Volvo C40 Recharge Twin Ultimate 2022 UK first drive

There is no need for a crossover SUV to have 402bhp, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t fun. The Volvo C40, despite its pseudo-coupé sloping roofline, isn’t meant to be a sports car. Volvo's Geely Group owner has Polestar and the likely upcoming O2 roadster for that. No, this is fundamentally an XC40 coupé.

The big difference from the Volvo XC40, apart from its stockily muscular ‘coupé-SUV’ styling, is that it won’t be offered with any combustion engines. It rides on the same CMA platform as the XC40 and Polestar 2 and is available with those models’ two pure-electric drivetrains.

As such, it can be had as either a plain Recharge, with a single 228bhp front motor and a 67kWh battery pack for a total range of 269 miles, or as a Recharge Twin, like our test car, with a 201bhp motor on each axle and a 75kWh battery pack for a quoted range of 273 miles.

Since it is essentially an XC40 coupé, there’s no technical reason why it couldn’t have the XC40’s range of petrols and hybrids, but Volvo has chosen to position the C40 as the spearhead of its EV transformation, proudly proclaiming it’s the first Volvo in history designed as pure-electric only. That's not untrue, but it does make the C40 sound rather more momentous than it is.

With identical motors on the front and rear axle, the handling balance is very neutral. If you push it, the front will be first to go, but thanks to the wide Pirelli P Zero tyres on our test car, grip is seemingly limitless on the road. Traction is near unassailable, making it properly rapid.

It’s no sports car, or even a sports SUV, but the pleasantly weighted if numb steering and relaxed primary ride mean that it’s fairly natural to guide along a twisty, bumpy B-road. Unfortunately, surface imperfections and road noise make themselves known more clearly than you’d hope from a £58,900 Volvo. The smaller wheels that come with the lower trim levels might improve matters, but even on the 20s of our ‘Ultimate’ test car, it stops short of being jarring.

Where the C40 also feels slightly at odds with its price point is the interior. It might be excellent for a £34,100 XC40 T3, but I can’t help but feel slightly disappointed by it in this £58,900 car.

Typically for a Volvo, the seats are excellent, everything is well built and the translucent ‘topographical’ trim that lights up at night is neat, but there are a few too many hard plastics and coarse rubber pieces. The whole interior is vegan, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing, since Volvo offers quite an appealing wool blend upholstery, but the microsuede isn’t hugely convincing and the ‘leather’ on the steering wheel feels downright cheap.