[Sig]

I picked up my 2023 XC40 Recharge over a week ago and have been driving it daily since. This is my Volvo and, overall, I'm very happy. It's a solid little car and a lot of fun to drive. I purchased it for my second home in the desert, both because I needed a vehicle here and also because I installed solar panels in November, and wanted to take advantage of free energy.

In any event, I wanted to share some initial impressions/observations primarily to find out from this community if I may be missing some tricks. So, here goes...

1) Flakey electronics...I've seen flakiness from the electronics (infotainment system) in the car. For context, my other vehicle is a 2021 Range Rover, so quirky electronics is a way of life for me. But I think I expected better from Volvo. Some specific examples...I was no longer able to turn on the map in my instrument cluster - the steering wheel button did nothing. I decided for the first time to use the Volvo Help Line button in the car, and the support agent was very responsive and told me how to soft-reboot the system. That solved the problem. But then, from that point forward, every time I got into the car, I got an alert in the center display stating "Hold the call button for two seconds if you want to reach Volvo support" and I had to tap "Cancel." I tried the soft-reboot, and that didn't clear up the problem, so I had to do the harder-reboot (holding down defrost button for 60 seconds), which did solve the problem. Certainly not the end of the world, but somewhat concerning/disappointing to experience on day #4 of ownership.

2) Road Sign Recognition...nice feature, have it on my other vehicle. However, in the XC40, the speed sign symbol starts flashing whenever I exceed the posted speed or when the posted speed changes, which I find super annoying/distracting. The only way to deal with that is to shut off the road sign recognition altogether. Would be nice if there was an option to keep it on but suppress the blinking. I like to know the posted speed - I don't need to be bothered every time I exceed it.

3) Guidance lighting...every vehicle I've owned for the past 15+ years has left the vehicle lights on for some period of time (30,60 seconds, whatever) AFTER you lock the car, just as an added safety measure. I happen to park in a relatively dark area, so this feature is actually useful to me. However, the XC40 shuts down all the lights as soon as I lock it. There is a mention in the owner's manual that you can manually activate guidance lighting when you park by pushing the left stalk back before you exit the car. That's not working for me but, more importantly, why should I need to manually activate it? I suppose I can see this as a battery-saving feature specific to an EV, but even then, I would expect an option to enable/disable it. Have I missed something?

4) No range next to battery gauge (my greatest annoyance)...it took me a couple days to realize that the battery gauge in the instrument cluster (below the energy gauge) doesn't include a range indicator. I poked around in the settings for a long time thinking I had missed something. I then contacted Volvo support and, according to them, the range used to be below the battery gauge but was removed with software update 2.4 due to customer feedback that the display was "too busy." Huh???? I drove a lot of EVs when I was shopping for one, and all of them had a range indicator either next to or near the battery gauge in the main instrument cluster. Every car, even petrol ones, have a range indicator. With the XC40, I need to look over at the Range Assistant in the center display to get that info which (a) assumes that was the last app I used in that tile section and (b) takes up one of my precious four Home Screen tile positions full time - how unnecessary. That change makes NO sense to me. Even more baffling...immediately to the left of the battery gauge is the trip odometer which you can switch on/off. It is a two-line display, so clearly there is plenty of screen real estate to support a second line below the battery gauge with the range. Why did they think that was too busy, but the trip odometer was fine? VOLVO - if you read these posts, PLEASE let us have a range indicator under the battery gauge again!

So, that's about it for now. I'm sure I'll discover more interesting things about this vehicle the longer I drive it. And again, overall I think it's a great car.

 

[1bad440gtx]

Your first point of complaint is true, the savior as you have learned is that most issues can be fixed via a simple IHU reboot. When I had my first issue a few weeks into ownership I lost sound, then the heater quit and my windows fogged up. I had to pull over and Google what to do and stumbled on to this fine forum! Luckily the heater/ac bug seems to have been solved a while back with OTA updates. I feel like the dealers should teach the reboot process to every new owner before they roll off the lot. I have not yet had to do the simple TCAM reboot, knocks on wood. I personally shrug this off we are beta testers in a way as this is a developing technology, doesn’t seem much different for other EV brands either.

Your other three points I think are more nuisances that might not bother most owners and might be addressable in future OTA updates

For point 4 - as others have mentioned in your other threads, you just have to relearn not to think like an ice vehicle and know how to get the information you require on range elsewhere from the IHU. Also, the car will tell you in plenty of time typically as well if you need to charge. It will warn you sooner than 20% if it’s very cold or your driving pattern warrants it.

I still very enjoy my car nearly every time I drive it, can’t wait for warmer weather to open the moon roof.

 

[XC90_Dinosaur]

3) Guidance lighting...every vehicle I've owned for the past 15+ years has left the vehicle lights on for some period of time (30,60 seconds, whatever)

That is a good point. I do not know for any Volvo car with this feature. No idea why.

 

[f1geek]

I agree leaving the lights on for ~30 seconds after locking is nice. Even my lowly e-Golf has this feature. Maybe Volvo can add it in a software update? Seems doable.

 

[340driver]

That is a good point. I do not know for any Volvo car with this feature. No idea why.

We do have it and I just tried it and it works

Using home safe lighting
Updated 2020-11-05
Some of the exterior lights remain on to illuminate the area around the vehicle. This is called home safe lighting.
To activate home safe lighting:
Switch off the ignition.
Push the left-side steering wheel lever toward the dashboard and release.
Exit the vehicle and lock the doors.
A symbol in the instrument panel illuminates to indicate that the function is activated and exterior lighting switches on: Parking lights, headlights, license plate lighting and outer door handle lighting*.
Home safe lighting remains illuminated for about 60 seconds.

 

[f1geek]

But can home safe lighting be made automatic?

 

[340driver]

But can home safe lighting be made automatic?

Since I park in my garage which is lit with doors opening it's not something I've ever noticed lacking but I can understand having it be able to come on automatically all the time would also be a nice selectable option.

 

[Greg S]

But can home safe lighting be made automatic?

No, unfortunately it can't be set to come on all the time. Seems like it could potentially be enabled via a software update in future, but I doubt it's high on the list of Volvo's software people at the moment.

 

[1bad440gtx]

We do have it and I just tried it and it works

Using home safe lighting
Updated 2020-11-05
Some of the exterior lights remain on to illuminate the area around the vehicle. This is called home safe lighting.
To activate home safe lighting:
Switch off the ignition.
Push the left-side steering wheel lever toward the dashboard and release.
Exit the vehicle and lock the doors.
A symbol in the instrument panel illuminates to indicate that the function is activated and exterior lighting switches on: Parking lights, headlights, license plate lighting and outer door handle lighting*.
Home safe lighting remains illuminated for about 60 seconds.

Nice I’ll have to try this. It’s crazy I am still learning of new features a year into ownership

 

[Br53]

Has it been renamed to guidance light?
Or maybe that’s just what’s it’s called in the Australian manual.

Looks like it’s manually set because the farewell light is designed to keep lighting on for 2 minutes when the driver leaves the car or until the car is locked.

 

[jay_man2]

Has it been renamed to guidance light?
Or maybe that’s just what’s it’s called in the Australian manual.

Looks like it’s manually set because the farewell light is designed to keep lighting on for 2 minutes when the driver leaves the car or until the car is locked.

In the US manual for the C40 it’s called home safety lighting, but the message that pops up in the driver display says “guidance lighting activated.”

 

[340driver]

There is also the welcome lights and they have to activated in center display:

Welcome Light
Updated 2020-11-05
Approach lighting is activated when the vehicle is unlocked and can be used to provide light as you walk toward the vehicle.
The function is activated when the vehicle is unlocked. The parking lights, ceiling lights, footwell lights and trunk/cargo compartment lights are activated in daylight conditions. In weak daylight or dark conditions, the license plate lighting and outer door handle lighting* will also be activated, with the light directed toward the ground.

If no door is opened, the lights will remain illuminated for approx. 2 minutes. If a door is opened while the function is activated, the interior lighting and outer door handle lighting* will remain on for a longer period of time.

This function can be activated and deactivated in the center display.

 

[Sig]

Yeah, so it would seem the Guidance Lighting (or Home Safe Lighting as it seems to be called for other models) is working as designed (which I still think is odd). Because I have the XC40 Recharge, however, and because the car has to be "switched off" before you can push the stalk towards the dash to activate Guidance Lighting, I have to actually step out of my vehicle before I can do that. The XC40 Recharge doesn't "switch off" until you get out of the driver's seat (or you manually shut down the vehicle using the center control panel). Even pressing the Park button doesn't switch off the vehicle.

Thanks for all the responses.

 

[jay_man2]

Yeah, so it would seem the Guidance Lighting (or Home Safe Lighting as it seems to be called for other models) is working as designed (which I still think is odd). Because I have the XC40 Recharge, however, and because the car has to be "switched off" before you can push the stalk towards the dash to activate Guidance Lighting, I have to actually step out of my vehicle before I can do that. The XC40 Recharge doesn't "switch off" until you get out of the driver's seat (or you manually shut down the vehicle using the center control panel). Even pressing the Park button doesn't switch off the vehicle.

Thanks for all the responses.

Just open the driver door, then push the stalk. That worked for me, and I was still in the seat.

 

[Sig]

Just open the driver door, then push the stalk. That worked for me, and I was still in the seat.

Believe me - I tried that many times, as that is what the owner's manual instructs. No dice. If I'm still in the seat, and push the stalk forward, it just turns on the high-beams. I have to get out of the driver's seat so the car "shuts off" and only then will the forward-push on the stalk activate the guidance lighting. Doesn't matter if I press the Park button, unbuckle my seat belt, or anything else.

 

[jay_man2]

Believe me - I tried that many times, as that is what the owner's manual instructs. No dice. If I'm still in the seat, and push the stalk forward, it just turns on the high-beams. I have to get out of the driver's seat so the car "shuts off" and only then will the forward-push on the stalk activate the guidance lighting. Doesn't matter if I press the Park button, unbuckle my seat belt, or anything else.

Put the car in Park. Open the driver door and leave it open. Stay in the seat. Push the stalk forward. Works like a charm.

The manual says to activate home safe lighting switch the vehicle off. The manual about switching the vehicle off says that you can do it by putting the car in park and opening the driver door.

 

[jay_man2]

 

[jay_man2]

 

[Greg S]

So I guess the key is to apply the park brake, then open the door. @Sig give that a try and let us know if it works for you please.

 

[BikerBill]

I picked up my 2023 XC40 Recharge over a week ago and have been driving it daily since. This is my Volvo and, overall, I'm very happy. It's a solid little car and a lot of fun to drive. I purchased it for my second home in the desert, both because I needed a vehicle here and also because I installed solar panels in November, and wanted to take advantage of free energy.

In any event, I wanted to share some initial impressions/observations primarily to find out from this community if I may be missing some tricks. So, here goes...

1) Flakey electronics...I've seen flakiness from the electronics (infotainment system) in the car. For context, my other vehicle is a 2021 Range Rover, so quirky electronics is a way of life for me. But I think I expected better from Volvo. Some specific examples...I was no longer able to turn on the map in my instrument cluster - the steering wheel button did nothing. I decided for the first time to use the Volvo Help Line button in the car, and the support agent was very responsive and told me how to soft-reboot the system. That solved the problem. But then, from that point forward, every time I got into the car, I got an alert in the center display stating "Hold the call button for two seconds if you want to reach Volvo support" and I had to tap "Cancel." I tried the soft-reboot, and that didn't clear up the problem, so I had to do the harder-reboot (holding down defrost button for 60 seconds), which did solve the problem. Certainly not the end of the world, but somewhat concerning/disappointing to experience on day #4 of ownership.

2) Road Sign Recognition...nice feature, have it on my other vehicle. However, in the XC40, the speed sign symbol starts flashing whenever I exceed the posted speed or when the posted speed changes, which I find super annoying/distracting. The only way to deal with that is to shut off the road sign recognition altogether. Would be nice if there was an option to keep it on but suppress the blinking. I like to know the posted speed - I don't need to be bothered every time I exceed it.

3) Guidance lighting...every vehicle I've owned for the past 15+ years has left the vehicle lights on for some period of time (30,60 seconds, whatever) AFTER you lock the car, just as an added safety measure. I happen to park in a relatively dark area, so this feature is actually useful to me. However, the XC40 shuts down all the lights as soon as I lock it. There is a mention in the owner's manual that you can manually activate guidance lighting when you park by pushing the left stalk back before you exit the car. That's not working for me but, more importantly, why should I need to manually activate it? I suppose I can see this as a battery-saving feature specific to an EV, but even then, I would expect an option to enable/disable it. Have I missed something?

4) No range next to battery gauge (my greatest annoyance)...it took me a couple days to realize that the battery gauge in the instrument cluster (below the energy gauge) doesn't include a range indicator. I poked around in the settings for a long time thinking I had missed something. I then contacted Volvo support and, according to them, the range used to be below the battery gauge but was removed with software update 2.4 due to customer feedback that the display was "too busy." Huh???? I drove a lot of EVs when I was shopping for one, and all of them had a range indicator either next to or near the battery gauge in the main instrument cluster. Every car, even petrol ones, have a range indicator. With the XC40, I need to look over at the Range Assistant in the center display to get that info which (a) assumes that was the last app I used in that tile section and (b) takes up one of my precious four Home Screen tile positions full time - how unnecessary. That change makes NO sense to me. Even more baffling...immediately to the left of the battery gauge is the trip odometer which you can switch on/off. It is a two-line display, so clearly there is plenty of screen real estate to support a second line below the battery gauge with the range. Why did they think that was too busy, but the trip odometer was fine? VOLVO - if you read these posts, PLEASE let us have a range indicator under the battery gauge again!

So, that's about it for now. I'm sure I'll discover more interesting things about this vehicle the longer I drive it. And again, overall I think it's a great car.

Curious, did the last ICE car you own have a "range" with the fuel gauge? We have a Tesla X and the Volvo XC40 and never drive with "miles". Always use percentage of battery. Sure a few times when we charged to 100% I switched over to "miles" to confirm what to expect, but percentage is great for us.