Chuck Moves to Volvo XC40 Recharge–Becomes EV Evangelist

By Paul Gipe

Chuck (Charles) Longabach took an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a new car. He’d always wanted a new Volvo. He’d owned used ones before and liked them. They had a well-earned reputation for safety and durability. But after the recent spate of climate disasters, he stepped back to reconsider his purchase. He decided to do his part and move to a Volvo EV instead of Volvo’s petroleum-fueled products.

That started a domino effect. Chuck rents, so he asked his landlord to install an EV charge station or EVSE in the trade. His landlord complied, installing a ClipperCreek EVSE in their shared two-car garage.

Hmmm. Now that the landlord has an EVSE in his garage, there’s no reason the landlord shouldn’t just go the rest of the way and get an EV too. So Chuck began working on the landlord who was also in a rare once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a new car as well. Soon Chuck’s Volvo will have to share the garage with a Chevy Bolt EUV.

And that’s how the EV revolution spreads; from one convert to the next. Not that they will be the first on their urban block in Pennsylvania’s capital city of Harrisburg. There’s a Chevy Bolt in their uptown neighborhood, and Ford Mach-e across the street.

Not that Pennsylvania has been a hot bed of EV activism. It’s no California. The state has been a laggard in moving toward EVs. It’s a place where individual action like that of Chuck and his landlord can still make a difference. Fortunately, the tide is finally beginning to turn in Pennsylvania with a flood of federal money for new charging stations from the federal government.

Chuck’s now all in on EVs and on a recent visit to Harrisburg wanted me to take his XC40 Recharge for a spin. Reluctantly, I agreed. The XC40 Recharge is a lot more car than I am used to driving—and it was brand spanking new to boot. Nor have I driven the densely-packed streets of an eastern city in decades. Nevertheless, I buckled up, took a deep breath, and with Chuck at my side, took off.

Like all EVs, the XC40 Recharge has instant torque, enabling you to quickly merge into urban traffic. Being a Volvo, it was also solid and quiet. The only sound was that of other vehicles or the wheels on the pavement as we got up to highway speeds crossing the broad Susquehanna River. Steering was responsive and it was easy to navigate the roundabouts and ramps. With a more conventional instrument cluster, it was much easier to use at first touch than the Spartan Tesla Model 3.

Volvo XC40 Recharge

For those of us not accustomed to Volvo’s naming nomenclature, one may wonder what’s the difference between Volvo’s C40 Recharge and the XC40 Recharge. Not much is the answer. They are basically the same vehicles except for the roofline. The XC40 is more SUV like with a higher roofline than the sweeping roofline of the C40. The “Recharge” moniker simply refers to the EV version of the vehicles, which are also sold as gassers.

Volvo plans to retire their fossil-fueled lineup by 2030 and go all in on EVs a la Tesla. They are making all the right moves, even as their legacy competitors publicly lament the difficulty of moving to electric.

The company was sold by Ford in 2010 to Chinese auto company Geely at the height of the financial crisis. Despite Chinese majority stake in the company, Volvo continues to assemble cars in Europe and the US.

Volvo is currently expanding its Ridgeville, South Carolina plant to build its top-of-the-line EX 90 EV in the US. Volvo fans hope the company brings more manufacturing to the US to take advantage of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act subsidies, including the $7,500 EV tax credit for consumers.

Northvolt’s recent announcement that it’s building a $5 billion battery plant in Quebec, Canada—the company’s first in North America–bodes well for its partnership with Volvo and possible Volvo’s EV expansion plans in the US market.

The Volvo XC40 Recharge is what Volvo calls a compact SUV or crossover. The twin motor, all wheel drive version has 226 miles of range with an EPA 85 mpg combined mileage. The car has distinctive Daytime Running Lights that Volvo characterize as “Thor’s hammer” LEDs. This striking detail differentiates the Volvo from among all the other LED light treatments out there. (LEDs have become the new chrome on automobiles.)

Like other cars of its vintage, the big 75 kWh battery pack for the twin motor version uses a 400 V architecture capable of drawing 200 kW from DCFC stations that can deliver it. The car has a 11 kW onboard AC-DC converter for Level 2 charging.

Chuck isn’t the first of my friends and colleagues to jump into the driver’s seat of an XC40 Recharge. Steve Smiley, a long-time renewables activist from Michigan has been driving his for two years now and loves it and the EV experience in general. And like Chuck, Steve’s not shy about sharing his views on driving an EV.

The motor and drive train of the CX40 were made in China as would be expected. But, surprisingly, 35% of the car was built in Poland according to the Monroney window sticker and tcar was assembled at Volvo’s plant in Ghent, Belgium. The plant, Volvo’s largest, is capable of 135,000 units per year. Volvo plans to also assemble its new compact SUV, the EX30, in Ghent as well.

The EX30 has generated rave reviews by auto industry bloggers and EV advocates. Volvo could make a play for the small EV market in the US now that the Big Three legacy manufacturers have effectively abandoned the space.

The CX40 Recharge is not a small vehicle. It’s a foot longer than Chevy’s Bolt and some five inches wider, but about the same height. It weighs 500 pounds less than Tesla’s top-of-the-line Model X but is a good 1,000 pounds heavier than either a Chevy Bolt or Tesla’s Model 3. Still, the CX40 Recharge weighs much less than the monster SUVs prowling the roads of North America. It weighs nearly 1,000 pounds less than GM’s massive gasoline fueled Tahoe and Escalade.

Both Chuck and Steve are happy with their choice of new car and now want others to share the EV experience.

Volvo CX40 Recharge Stats

  • Height: 62.8 in
  • Width: 75.2 in
  • Length: 174.8 in
  • Wheelbase: 106.4 in
  • Weight: 4,679 to 4,780 lbs

EV Database: Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin Motor

EPA Fuel Economy: Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin Motor: 85 mpg 223 miles EPA range

Transport Evolved Review: Volvo XC40 Recharge Electric Car: Here’s What You Need To Know