Volvo XC40 Recharge & Polestar . . .

[Doc Brown]

I was out driving EV's this weekend and stopped by my local Volvo dealership to check out the XC40 Recharge that was on their lot. I liked the look inside and out (except for the Volvo "emblem" on the front). I thought it drove great - acceleration and performance, to me, was better than most EVs. I was impressed with the UI as well.

In talking with the folks there - they tell me Volvo has paused production of the XC40 Recharge - they say so that Volvo can produce more of their ICE offerings (chip shortages and such). I wondered whether they "paused" production because Polestar was now producing and delivering cars - and they said they honestly didn't know.

Anyone have any insight?

 

[RobDickinson]

They are made in 2 different factories on 2 different continents.

They are owned by the same holding company but who knows if they share or fight over chips and supplies, I doubt iy, polestar are not targeting high volume production with the p2 anyhow.

 

[Brian-MS90D]

I liked the CX40 Recharge too, but ultimately decided to wait until Volvo had a few years producing it under its belt (I did the same with Tesla as well back in the day). I like being an early adopter, but it's a lot of money to be stuck with potential issues.

I do think Volvo and Polestar are going to make great EV's!!

 

[euro.r]

I was trying to buy an XC40 Recharge and was able to test drive one. Dealer never called me back so I wound up with a Tesla!

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

They are made in 2 different factories on 2 different continents.

They are owned by the same holding company /...

Considering the times we currently live in I thought it 'appropriate' to share the following:

Guess who forked up more than 85% of the cash when Geely bought Volvo cars back in ~2009?

Surreally enough that cash came from various entities of the Chinese Military Dictatorship... Yeah... I know.

You can read about it here (in one of the most reputable newspapers in Sweden):

I industriklenodens innersta maktrum | SvD

En ursinnig vd, en milt leende ordförande och en spion från Peking. SvD Näringslivs granskning av Volvo PV:s satsning i Kina har de senaste dagarna visat hur en tänkt framgångssaga blivit en problemhärd. Här följer en unik inblick i den tidigare svenska industriklenodens innersta maktrum.

www.svd.se

Halva Geelys vinst kommer från bidrag | SvD

Mer än halva Geely Automobiles vinst, 51 procent, kommer från bidrag från kinesiska staten. Det hävdar en ny studie rapporterar tidskriften The Economist. Mats Harborn, svensk Kinaexpert, menar att statliga bidragsmiljoner till kinesiska bolag skapar stora problem.

www.svd.se

So who is it that really owns Volvo Cars/Polestar?...

I translated som of it in a previous post I wrote some ~8 years ago...

Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid

Credit for this Picture goes to Volvo Cars and carsuk.net. I couldn’t find a thread on this particular model… Anyways, it looks like Volvo Cars might have a small hit (?) in Europe with their V60 Plug-in Hybrid: Volvo doubling V60 diesel PHEV production to 10,000 to meet demand ...a car...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[RubberToe]

So Starbucks new summer game has a top prize of 4 brand new Volvo XC40 Recharge SUVs. Lots of links in the game to get additional information on the cars. When I saw that they had a 75kWh battery, an EPA range of 223 and 79MPGe highway, I almost spewed my Starbucks coffee out. My LR MY is rated at 117 MPGe highway. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get a free Volvo EV as a second car for Mrs. Toe to use as a commuter car. But this just shows you how far ahead of everyone Tesla is.

I'll be sure and check back in should I win one of the 4 XC40s being given away. If nothing else, I'll be totally jacked up on caffeine all summer.

Starbucks® Summer Game is back

Play for your chance to win all-new prizes, including a new Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric Compact SUV.

www.starbuckssummergame.com

RT

 

[Brian-MS90D]

So Starbucks new summer game has a top prize of 4 brand new Volvo XC40 Recharge SUVs. Lots of links in the game to get additional information on the cars. When I saw that they had a 75kWh battery, an EPA range of 223 and 79MPGe highway, I almost spewed my Starbucks coffee out. My LR MY is rated at 117 MPGe highway. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get a free Volvo EV as a second car for Mrs. Toe to use as a commuter car. But this just shows you how far ahead of everyone Tesla is.

I'll be sure and check back in should I win one of the 4 XC40s being given away. If nothing else, I'll be totally jacked up on caffeine all summer.

Starbucks® Summer Game is back

Play for your chance to win all-new prizes, including a new Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric Compact SUV.

www.starbuckssummergame.com

RT

I like visual things. This doesn't include the Volvo, but is about your underlying point:

 

[kilpatds]

I like visual things. This doesn't include the Volvo, but is about your underlying point:
View attachment 816077

I'm kinda curious what that would look like as "70mph highway range/battery size" over "vehicle CD*frontal area". That the tesla curve is so smooth really emphasis that the EPA cycle does a lot of starts&stops.

 

[Empiro]

It'd be good to also get a chart of the efficiency based on the 70mph range tests. My impression has been that the efficiency gap narrows as you drive faster. However, I've yet to see an EV beat a Tesla in terms of efficiency (except maybe the be Lucid).

 

[Brian-MS90D]

I'm kinda curious what that would look like as "70mph highway range/battery size" over "vehicle CD*frontal area". That the tesla curve is so smooth really emphasis that the EPA cycle does a lot of starts&stops.

It'd be good to also get a chart of the efficiency based on the 70mph range tests. My impression has been that the efficiency gap narrows as you drive faster. However, I've yet to see an EV beat a Tesla in terms of efficiency (except maybe the be Lucid).

I agree that the EPA should use multiple published scores to represent the various driving characteristics (for all cars as part of their standard).

I agree that the efficiency gap likely closes at higher speed where the impact of wind resistance significantly grows.

 

[kilpatds]

I agree that the EPA should use multiple published scores to represent the various driving characteristics (for all cars as part of their standard).

The EPA DOES require companies to give coast-down coefficients which can be used to estimate efficiency at any constant speed. But it makes getting them painful...

 

[vickh]

Test drove this and was impressed. Comparing it to new Y or used X. Worried about repair costs, but CPO warranty seems robust:

Certified 2020 Volvo XC90 Hybrid T8 Inscription 6 Passenger For Sale in Glendale AZ P1920684A | Glendale Certified Pre-Owned Volvo For Sale

Certified 2020 Volvo XC90 Hybrid, SUV, from Volvo Cars Arrowhead in Glendale, AZ, 85308 For Sale. P1920684A, Call 877-475-0951 for more information about our Certified Pre-Owned Volvo

www.volvocarsarrowhead.com

 

[WyoDude]

I was out driving EV's this weekend and stopped by my local Volvo dealership to check out the XC40 Recharge that was on their lot. I liked the look inside and out (except for the Volvo "emblem" on the front). I thought it drove great - acceleration and performance, to me, was better than most EVs. I was impressed with the UI as well.

In talking with the folks there - they tell me Volvo has paused production of the XC40 Recharge - they say so that Volvo can produce more of their ICE offerings (chip shortages and such). I wondered whether they "paused" production because Polestar was now producing and delivering cars - and they said they honestly didn't know.

Anyone have any insight?

I doubt it’s tied to Polestar. They operate very separately currently it seems and Volvo has had a plan for a few years now to transition to all electric before any other major ICE company. You can find their plan online. They are full steam ahead on going electric.

 

[vickh]

I doubt it’s tied to Polestar. They operate very separately currently it seems and Volvo has had a plan for a few years now to transition to all electric before any other major ICE company. You can find their plan online. They are full steam ahead on going electric.

Is it fair to say they (Volvo) are currently the safest PHEV/EVs after TSLA? Seem very well built. I wish the Germans would get their PHEV/EV act together

 

[WyoDude]

Is it fair to say they (Volvo) are currently the safest PHEV/EVs after TSLA? Seem very well built. I wish the Germans would get their PHEV/EV act together

I would say so from my experience. They pretty much have every safety feature you can ask for and have things like a metal beam in the doors to guard against side impacts. If I’m not mistaken (you can google this) the XC90 hasn’t had a car crash death in like 10 or 20 years.