I’ve never been inside a Swedish doctor’s surgery, but I imagine it can’t be too far off from sitting inside the cabin of Volvo’s all-electric C40.
The decidedly Scandinavian seats are upholstered in a fine, grey wool-blend material. The full glass roof allows light to stream in, giving the impression of space. The scant dashboard is dominated by an upright 9-inch touch-screen powered by Google, with only the essential buttons available to fiddle with.
And it’s quiet... deathly quiet. Maybe a little too quiet. Which is why Volvo opted to pipe an electronic whooshing sound through the superb Harman Kardon surround sound system as you accelerate as if through a vacuum.
The twin electric motors kick out 300kW and 660Nm, G-forces ploughing you into the seat as you propel to 100km/h in just 4.7 seconds.
But this comes at a cost.
With a claimed range of 444km on a full charge (based on the WLTP and EPA driving cycles), let’s call it “spirited driving” will see you having to recharge a little more regularly. After putting the C40 through its paces, the very smart computers on board told me I only had 330km of range after I unplugged at 100% from a fast charger.
@lancethewit10 Heres my latest #review. The @Volvo Cars #C40 #Recharge Twin is hella fast, but a little frustrating to live with. These are things you need to know about this R1.3m full #electric #car #carreview #electriccar ♬ original sound - Lance Witten450
And this brings me to the practicality, or lack thereof. Notwithstanding the immense benefits of driving an electric car, there are only two viable fast chargers in Cape Town, with many medium chargers capable of a full charge over around 8-12 hours. By comparison, the fast chargers give you a 100% charge in under 2 hours. Charging at home from a normal socket takes between 24 and 30 hours, depending on how depleted the batteries are.
I plugged in at home on 36% at around 4pm on a Friday, and the car told me it’d be fully juiced up by Saturday at 6pm.
Driving impressions
Driving this sleek coupe-style SUV also comes with some disadvantages - the long sloping rear window offers precious little in the way of visibility, with only about 30% of the view in the rearview mirror showing me what’s behind the rear window.
The safety and anti-collision features can also get annoying. The emergency brake jerked me to a halt every time I reversed into my driveway, and disrupted my forward progress every time another motorist decided to capture the tiny gap between myself and the car ahead. It’s rather sensitive, to be honest.
Getting into my extremely tight bay in the office basement was accompanied by loud pleas from the parking distance controls at every extremity of the C40 to not proceed any further.
The electronic whoosh over the audio system can’t be switched off, and I would’ve liked to have experienced the silence of electric driving without it.
On the plus side, the regenerative braking allows for seamless one-pedal driving, the lane-keep semi-autonomous pilot assist makes staying between the lines effortless, and the immediate torque and power makes overtaking an absolute breeze, if not somewhat scary.
Looks
And it looks really good. A number of manufacturers have attempted, unsuccessfully, to design coupe SUVs - Mercedes has its GLE and GLC coupes, BMW has the X6 and X4, and all of them are ugly.
Volvo’s C40, Haval’s H6 GT, Porsche’s Cayenne Coupe, and to a lesser extent Audi’s Q3 Sportback manage to strike the right balance.
I had plenty of onlookers watching me plug into Willowbridge Mall’s fast charger, and got plenty of nods of approval as I silently zipped past a breakfast run of BMW M4s, M3s and M2s one Sunday morning on the N1. The driver of the Maranello red Ferrari 458 was understandably unimpressed.
Verdict
The Volvo C40 is Volvo’s first step towards an all-electric future, and it’s one I can’t wait to be a part of, but it’s pricey.
The model I had retails for over R1.3m, but considering what you get at that price, it’s worth it.
Standard equipment includes the panoramic sunroof, 13-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, fully integrated Google operating system, a raft of passive and active safety features you’ve come to expect from Volvo, a home wall-charger and seven-metre auxiliary charging cable, over-the-air vehicle system updates, a five-year maintenance plan and warranty (with the battery pack covered for eight years or 160 000km), wireless phone charger, heated front and rear seats, and a superb 360 degree camera system, to name just a few.
Its good looks can be polarising, but its performance is undeniable.
IOL