However, since the XC40’s introduction in 2017, Volvo has dropped diesel entirely from the line-up, which now consists of petrol and petrol-electric plug-in hybrid options with either front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive and with outputs ranging from 129bhp for the entry-level XC40 T2 to an electrically assisted 259bhp for the T5 PHEV.Īs of 2021, there’s also even an all-electric version – the XC40 Recharge Twin – whose 402bhp twin-motor layout is shared with the Polestar 2. Our test car is one of the early and very well equipped First Edition models, which were powered by a 188bhp diesel and used all-wheel drive. This is a younger market – both of itself, and in regards to the people who buy cars in it – so Volvo allowed its designers to cut a little more loosely when it came to sculpting this 4.4m-long vehicle. Volvo XC40 Recharge T5 2021 long-term test.Volvo XC40 P8 Recharge 2021 UK first drive. Volvo XC40 Recharge 2022 UK first drive.Volvo XC40 Recharge 2023 long-term test.Those two larger off-roaders are based on the same modular platform, which also underpins the Volvo S90 and Volvo V90, and continue the same theme – although with vastly more confidence – as the XC60 and XC90 always have. The assertive elegance of their exterior designs and their superficially unremarkable but deeply cosseting and spacious cabins are hallmark traits of modern Volvo, and these bigger-hitting SUV derivatives know how to maximise their appeal along these lines. Having long offered a Volvo XC90 and Volvo XC60 but benefiting from a vast and rapid range renewal under Chinese owner Geely, Volvo has an SUV range that now accounts for more than half of all the cars it sells: the benchmark at which it accepts it is primarily a maker of 4x4s. Which is handy, given that 4x4s, crossovers or anything with a hint of rufty-tufty will likely find itself as one of the faster-growing and more profitable market segments there is. Whether by good fortune, design, or most likely a combination of the two, with Volvo and SUVs it’s very much a case of ‘right place, right time’, and the brand certainly isn’t letting this moment pass it by.
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