Volvo XC40

The XC40's fundamental design has remained largely unchanged over the past seven years, and that consistency is a positive aspect given the model's global popularity, including in Australia.

Typical of the Swedish brand—though this model is built in China—the cabin boasts a spacious and airy feel, a signature of Volvo’s wagons and SUVs. The interior design is upright and roomy, with excellent ergonomics. Overall, there’s a sense of quality in the fit and finish, although a closer inspection reveals where cost-cutting measures have been applied.

The chunky Volvo steering wheel feels great in hand, featuring a smooth leather rim and straightforward multifunction controls that operate with a satisfying, solid action. This sense of robustness extends to the row of buttons beneath the touchscreen and the window switches in the doors, exemplifying the solid build quality that Volvo is known for.

The front seats offer exceptional comfort, akin to sitting on a couch. Although they are trimmed in textile in this base model, the seats are wonderfully supportive and provide extensive electric adjustment, including memory settings. One of the standout features is the extendable base cushions, adding to the overall comfort.

In front of the driver is a digital instrument cluster that, as noted in previous reviews, looks sleek but is somewhat limited in functionality and customization. There’s essentially one layout with the option to display Google Maps in the center. It covers the essentials, but doesn’t offer much beyond that.

The 9.0-inch portrait-oriented center touchscreen is more impressive, despite its relatively modest size. Powered by Google built-in, it’s faster, more connected, and offers enhanced functionality compared to the older Sensus system. The Google integration includes Google Assistant, Google Maps, and various other internet-based services right out of the box, making it so efficient that it nearly eliminates the need for Apple CarPlay.

Apple CarPlay can still be accessed via USB-C, and it performed flawlessly in our tests. However, it’s puzzling that Android Auto isn’t available. On the plus side, you get access to remote functions through the Volvo app for four years.

One notable change is the lack of physical climate controls, with permanent virtual shortcuts located at the base of the touchscreen. It may take some getting used to, but it’s still better than some other virtual button setups. A minor frustration is that the heated seat and steering wheel controls are embedded within the touchscreen, particularly inconvenient for the steering wheel control, which logically should be on the steering wheel itself.

Fortunately, Volvo has retained physical buttons for demister functions below the touchscreen, along with a volume knob that also acts as a play/pause button, flanked by skip buttons on either side.

The XC40’s enduring appeal is partly due to the practicality of the rear cabin. The Pure Electric version maintains these strengths from its internal combustion engine (ICE) counterpart. The tall, boxy design provides more space for taller passengers than many competitors. At 6’1", we can sit comfortably behind my driving position with room to spare. Kids will find the rear seat area spacious and less prone to travel sickness due to the generous window area.

Rear passengers benefit from directional air vents, sizable door bins, map pockets, and a fold-down center armrest with cupholders. Despite the carryover of the rear driveline hump from the petrol AWD versions, the rear cabin remains well-suited for the class.

For families with young children, the XC40 offers ISOFIX anchor points on the outboard rear seats and top tether points across all three rear seat backs. The wide and flat rear bench provides flexibility for transporting multiple passengers.

While the XC40 excels in practicality, its 410-litre cargo capacity isn’t class-leading. However, the tall, square design makes it a very usable space, and folding the rear seats flat expands the capacity to a quoted 1295 litres. Additionally, there’s a variable floor that allows for creating smaller compartments to prevent items from shifting, plus some handy underfloor storage.

Cosmetic tweaks to the XC40 include a restyled front bumper, new wheel designs, and new headlights with revised LED daytime running light signatures, albeit without a cornering function.

The Plus B4 loses the old T4 Momentum’s front fog lights, but gains a power tailgate, power passenger seat and power-folding second-row headrests.

Petrol-powered 2024 Volvo XC40 models all use a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with a 48V mild-hybrid system, mated with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The front-wheel drive B4 produces 145kW of power at 5400rpm and 300Nm of torque at 4200rpm, while the all-wheel drive B5 produces 183kW and 350Nm.

The Recharge Pure Electric features a single front-mounted electric motor and front-wheel drive, with 170kW of power and 330Nm of torque.

The dual-motor all-wheel drive Recharge Twin Pure Electric produces 300kW and 660Nm.

The claimed 0-100km/h times are as follows:

• B4: 8.5 seconds
• B5: 6.4 seconds
• Recharge: 7.4 seconds
• Recharge Twin: 4.9 seconds

As for the electric vehicle:

Some are drawn to the speed and responsiveness of dual-motor electric vehicles, however we believe that most single-motor models offer a more balanced power delivery and tend to be more efficient.

In the case of the XC40 Recharge (soon to be known as the EX40), the rear axle's 175kW and 420Nm provide ample power to move this hefty 2040kg electric SUV at a respectable pace. Volvo claims a 0-100km/h time of 7.3 seconds, which, not too long ago, was comparable to the performance of hot hatches.

The XC40 may not always feel that fast in its standard mode, as Volvo (and Polestar) have tuned the throttle to be a bit soft, gradually building power for a smooth and linear acceleration experience. If you floor it, the SUV responds swiftly, but otherwise, it glides along comfortably, which suits the XC40's family-friendly and comfort-oriented design.

Comfort is further enhanced by the smaller 19-inch alloy wheels and 235/50 tyres, which make the single-motor XC40 Recharge ride more smoothly compared to the Twin model with larger 20-inch wheels. Although the XC40 lacks adaptive damping, it strikes a good balance between comfort and body control, leaning slightly towards firmness to handle the added weight of the battery pack in the floor.

It occasionally feels a bit harsh over sharper bumps, but overall, it manages city road imperfections quite well. Adding active damping in the future would be a welcome improvement, offering greater adjustability, similar to the air suspension found on larger Volvo models.

The steering has a somewhat heavy weighting, providing a reassuring level of feedback and accuracy that makes the XC40 a pleasant urban companion. It's easy to navigate through traffic and busy city streets, and parking is straightforward thanks to its good visibility and compact, upright design. The reversing camera on the Plus trim is average, and it's disappointing that the superior surround-view camera system from the Ultimate Twin model isn’t available as an option.

The XC40 also features a single-pedal driving mode, one of the more effective systems outside of a Tesla, but you can still drive it like a conventional XC40 if preferred. It’s well-insulated from external noise, though there is a touch of tyre roar at higher speeds on rougher roads—common in the compact premium segment.

Volvo’s driver assistance technologies are among the better options available. The Pilot Assist function, which combines adaptive cruise control and lane centring, can be activated via the steering wheel controls. It provides semi-autonomous driving on highways and in traffic jams, and is one of the more accurate and intuitive systems on the market. This can significantly reduce the strain of long drives or during stop-and-go traffic at the end of a freeway.

Standard blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert further enhance the already good visibility, compensating for the large rear pillars that can obstruct over-the-shoulder views. The XC40 can even apply the brakes to prevent a collision when reversing out of tight spots if crossing traffic is detected.

While the reversing camera isn't the best, especially given Volvo's generally excellent features, the XC40 is equipped with front and rear parking sensors. The front sensors, in particular, assist with the XC40's tall and flat front end, making it easier to maneuver in tight spaces.

With an upright dashboard and minimalist, crisp lines, you won’t be mistaking the XC40 for anything but a Volvo at first glance. Dominating the dash is a vertically-oriented 9.0-inch touchscreen, which sits in the same housing as the display in the petrol model but runs newer software.

Like the related Polestar 2, the XC40 Recharge has Android Automotive infotainment. The bones of the software were developed by Google, which means you get Hey Google voice control and Google Maps standard, but the final system is set up by Volvo to look familiar to anyone who’s used the Sensus system in the current XC40.

It’s snappy to use, and the ability to download apps like Spotify from the Google Play store opens the door for a level of customisation not currently possible in most infotainment systems. Having the same people who do the software for mobile phones design your Bluetooth interface, for example, means this is one of the easiest cars in which to find a contact and make a call on the move.

When it’s connected to a network, Hey Google is more useful than Hey BMW or Hey Mercedes ever could be… but when it’s not connected to a network, the voice assistant is far less useful. Apple CarPlay mirroring is also available.

The driver is faced with a clean, simple digital instrument binnacle with inbuilt Google Maps. It’s excellent, although you’re light on for configuration options compared to what’s on offer in some rival luxury marques.

Luggage space is 460L, expanding to 1336L with the second row folded. The boot floor is flat, but it can be folded in half hang shopping bags, or raised up to reveal a deep cavity beneath it perfect for storing charge cables – or for hiding bags and laptops.

There’s a small storage space beneath the bonnet, but it’s not what you’d call capacious. It’s best reserved for the charge cables, but not much more.