The Volvo C40 Recharge is a fantastic entry-level electric car. I don’t want to call it an electric economy car, because its design and performance elevate it well above that tier, but the interior materials do drag it down. The seat comfort and the feeling of the touch points simply don’t match a near-$60,000 price tag.
At $40,000, the C40 Recharge would be a steal. At $50,000, where comparable trims of the Mustang Mach-E and VW ID.4 sit, it would be a solid contender. At $58,750 before destination fees (and before the $7,500 EV tax credit) it’s a much harder sell.
I’ll admit, there are people for whom this car is perfect. There is an ideal buyer out there who will enjoy this recycled interior, who understands that the thin plastic let Volvo eke out another few miles of range. There’s a buyer who wants their friends to comment on the weird carpet, just so they can explain how many bottles came out of a landfill to make it.
Unfortunately for the C40 Recharge, that buyer is probably a rarity, even among the chic yuppies Volvo is targeting. Conveniently for those buyers, however, Volvo offers an alternative: the XC40 Recharge shares the C40's drivetrain, its interior layout, and many of its dimensions, but exchanges the hard-wearing materials for luxury leatherette and the comically undersized rear window for standard upright glass.