Volvo aficionado Al Suttie sees if the fully electric XC40 Recharge lives up to expectations.

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Volvo XC40 Recharge Ultimate 69kWh 231

List price (BiK): £54,995 (2%) CO2: 0g/km Economy: 287 miles Test efficiency: 160 miles

Monday

Cards on the table, I’m a confirmed fan of Volvos. In the past, I have owned various 850s, V70s, XC60 and XC70, and a C70. So, the keys being dropped off this morning for an XC40 Recharge was cause for a small jump of excitement from yours truly. Previously, I’ve only tried the XC40 in petrol-hybrid form, so a week with the all-EV Recharge should prove enlightening for me as a Volvo fanatic and business user.

Tuesday

The XC40 Recharge arrived with a fully charged battery, but the dash display was only showing 160 miles of range. Okay, it was a bit chilly outside, but that seemed a long way short of the claimed 287-mile range in ideal conditions. A drive to nearby Callander this after confirmed things were not going to improve as a 16-mile round trip used up 30 miles of range on the display. Oh dear.

Wednesday

Some local trips to make today and the XC40 shows itself to have one of the best ride and comfort set-ups of any EV I’ve driven. Where most have an over-firm feel to the suspension to counter the weight of the battery, the Volvo caresses its way over broken surfaces. It gives the car a much more refined air than the Polestar 2 I tried recently and aids the XC40 in handling neatly on back roads.

Thursday

This particular XC40 Recharge is a single motor model in Ultimate trim. It’s just about the sweet spot for company drivers as you get all of the kit but at a lower cost compared to the twin motor version. The performance of the single-motor XC40 Recharge isn’t in the same league as the dual-motor car, but 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds is plenty for a compact SUV and overtakes slower traffic easily.

Friday

Inside, the XC40 Recharge has plenty of room for the kids in the back and me up front. I like the higher-set driving position in the Volvo than many compact SUVs, which seem to be trying to get as low as possible nowadays to ape the hatches they have replaced in the sales charts – plus ça change… However, the cut-off corner of the rear windows hampers vision when changing lane or reversing.

Saturday

Having depleted the battery to less than 10% charge through a week of short-hop drives, it’s time to charge up the XC40. Thankfully, its front boot is ideal for keeping all of the cables that come with the car, which means the boot isn’t littered with hefty charging flex. Once hooked up to a nearby 50kW charger, the XC40 takes about 90 minutes to regain 95% charge. That’s fairly quick in my experience, but the range is still at 160 miles.

Sunday

All the usual Volvo bits of the XC40 are present and correct for anyone who likes the way this Swede is put together. It also drives very well and is superbly refined. However, the EV bits are not as impressive as I’d hoped simply because the range is not good as several other small SUVs I’ve tried. Would it be better in the summer? Perhaps, but then I live in the UK where warm weather is the exception rather than the norm, so put me down for a hybrid XC40.