Volvo has finally completed its XC 40 lineup, with this 1.5-litre 3 cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine working alongside an electric motor and 10.7kWh of batteries. The only difference between this car and the rest of the XC40 lineup is the charging port at the front. We’re off to a good start.
Impressively, having a battery doesn’t remove any space in the back the which means the plug-in hybrid has the same sized boot as the rest of the lineup.
Under the boot floor there’s still enough room for a spare tyre, around which there’s space to wind the charging cables. Without it you get a bit more space for underfloor storage too so overall you’re going to fit more luggage into the XE 40 plug-in hybrid.
There is a very good amount of rear space, excellent headroom and very very good legroom. It’s comfortable all-round and up front it’s more of the same as the rest of the XC 40 lineup which means that interior quality is a real strength of the car. There’s soft touch textures on the dashboard and in the door bins we get some lovely carpet type material, nothing scratchy about this. The metal trims around the dash and air vents also add to the expensive air about the cabin. It feels solid and high quality no matter what you compare it to.
The XC 40 plug-in hybrid gets a 1.5 litre petrol engine taken from the T3. It also gets an electric motor which has 80 bhp and when you start the car with enough charge in the battery, it will move off using just electric power alone.
The design trim is one of the best in premium family SUVs on the market, the interior is first-rate and the materials are all brilliant. The build quality is robust and just like every other Volvo we’ve tested recently, it’s very impressive inside. The infotainment system is based on a 9″ tablet style touchscreen and the controls for nearly everything are located within.
You have some physical buttons along the bottom of the dash to help with media but everything else, even the climate controls are all accessed through the screen which in itself is crystal clear. It’s responsive but will require a little more time to get used to. There’s quite a lot of sub menus to navigate your way around.
The seats are comfortable, easily adjustable with lumbar support and extendable seat squabs. As for the space up front in the XC 40 there’s plenty of it even with the panoramic sunroof. There’s loads of space for tall drivers, plenty of leg room as well all wrapped in a high quality airy open cabin. At the front of the centre console you’ve got an excellent wireless phone charging port which works very well unlike in BMW’s charging pad where if the phone moves ever so slightly, it stops charging. In the rear you’ve got decent sized storage space in the doors and some storage nets behind the front passenger seats. There’s also a very good amount of underfloor storage and you get heavy-duty hooks that you can attach bags to.
You can put all seats flat in the XC 40 and there are some clever remote buttons which fold the headrests neatly into place. The XC 40 is sure-footed and easy to drive, it isn’t particularly harried with the sportier end of things, with that typical PHEV grunt emanating from the engine bay when pushed, but overall is very good at comfortable cruising.