2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge | 5000 Mile Review

I review my 2023 XC40 Recharge Twin Ultimate with wool blend interior. I discuss the interior and exterior features then go for a drive to talk about how it drives for daily drives and road trips.

[@Birdsville2014]

Appreciate the video. Many thenks!

[@Balogh-sx4ls]

Cutie

[@diydrivenGA]

How is the clearance beneath and does the battery pack project downward? I know Volvo's are typically safe but protecting the battery pack is huge for EVs.

[@LandLectric]

I think the clearance is about 7 inches. We took it up a pretty gnarly gravel road to Sandy Mush Herb Nursery over some decent size rocks, huge ruts and a couple stream (very small) crossings with no issues. The battery pack does not stick out, it seems well protected but I haven't crawled under there.

[@diydrivenGA]

Dog mode is absolutely needed...

[@LandLectric]

Yea, it would be huge. Keeping it at 72 degrees for 30 minutes is better than nothing though! You can always restart it after 30 minutes too but you can't monitor the cabin temp. I definitely wouldn't leave a dog in there for very long, but it works for running into a store while charging!

[@TheRealSpuff]

Great review -- I have an identical vehicle down to the color/interior and agree with all your thoughts (going on 20k miles here). Do you find the auto high beam setting on yours is very sensitive to reflective markers (like on mailboxes)? On mine, I find they trip it up all the time and cause it to dip back to lowbeams. Sometimes I end up just flipping it to manual control if I have someone driving behind me as I can only imagine what they are thinking as they see the brights constantly cycling in sections of the road. I feel like that problem would be a non-issue with the adaptive lights as I'm assuming it would probably just blank out that section of the road, versus fully cycling off and on... but I'm doubtful we'll ever see it in the US due to the NHTSA requirements being so stringent that none of the existing hardware seems to be capable of meeting them.

[@LandLectric]

Honestly I haven’t had too much opportunity to use them yet because most roads I drive on at night are neighborhoods or well lit. I did use them up in Michigan and they did react to reflective signs or road markers sometimes but not enough to bother me. I’ll have to try them out more. Bummer about the pixel availability.. I’ve seen Bjorn’s video on them and they look amazing, I’d really love to have that capability!

[@TheRealSpuff]

@@LandLectric Yeah same here, the video of them in action was great. I've heard you can technically unlock it with a third party software called "OrBit", but I don't think I want to press my luck with the (il)legality of that on the roads haha. I hope you continue to enjoy the car! Came across this channel as we got the tow hitch recently for bike racks, but have been interested in the experience of actually towing something, so thanks for the recent video on your experience with that.

[@LandLectric]

@@TheRealSpuff yea I don’t think I want to jailbreak the car and worry about that 😂 I’m current in Florida after roadtripping 1300 miles down here, planning on towing a trailer back - plans may change but we’ll see how that goes if it happens!