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CHOICE verdict
The Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin pure electric vehicle is a very comfortable, practical and easy to drive car. It has all the features that most people would expect of a high-end vehicle. As newbies living with an electric car, we found it easy to adapt to – the car's controls and dash are reassuringly familiar and it took us very little time to adapt to the particulars of it being an EV. Figuring out when, where and how to charge the car remains the biggest learning curve for a new EV owner, and there's no doubt that Australia needs a lot more public EV chargers to support the growing number of EVs on the road.
Price: $81,490 plus on-road costs
Contact: volvocars.com
CHOICE has long had a company car to help staff run work-related errands or in-the-field product tests. In 2022 we decided it was time to retire our Holden Cruze and replace it with an electric vehicle (EV). We took delivery of the new EV this year: a Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin pure electric.
Here, we explain why we chose this vehicle and give some first impressions of what it's like to drive and own.
On this page:
Why CHOICE got an electric car
Electric vehicle (EV) ownership is growing rapidly in Australia and it's clear that electric cars will become the norm over the next several years. But they remain a relatively pricey option for now, and many Australians are unfamiliar with the technology and unsure how it will fit their needs. Clearly there's a role for CHOICE to help inform consumers here, so providing advice on EVs is one of our ongoing strategic goals.
But like most Australians, many CHOICE staff aren't EV owners yet and aren't personally familiar with them. So as a step towards helping more of our staff become familiar with EVs, and in turn being better able to write about them, it made sense to invest in an EV at this time.
Electric vehicles remain a relatively pricey option for now, and many Australians are unfamiliar with the technology and unsure how it will fit their needs
The 211kW solar PV system on the CHOICE office roof makes charging the EV dirt cheap and certainly environmentally cleaner than running an internal combustion engine (ICE) model, i.e. a petrol or diesel car.
Since finishing the staff trial of the Volvo, CHOICE has installed two 22kW Type 2 EV chargers in its staff car park to allow easy and fast charging of the Volvo and to provide a charging option for staff-owned EVs as well. More chargers will likely be added in the future as EV ownership becomes more common. This will assist staff members to make the transition to EV ownership, particularly for those who don't have the option to charge at or near their home.
Owning an EV is one step in our commitment to being a carbon neutral organisation.
Why we chose the Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin
We considered several models, such as the Tesla Model 3, Kia EV6 and Hyundai Kona, but settled on the Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin, mainly because:
- it has a decent amount of practical boot space (handy if you have to lug lawnmowers or other gear out to a test)
- it has useful ground clearance (ditto)
- it's easy and familiar to operate – any experienced driver can just use the key fob, get in and drive it away with very little instruction. As this car may be driven by many different staff members, that's an important consideration.
Basics and costs
- Four-door, five seat SUV
- Twin electric motors, 300kW total
- Model year: 2023
- RRP $81,490 (plus on-road costs)
- Typical delivery time from ordering: 3–6 months
- Eligible for subsidy: Tasmania only
- Charging cost per year: $928 (based on driving 14,000km per year, the car's claimed efficiency and electricity price of 30c/kW)
Warranty
- Car: Five years/unlimited km
- Battery: Eight years/160,000km
Battery and charging
- Battery capacity: 78kWh (nominal), 75kWh usable
- Range (WLTP): 400km (WLTP), 390km (real world)
- Efficiency: 188 Wh/km claimed, 221 Wh/km (real world)
- Maximum charging rate: 11kW AC, 149kW DC
- Charging ports: Type 2 (AC), CCS (DC)
- Charging time from 10% to 100%: 8 hours (AC), 31 minutes (DC), based on max charging rates
General
- Towing weight: 750kg (unbraked), 1800kg (braked)
- ANCAP rating: 5 stars
- 0–100km/h acceleration: 4.9s
- Dimensions (H x W x L, m): 1.65 x 1.87 x 4.43
- Kerb weight: 2188kg
- Cargo volume: 419L (seats up), 1295L (seats down)
- Ground clearance: 176mm
Driver first impressions
We gave the Volvo to two staff members to use for a week each. Both are experienced drivers and neither currently owns an EV or has much hands-on experience with them. Here are their thoughts on how the car is to drive, their experiences with charging it, and whether it made them want to own an EV.
One of the main lessons learned is that the first few times using a charging station can be frustrating. Drivers switching for the first time from their petrol or diesel car often won't know the ins and outs of charging an EV, especially navigating the various types of public chargers and networks. We want to see clear instructions on every charger that include the price of charging, and a simple tap-and-go payment system with credit card or smartphone, regardless of who owns or operates the charger itself.
How was the Volvo to drive?
I found the Volvo easy to adapt to and very enjoyable to drive. I started out with the car in standard driving mode – using the accelerator and brake pedals as you do in a regular car – while I got used to it. But within a day or so I changed the setting to One Pedal Drive mode, which is common to most EVs. I preferred this mode.
With One Pedal Drive, the car engages regenerative braking as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator. This slows the car very quickly and generates some recharging power back to the car's battery. It works very well in city driving – the battery runs down more slowly, and you hardly ever need to use the brakes, which extends the life of the brake pads.
As a tall bloke (193cm or 6'4") I had no trouble fitting into the driver seat – even adjusted for me, there was still room for the seat to go back further, and reasonable legroom for the back seat. But I did have to duck my head a bit when getting in and out of the car.
Switching to a new EV feels a bit like upgrading from an old Nokia mobile to a new smartphone – you'd never go back, but the new gadget does come with a few complications
I initially thought the Volvo was disappointingly sluggish on take-off, but soon realised it was just me being cautious with the company's expensive new car. Once I felt confident to work the accelerator a bit harder, I found that the car has loads of immediate power and can get up to speed very quickly, as is typical for EVs. The steering is responsive and the vehicle handling feels solid and assured. I love how quiet the car is, and the lack of exhaust fumes.
The centre console screen is pretty easy to navigate and explore. The car has all the features I'd expect of a quality modern car, such as a good sound system, apps like Android Auto and Spotify, individual climate control for driver and passenger, all-around parking cameras, driving features such as lane assist, and much more. The seats and steering wheel offer plenty of adjustment. It was a very nice change from my 2005 Honda CR-V! (Though the Honda has the advantage when it comes to cargo space.)
One surprise came when the car requested to install a system update, which involved the car shutting down and locking itself up for an hour or so. I'd installed the Volvo app on my phone, which pinged me once the update was finished. Easy enough, and probably common these days in any high end vehicle.
Switching to a new EV feels a bit like upgrading from an old Nokia mobile to a new smartphone – you'd never go back, but the new gadget does come with a few complications.
How easy was it to charge?
Charging the car was both harder and easier than I expected. I have no charging option at home (an apartment with a car space but no power outlet), but even so there was plenty of charge left in the car after a few days of city driving. But I wanted to see what the public charging experience was like.
I took the Volvo to the only public chargers within a few kilometres of home, namely the Marrickville Metro shopping centre. It has four 7kW Type 2 free public chargers, but alas, on a Saturday night these were all busy. (A sign of increasing EV ownership in the area, and probably of how many people don't have at-home charging.)
In any case, it was only then that I realised that I needed to bring my own Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable to use those chargers, and CHOICE didn't have one for the Volvo at that time.
However, the shopping centre also has two 50kW DC chargers, owned by Evie (one of several car charging station companies operating in Australia). One of those became free at just the right moment. DC chargers have built-in charging cables (due to the powerful current they have to deliver). Luckily I'd planned ahead and had the Evie app already installed on my phone, and hooking up the car to the charger was simple enough.
After 16 minutes it had delivered about 11kWh of energy to the car, taking it from about 75% to 90% charge for $5 (45c per kWh). That's about 50–60km of range added. The Evie app messaged me at the start and end of the charging session, which makes it easy to go about your shopping in the meantime.
EV charging is generally straightforward, as long as there's actually a charger or a power point available. Too many areas just don't have enough chargers yet, and by many accounts, it's too common to find a charger isn't working. Australia's public EV charging network needs a lot more development and maintenance to keep pace with growing EV ownership, especially in areas where many people have no at-home charging option.
Did it make you want an EV?
I've been thinking for a while now of making my next car an EV, and this experience just cemented that further. Some of the enjoyment of the Volvo came simply from it being a high-end new car, but a week of driving it certainly helped convince me that an EV is the way to go. Quiet, no exhaust pollution, and the chance to save on petrol costs all sound great to me.
Now I just need to be patient and wait for the right car at the right price. While charging might not be as easy as I'd like, it hopefully won't be as much of a challenge as I'd feared.
How was the Volvo to drive?
I enjoyed driving it. I'm 155cm (5'1") and didn't have any trouble adjusting the seat and steering wheel to suit me. I didn't end up using the One Pedal Drive mode as I prefer the more traditional accelerator-and-brake driving.
The car was easy to handle around town and on a longer drive from Sydney down to Jamberoo. It was fascinating to see the regenerative braking recharge the car on the long downhill sections – we ended up with not much less charge than when we started the trip. Of course, then it was uphill on the return leg, which uses more charge than driving on flat roads.
How easy was it to charge?
Charging turned out to have a few challenges. I didn't charge at home, but there's a new streetside Jolt charger nearby (built into an old Ausgrid power distribution box). On my first attempt I just couldn't get this to work, but later attempts were successful.
Jolt stations currently offer the first 7kWh of charging for free (good for about 45km of travel, they say), so that's all I used each time. It's 46c/kWh at most locations if you want more than that (the app will tell you the specific price at your location). I needed to install an app to access this network, which was a straight-forward process.
At one point, the car was down to 13% battery and it started suggesting it should locate a nearby charger. Range anxiety kicked in! I consulted the Plugshare app (though it's terrible to navigate on a mobile device) and found that the nearby Bunnings at Caringbah has a DC charger in its basement car park.
At this point my mood changed from 'range anxiety' to 'charge rage'
But on arrival, it was already in use by another EV, and another EV was parked in the second bay with the driver nowhere to be seen. I asked Bunnings for help in locating the owner of the charging EV to see how long they expected to be charging for, but it turned out Bunnings doesn't actually own or manage the charging station and couldn't help with any information about it. At this point my mood changed from 'range anxiety' to 'charge rage'.
After a frustratingly long wait, I finally got to plug in. Starting the charging wasn't as simple as expected (no instructions on the charger itself!). It made me feel a bit silly, but I managed to get the car charging and got it from 10% to 41% charge – more than enough to get back home and to work the next day.
Then came the next hurdle: how to pay for the charging session. Luckily another EV had pulled up, and the driver let me know that this was a free charger on a trial. A sign to that effect would have been nice!
I'd love to see some better instructions on EV chargers, not to mention better governance and etiquette around using them. There seems to be an assumption that everyone knows the details of how to find them and how they all work, which may be true for the early adopters and EV fans, but not so much for us newbies. It really felt like a secret club, and my membership hadn't been approved yet.
Did it make you want an EV?
I did enjoy driving the shiny new car, but came away feeling that I'm not quite ready for an EV yet. I'd wait until vehicle costs come down further, the charging infrastructure improves, and information is available to make charging easier. As an apartment owner, getting access to renewable energy residential charging is also a long way off. At this stage, there aren't enough chargers readily available around Sydney and we need more information about it to help newbies like me.
Charging the Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin
Image one: Charging the Volvo at an Evie 50kW DC charging station.
Image two: The Evie charger screen from inside the car. Charging has started and it shows that the car's battery is currently 75% full, and at this exact moment the charger is delivering 34.9kW of charge (it's ramping up to its full delivery rate of 50kW).
Image three: The Evie charger screen at the end of the charging session. It shows the car's battery is now 90% full, and the session delivered 11.19kWh of energy in 16 minutes.
Image four: Charging the Volvo at a roadside Jolt 25kW DC charger.
Image five: Three phone screenshots showing the Jolt phone app screen before starting a charging session, the screen when the charging session has just started, and the session summary after charging has finished.
Verdict
The Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin is a very pleasant drive. It's quiet, handles well, and feels comfortable and practical for commuting and highway driving. It certainly feels like a good choice for CHOICE.
Our two staff members enjoyed their experience with the Volvo, but both were dependent on public chargers for the period they were using it. Being able to charge at home or at work is still a big advantage for an EV driver. Relying on public chargers presented a few challenges and highlighted that in many areas there just aren't enough charging stations yet.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
