• Single or Twin Motor options
• Single Motor now rear-wheel drive
• Up to 348 miles of range

Volvo XC40 Recharge electric motors

Unusually, the Volvo XC40 Recharge’s mid-life facelift focused solely on the powertrains. Before the 2023 update, Single Motor cars used a front-mounted electric motor giving front-wheel drive.

Now, Single Motor cars have a rear-mounted motor – and it’s one of Volvo’s own design. It produces 238hp and a beefy 420Nm of torque. This gives it a 0-62mph time of 7.3 seconds. Truthfully, if you drove the front-wheel drive car back-to-back with the new rear-drive model you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference – the only notable change is that the front tyres no longer scrabble for grip under hard acceleration.

Twin Motor cars are just as powerful as before, with a total of 408hp – but instead of twin 204hp motors they now use a 150hp motor at the front and a 258hp motor at the rear. The front motor can be disconnected for more efficient cruising. Performance is rapid, with 670Nm of torque, and 0-62mph takes just 4.8 seconds. That’s as fast as a Tesla Model Y Long Range – seriously quick, in other words.

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In terms of driving modes, don’t expect an endlessly tunable experience. In fact, there are only two controls for the driver to tweak. One-pedal mode ramps up the regenerative braking to the point where it will bring the car to a complete stop. The other gives the steering a little extra heft – that’s as close to a ‘Sport’ mode as the XC40 gets.

What’s it like to drive?

Pleasant, but it won’t set your trousers on fire. The range-topping 408hp Recharge Twin model is the most powerful and fastest-accelerating XC40 on sale, but it’s also the heaviest – and that makes it quite reluctant to corner with haste.

Push the car hard into a bend and Volvo’s torrent of safety features will come down on you like an anvil. The laws of physics aren’t on your side, either – the XC40 Recharge’s 2,188kg kerbweight is quite high for compact family SUV which makes the car feel a little ungainly. At least the mass is concentrated down low, which minimises the harm by dropping the car’s centre of gravity.

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The Single Motor model is slightly nimbler as its battery is smaller and it doesn’t have the added weight of an extra electric motor over the front axle. Plant your foot down and you’ll feel the torque soon enough, but the first few inches of pedal travel are quite unresponsive. Disastrous by no means, but you may find yourself wanting a bit more instant EV poke when swapping lanes or pulling away from the lights. It still isn’t comfortable belting down a B-road at speed, either.

But despite this, it’s quite refreshing to have a car that’s unashamedly geared towards comfort in a class of supposedly “sporty” rivals.

The suspension is supple and the chassis doesn’t crash over bumps, even with the car’s rather large standard 19-inch alloy wheels. Potholes are more noticeable around town, but the jolts they produce aren’t enough to knock the ride quality crown off the XC40 Recharge’s head.