relation to this recall. If a retailer or dealership has provided one, it may be due to circumstances unrelated to the recall itself. At present, Volvo Car UK does not have a goodwill process in place for this recall.”

Christian has started a case against Volvo in the small claims court citing that the car is not fit for purpose under the 2015 Consumer Rights Act.

Read more: Your legal rights if something goes wrong with your car  

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