2023 Volvo EX40

In the US, 2023 was a Twin-only year for the XC40 Recharge: two 150 kW motors, one per axle, making 402 hp combined. That is a lot of output for a subcompact luxury SUV and lands it well into the upper half of the SUV band. The rear-drive single motor arrived in the US with MY2024.

486 lb-ft from two motors puts the 2023 Recharge Twin near the top of the SUV torque band. It out-pulls the gas XC40 B5 by close to 230 lb-ft, and the full figure is there from a standstill.

Volvo's own 4.7-second claim is conservative. Independent testers routinely beat it, with runs in the low fours. Either figure makes this one of the quickest subcompact luxury SUVs on sale in 2023. The value recorded is the manufacturer figure.

The dual-motor drivetrain delivers power immediately and silently, with no gear changes, turbo lag or engine handoff. Reviewers call it a 'sleeper' for how effortlessly it gathers speed. It stops short of the top band because the one-pedal mode is abrupt at parking speeds, and in 2023 that mode was on/off only.

A single-speed reduction gear on each axle gives it nothing to hunt for and no shift to slur. That avoids the low-speed take-up clunk owners criticize in the gas XC40. It falls just short of the top because the driver gets no engagement beyond a one-pedal toggle.

The US rating is a modest 2,000 lbs, well below the gas XC40's 3,500 lbs and near the bottom of the SUV band. That is fine for a small utility trailer and little else.

For MY2023, every US XC40 Recharge has dual-motor electric AWD as standard. The front axle has its own motor, so torque reaches the wheels faster than any mechanical system. It still lacks low range, locking differentials and selectable terrain modes, which keeps it out of the top band.

Standard AWD helps on gravel and snow, but this is a pavement crossover. Ground clearance is roughly 6.9 in (the gas XC40 has 8.3 in), the battery pack sits under the floor, and there are no skid plates, lockers, off-road mode or off-road trim.

In the US for 2023, the XC40 Recharge came with exactly one powertrain: the 402 hp Twin AWD, sold in Core, Plus and Ultimate trims. There was no single-motor or longer-range variant that year, and buyers who wanted gas power had to go to the separate XC40 B4/B5.

85 MPGe is weak for an EV SUV. Two 150 kW motors, a blunt body designed for a gas crossover and an older permanent-magnet drivetrain cost it about 20 MPGe against the later single-motor RWD car.

Regenerative braking makes city driving the Twin's best case. Even so, 92 MPGe is near the bottom of the EV SUV field.

79 MPGe on the highway shows the aerodynamic penalty of the boxy XC40 body. It is the main reason real road-trip range drops well below the EPA combined figure.

223 miles is short for a 2023 luxury EV and is the item that pulls this category down hardest. It works for commuting, but highway trips need charging stops sooner than most rivals do.

A 150 kW peak on a 400V pack was average-to-modest by 2023. It trails 800V rivals by a wide margin, and also trails the later 82 kWh Volvo pack, which accepts 200 kW.

About half an hour from 10% to 80% is mid-pack. A small usable pack partly offsets the modest peak rate, but each session adds only about 155 miles of EPA range.

$900 a year is still far below the gas XC40, but high for an EV. The drivetrain's 39.4 kWh/100 mi consumption raises the electricity bill above more efficient rivals.

There is no fuel grade to worry about, and home charging is simple: the 11 kW onboard charger refills the pack overnight in about 8 hours at 240V. It scores below the 2026 EX40 because the 2023 car has a CCS1-only port with no included NACS adapter, so in 2023 it had no Supercharger access.

NHTSA lists the 2023 XC40 Recharge Twin (the EX40's pre-2024 name) as its own vehicle entry and has not crash-tested it — every sub-rating reads 'Not Rated'. The combustion XC40 B4/B5 carry 5 stars, but those are different vehicles, and the framework scores an untested vehicle as 0 rather than borrowing a sibling's rating.

Every test IIHS ran on the 2023 XC40 Recharge came back Good: driver- and passenger-side small overlap, the original moderate overlap, roof strength, and head restraints. It earned no 2023 award, though. The 2023 criteria require the updated side test, which IIHS never ran on the EV, and the combustion XC40 sibling managed only Acceptable on that test, with a Marginal structure rating. The 2022 model held a TOP SAFETY PICK+ under the older criteria.

Every 2023 Recharge Twin trim (Core/Plus/Ultimate) gets a comprehensive standard safety suite. It includes City Safety AEB (vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist and large-animal detection), Lane Keeping Aid, run-off-road mitigation, oncoming-lane mitigation, BLIS, cross-traffic alert with autobrake, and Pilot Assist adaptive cruise. Nothing on the core safety checklist is held back for a higher trim.

City Safety earned IIHS's top vehicle-to-vehicle rating and the second-tier pedestrian rating in daytime testing, avoiding collisions at both 12 and 25 mph. It falls short of the top band because the pedestrian result was Advanced rather than Superior (child-crossing impacts were reduced, not avoided), and IIHS never tested nighttime pedestrian detection on this car.

Blind-spot and cross-traffic protection are both standard, and both act rather than just warn: BLIS includes steer assist, and Cross Traffic Alert can brake automatically. That puts it at the top of the class. There is no trailer-aware blind-spot coverage, but that matters little in a subcompact EV.

Lane departure warning and Lane Keeping Aid are standard, and Pilot Assist adds lane centering. Reviewers find Volvo's centering conservative: it gives up on faded lane markings and wanders through tighter curves. It works, but it trails the best systems in the class.

Pilot Assist is standard and covers the full speed range, including stop-and-go, so adaptive cruise and steering assist work as one system. Smooth regenerative braking also helps it at low speed. It gives up points for late, sometimes abrupt braking when cars cut in, and for a cautious following model.

No hands-free highway driving is offered at any trim. Pilot Assist is a hands-on system that checks steering-wheel torque to confirm the driver is holding the wheel. The score sits just above zero because the hands-on assist that does exist is competent.

The 2022 car's LED headlights (curve-adaptive with high-beam assist) were rated Good by IIHS. The 2023 facelift fitted new headlamps, including pixel LEDs on upper trims, and IIHS published no headlight rating for the 2023 EV. The facelifted units are probably no worse, but that is unconfirmed, so the score sits just below the top band.

The boxy body gives good forward and side sightlines for a subcompact SUV: a tall glasshouse, a high seating position, and a squared-off hood. A rising beltline and thick rear pillars limit the rear three-quarter view, and the 360-degree camera that makes up for it comes on upper trims, not as standard.

IIHS rates LATCH ease of use Acceptable, noting the anchors are hard to work around in some positions. Only the two outboard seats have full LATCH hardware, and the center seat has a tether anchor only. Square door openings help with getting seats in and out, but rear-facing seats crowd the front passenger in a car this size.

Two-row, five-seat configuration only; the SUV band runs to 8, so a five-seater sits low.

The Plus volume trim carries a standard panoramic moonroof, which trims front headroom versus the gas XC40 figure.

Front legroom is shared with the XC40 body and sits near the bottom of the SUV band.

Upright roofline gives competitive second-row headroom for a subcompact.

Mid-band rear legroom, though the battery-raised floor leaves adults knees-up on longer trips.

No third row is offered; this is a two-row, five-seat subcompact.

Cargo behind the rear seat is small even for a subcompact and below the SUV band floor; a small frunk holds the charging cable.

Maximum cargo volume sits just above the floor of the SUV band.

Large door bins enabled by the dash-mounted woofer, a removable console bin, fold-up cargo-floor divider with bag hooks and a frunk are standout for the class; the EV loses the gas car's deep underfloor well.

Volvo front seats are praised for long-drive support with power lumbar standard; the rear bench is firm and the raised EV floor reduces thigh support.

More compliant than the C40 coupe, but the short wheelbase, ~4,750 lb curb weight and 19-20 in wheels make the ride busy over broken pavement; no adaptive damping.

Silent electric drive and good wind isolation, with tire and road roar audible on coarse surfaces; no active noise cancellation.

Dual-zone climate, heated front seats, heat pump and remote preconditioning are standard; heated rear seats and heated wheel are on Ultimate or the Climate package, and no ventilated seats are offered.

In the US, MY2023 was a Twin-only year: the entry price was the 402 hp dual-motor Core, with no cheaper single-motor version. That puts it near the top of the SUV price band before any EV credit.

The Plus is the mid-tier volume configuration. It adds the equipment most buyers order (Harman Kardon audio, heated rear seats, power passenger seat) for a $2,700 step over Core.

The battery-electric drivetrain has no oil, spark plugs or transmission service, and regen braking reduces brake wear. Volvo's complimentary scheduled maintenance also covers the early years. Tires, which wear fast on a heavy, high-torque EV, plus out-of-warranty electronics repairs make up most of the remaining cost.

This is the 2023 Recharge's worst ownership metric. The original buyer's EV credit, heavy lease support, a 223-mile range that rivals quickly outclassed, and the 2024 RWD single-motor update and EX40 rename all pushed used values down. KBB already shows more than half of MSRP gone within about three years, so 5-year retention falls below the SUV band floor.

Volvo's new-vehicle limited warranty matches the German luxury standard. It beats 3-year plans but trails Genesis's 5 years / 60,000 miles.

The high-voltage battery and EV drive components carry the class-norm 8 years / 100,000 miles. That is competitive, but not a differentiator.

A 2023 buyer got multi-year complimentary scheduled maintenance, four years of unlimited-mile roadside assistance, and 250 kWh of free Electrify America charging plus a year of Pass+ discounted charging. That is a meaningful bundle, which puts it in the top band.

$57,345 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (36% retained, or about $20,644) leaves about $36,701 in depreciation. Add the projected $4,300 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $41,001 in total.

In 2023 the car was sold as the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, in its third US model year. The US volume configuration is the Twin Motor AWD, and this was the facelift year that brought new lights, bumpers and an updated ADAS sensor platform. The electric XC40 has consistently predicted worse than the gas model. The complaints are mostly in software and electrical: Android Automotive freezes and reboots, 12V battery drain, and charging faults. A pre-fix 2023 sits at the low end of the mixed-signals band, below the 2025–2026 cars, which have had more years of software updates.

Volvo has been a bottom-third brand in three-year dependability studies for several years running, mostly because of electrical and infotainment problems across the range. Consumer Reports places it in the bottom half rather than at the very bottom, so it sits at the low edge of the mid-pack band. This is a brand-level measure, so the score is the same as on the other EX40 and XC40 years.

MY2023 has five NHTSA campaigns, all fixed with software. Two of them affect braking or stability. 23V012000: a BCM2 diagnostic error can disable ABS, ESC and traction control. 25V392000: the car can lose braking while coasting downhill in One Pedal Drive, and owners were told not to use the mode until repaired. The other three are an e-Call false fault (23V188000) and the fleet-wide rearview-camera recall, issued twice (25V282000, then 25V908000) because the first fix did not hold. There is no fire, high-voltage or structural campaign. Two brake-system recalls and a fix that had to be reissued put this just below the typical-activity band.

The 2023 Twin Motor AWD keeps the 2021 launch powertrain: two roughly 150 kW permanent-magnet motors and a 78 kWh NMC pack. Being electric removes the gas XC40's engine and transmission liabilities, and no pack or motor hardware recall has been issued. What keeps it in the mid band is limited high-mileage US data and owner reports of charging and 12V-related drive faults. Those reports concern supporting electronics, not motor or pack failures.

Reviewers praise the cabin for its price: Scandinavian design, felt-lined door bins, leather-free textiles and recycled-content trim, and switchgear that feels better than the segment norm. Hard plastics in the lower cabin keep it short of class-leading next to a BMW X1 or Audi Q3.

The Ghent-built XC40 Recharge has tight, consistent panel gaps, solid door closure and few rattle complaints. Volvo's below-average initial-quality standing keeps it out of the top band, but that penalty comes mostly from infotainment and ADAS complaints, not from physical assembly.

Volvo has roughly 280 US dealers, materially fewer than BMW, Mercedes-Benz or Lexus, and they are concentrated on the coasts and in major metros. High-voltage work needs EV-certified technicians, which narrows the usable network further. Service satisfaction is middling.

Routine maintenance is light: no oil changes or transmission fluid, and regenerative braking cuts brake wear. Repairs are expensive, though. Parts are priced like European luxury parts and are largely dealer-controlled, the aftermarket for electric Volvos is minimal, and an out-of-warranty pack or motor repair costs five figures.

A 9-inch portrait touchscreen is small next to 2023 luxury rivals using 10-14 in displays.

Google-based Android Automotive software is quick and logical, but the small screen and climate controls buried in the touchscreen draw criticism.

Apple CarPlay arrived by free OTA update but is wired-only via USB-C; Android Auto projection is not offered since Google services are native.

Google Assistant and Google Maps with EV charge-stop planning are built in and standard, with connected services included for the initial term; best-in-class native voice and nav.

Standard 8-speaker system is adequate; the 13-speaker, ~600 W Harman Kardon premium system is limited to the Ultimate trim.

A 12-inch digital driver display is standard with in-cluster Google Maps, though it is less configurable than Audi Virtual Cockpit.

Whole-vehicle OTA updates have added features to the XC40 Recharge, including Apple CarPlay and range/efficiency improvements.

Volvo Cars app handles remote climate, lock/unlock, locate, charge status and digital key, but owners report command latency.

Four USB-C ports, a wireless charger and two 12 V outlets cover devices well; no 120 V outlet or V2L.

Keyless drive and a power tailgate are standard and the EV powers on without a start button; the hands-free kick-open tailgate is limited to Ultimate.

A surround-view camera and front/rear/side park assist come on the Plus volume trim, but the 360 image resolution is dated.

No head-up display is offered on any 2023 XC40 Recharge trim.

Wide-opening rear doors and good rear headroom help, but 16 cu ft of cargo behind the seats limits stroller-plus-groceries duty and IIHS rates LATCH only Acceptable.

Broad standard ADAS (City Safety, BLIS with steer assist, Pilot Assist) and good IIHS results, but NHTSA never rated the 2023 Recharge and it missed a 2023 Top Safety Pick.

Quiet cabin and comfortable front seats, but tight cargo with seats up, a firm rear bench and 223-mile range mean frequent stops with a full load.

Instant, smooth torque, one-pedal driving and no start button make traffic effortless; a firm ride over potholes is the main annoyance.

Home-charged energy at $900/yr EPA is far cheaper than a gas luxury SUV, though 85 MPGe is inefficient for an EV.

Short 174.8 in body, 37.4 ft turning circle, good sightlines and a surround-view camera on Plus make it easy in town.

A 2,000 lb tow rating, small cargo hold and range that falls sharply when towing make it a poor work tool.

Luxury-oriented cabin and an early-generation EV with software-related recalls; no fleet or commercial history.

Cargo tie-down hooks and a 12 V cargo outlet only; no 120 V outlet, no V2L and no upfit ecosystem.

Quiet and comfortable with Pilot Assist to reduce fatigue, but 223 miles EPA (less at highway speed) and a 150 kW charging peak limit it on long trips.

Standard dual-motor AWD helps on gravel and snow, but ~6.9 in clearance, a 2,000 lb tow limit and no V2L keep it pavement-oriented.

A 60/40 split rear seat, cargo divider and roof-rail mounting points help, but 16 / 57.5 cu ft is small for bulky gear.

Low battery mass and AWD give secure grip and flat cornering, but ~4,750 lb shows in quick direction changes.

Even in the firm setting the steering is light, slightly slow and disconnected.

One-pedal mode is strong and handy, but regen-to-friction blending is inconsistent and the pedal feels soft at low speed.

402 hp and 486 lb-ft from zero rpm deliver instant, seamless thrust; the only criticism is one-pedal modulation at crawl speeds.

Dual electric motors run near silent under load with only faint motor whine.

Tight turning circle for the SUV segment; the shared CMA body figure is unchanged by the EV drivetrain.

Commanding seating and a good adjustment range, but climate and many functions are touchscreen-only.

A 4-second sprint makes it a genuine sleeper, though numb steering and weight blunt the fun beyond straight-line pace.

Even the Core trim gets the 402 hp dual-motor AWD powertrain, Google built-in infotainment, a 12.3-in digital cluster, Pilot Assist, a heat pump and the full City Safety suite. Plus and Ultimate add premium audio, a 360° camera and pixel LED headlights. That is generous for the price, though the content is ordinary once the high entry price is factored in.

It offers a lot of performance per dollar (402 hp, 0–60 in 4.7 s) and was eligible for EV incentives. However, its 223-mile EPA range trailed the Ioniq 5, EV6 and Model Y, which offered more range for less money, and steep depreciation erodes the value.

In the US for 2023 there was one powertrain (Twin AWD) in three closely spaced trims, Core/Plus/Ultimate, about $6,000 apart. There was no cheaper single-motor entry and few standalone options.

It was Volvo's best-selling EV in the US and its electric share was growing in 2023. In absolute terms, though, it sold modestly next to the Model Y and Ioniq 5, so it lands mid-pack among luxury EV crossovers.

Volvo has a strong safety-and-Scandinavian-design image and a loyal following. It is a solid luxury brand, but it lacks the German marques' prestige halo, and its EV resale weakness has undercut the image.

Volvo backed Recharge models with heavy lease support and dealer discounts as EV demand cooled through 2023. Leases could pass through the $7,500 commercial EV credit, and Volvo also added the Electrify America charging bundle. Buyers could readily get well below sticker.

The 2023 model year brought the facelift (new headlights, bumpers and ADAS sensor platform) to a platform that went on sale in 2020 and dates to the 2017 XC40. It is current, but the gas-derived CMA architecture and 223-mile range were already behind dedicated-EV rivals. The RWD powertrain update came the following year.

Reviewers liked it. KBB named it the #1 Best Luxury Electric SUV of 2023 and gave it 4.5/5, and US News scored it 8.6/10. Short range kept it from winning broader EV comparison tests.