Volvo XC40 Recharge Single Motor review: Is the E-SUV with front-wheel drive enough for towing a trailer?
A TEST REPORT from Dominic Lux 
on April 16, 2023, 8:00 am | Write a comment
With the Volvo XC40 Recharge, Volvo is bringing its popular SUV into the new electric age. Can he convince in the single engine variant? We tested it for you.
The XC40 SUV from Volvo is very popular. We already had him in the last year Twin engine variant extensively tested. Therefore, in this test of the single motor variant, I will only go into the main differences. Volvo currently only offers two fully electric models: the XC40 SUV and the SUV coupe called C40. We have already tested both Volvos in the twin engine variant.
In this article, we only go into the biggest differences between the single and dual motor variants. You can find the detailed test of other properties of the Volvo XC40 in this article:
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tl;dr: Enough comfort and power for everyday use.
Since the XC40 Recharge is largely built very high, it drives typically SUV-like on the road. Furthermore, there is no head-up display to choose from in the configurator. On level roads, the tires spin at the slightest moment of acceleration. Mind you, more often on wet roads than on dry roads. So if you have a gentle gas foot, you shouldn't Prohave problems in everyday life.
Otherwise you should probably go for the twin engine variant. Nevertheless, trailers up to 1,5 tons can easily be towed with the front-wheel drive XC40 Recharge in everyday life.
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
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- Picture: TechnikNews
Driving characteristics: SUV through and through
Anyone who thinks an SUV is easy to maneuver through corners has made the calculation without the XC40 single motor. Because it is really only intended for normal journeys. The "sporty steering feel" setting doesn't help either. Of course, this is also due to the overall height and possibly because it does not have all-wheel drive.
Nevertheless, we were able to cover longer distances quite comfortably and without difficulties. It is easy to drive even with a trailer. More on that later. In the Volvo XC40 Recharge Single Motor, an electric motor with an output of 170 kW / 231 hp works on the front axle. This is definitely not too little. He's also very good at going forward. You don't need more power in everyday life anyway, to be honest. The maximum torque is 330 Nm, which is also more than enough for an SUV of the size. The battery in the single motor model is 69 kWh. Only 67 kWh of this can be used, which is perfectly normal. Because these 67 kWh are enough for everyday journeys for approx. 340 to 370 km at winter temperatures of around 10 degrees.
Fast charging with the XC40 Recharge Single is also only possible with a maximum of 150 kW. But, worth noting, we never saw them. Most of the time the peak was 130kW. Recharging then takes from 10 to 80 Pro30 to 35 min. After all, it held the peak for a relatively long time. There still doesn't seem to be an optimized battery preconditioning based on the current navigation route.
Trailer operation: Can mid-range e-cars now tow trailers?
The answer to this question: Yes, you can. The front-wheel drive Volvo XC40 Recharge could do this very well. Mind you, it can tow a trailer load of up to 1,5 tons when braked. And with temperatures below 10 degrees, we had a consumption of about 25 kWh per 100 km in city traffic. This is really good value for an electric car of this size with a trailer. So you can move it very efficiently. There is also a trailer view in the camera.
Picture: TechnikNews
Plug connection for the power supply and more worked perfectly in our trailer test. The car also recognized that it was towing a trailer and informed us that various assistance systems were not available during this. Such as the distance sensors and the blind spot warning in the mirror. Furthermore, the XC40 Recharge does not have any during the entire trailer operation Prohad problems and also pulled the completely full trailer without any trouble. We were very surprised that the consumption here was so low in comparison.
Beautiful electro Swede in everyday life
The Volvo XC40 Recharge once again proved the strengths of electric cars from Sweden in everyday use. When towing a trailer he had absolutely none Probleme, even on the highway with a trailer and constant 100 km/h the consumption was not really higher than in city driving. However, hopefully Volvo can change a few things here with the facelift. Among other things ProProblem with the spinning tires, this only happened to us with the front-wheel drive from Sweden.
In the facelift, the XC40 Recharge will soon have a better charging performance and charging curve and even a rear-wheel drive instead of a drive at the front. The battery will probably grow too. Let's see how this one does then. Of course, we will keep you up to date with the Volvo electric cars. Because there will definitely be some interesting new models on the local market.
