Thread title says it all, but I picked up my XC40 on Saturday, drove it home from the dealership (no issues drove great.) After getting home my wife wanted to try driving it around the block to check it out. We received a "Propulsion system requires service. Bring the vehicle to a workshop." warning. We clicked ok and tried moving the vehicle, seemed to go fine.

Went back in the house to see what this warning was about. I went back out to the car later to move it in the driveway so that it would be easier to get our other car around, no warning, so I drove it around the block no issues no alerts under the "Car Status" menu.

Today, I went out to drive the car and the "Propulsion system" warning was back and this time with a "the car will be slowed until it is serviced" alert.

This really isn't confidence inspiring on a car I have driven exactly once and haven't even yet had time to take to the DMV.

Has the car in fact been slowed, or is it simply showing that alert. This car throws a lot of false positive warnings which go away on their own or after some type of reset.

 

Well when I tried to drive it it would start shuddering a little anytime I went over 5 mph. So I would say yes.

 

I had this issue about a week or two ago, it went away after I charged overnight.

 

Thread title says it all, but I picked up my XC40 on Saturday, drove it home from the dealership (no issues drove great.) After getting home my wife wanted to try driving it around the block to check it out. We received a "Propulsion system requires service. Bring the vehicle to a workshop." warning. We clicked ok and tried moving the vehicle, seemed to go fine.

Went back in the house to see what this warning was about. I went back out to the car later to move it in the driveway so that it would be easier to get our other car around, no warning, so I drove it around the block no issues no alerts under the "Car Status" menu.

Today, I went out to drive the car and the "Propulsion system" warning was back and this time with a "the car will be slowed until it is serviced" alert.

This really isn't confidence inspiring on a car I have driven exactly once and haven't even yet had time to take to the DMV.

Try charging with a Level 2 charger at 100%. This rebalances all the cells in he battery pack. See if that helps.

 

The car was at 95% when I picked it up, it is now at 71%. It would seem ridiculous if I should always have to charge it to 100%, isn’t that bad for the battery?
In any case, our electrician was backed up and the car arrived early so I don’t currently have L2 capability at home. I will on July 1.

 

Today, I went out to drive the car and the "Propulsion system" warning was back and this time with a "the car will be slowed until it is serviced" alert.

This really isn't confidence inspiring on a car I have driven exactly once and haven't even yet had time to take to the DMV.

This is what happened to mine just 2 days into ownership. It's quite possibly a problem with the main high voltage battery (like inside the battery), and it requires specialist tools and people who have had specific training in order to fix it. This is the issue I'm facing at the moment. My car has been off the road for 6 weeks after it was towed back to the dealer. The dealer where I bought the car (and where it was returned) is unable to even perform the proper diagnostics - and the car has had to be towed to ANOTHER dealership on the other side of the city (a further 45min away).

I literally just got off the phone with Volvo Customer Care (Australia), and the latest is they are still waiting for specialist tools to be shipped from Sydney (to Brisbane) so they can even begin to start performing the required work. Clearly Volvo Australia seemed fairly unprepared for issues with the XC40 Pure Electric and dealerships were even more unprepared.

Hopefully you will have more luck with your repair and a faster response.

 

Hopefully you will have more luck with your repair and a faster response.

I hope so too!

Yikes, it sounds like your car has been almost all over the country and all without you. Here's hoping they are able to fix yours and get it back to you in short order and that a trip to Perth isn't in your car's future .

 

Thread title says it all, but I picked up my XC40 on Saturday, drove it home from the dealership (no issues drove great.) After getting home my wife wanted to try driving it around the block to check it out. We received a "Propulsion system requires service. Bring the vehicle to a workshop." warning. We clicked ok and tried moving the vehicle, seemed to go fine.

Went back in the house to see what this warning was about. I went back out to the car later to move it in the driveway so that it would be easier to get our other car around, no warning, so I drove it around the block no issues no alerts under the "Car Status" menu.

Today, I went out to drive the car and the "Propulsion system" warning was back and this time with a "the car will be slowed until it is serviced" alert.

This really isn't confidence inspiring on a car I have driven exactly once and haven't even yet had time to take to the DMV.

If your car requires major work taking over a week take it back to Volvo and ask for a new one. I returned my first Recharge and they honored my request. It took a month but I did get a new one. The second car visited the dealer 3 times in a month. The last time was totally dead. It required special towing since the wheels looked. Hope is nothing serious.

 

What did they do when the last time it was completely dead? I think mine has reached that point I was stopped in a main entrance of the city for about an hour and nobody was able to tow it because all wheels were blocked until "suddenly" after having the battery disconnected (the one that is in the trunk under the spare tire) for at minimum 10 minutes I was able to remove the electronic break. This time it entered to the dealership pushed by the mecanics

 

Latest update is the dealer has no idea what is going on and so has reached out to Volvo to hear what their engineers have to say.

 

For what it's worth I had a phone call from Volvo Australia yesterday. They think the issue is with the battery control module of the high voltage battery. I still don't have an ETA on the fix yet but they are fairly confident they have identified the part that is causing the issue. I also remember someone else on these forums had the same part fail and it's not a very simple fix - takes a bit of effort.

 

Send a registered letter to Volvo USA.
Clearly state that the lemon law of your state is in effect.

Tell them you want the car repurchased.

Others have stated try to get an exchange or other compensation. This is a foolish approach as Volvo comes out ahead.

With a lemon law repurchase:
1.) You keep the federal tax rebate.
2.) You get 100 percent of the purchase price, plus taxes and expenses of title/registration.

With the money you can buy another Volvo and get another Federal tax credit. Or, buy another vehicle.

The Federal tax credit does not care if you return the car and get credit. It is on the purchase of a new vehicle.

 

Apparently they fixed the propulsion system problem but then when lowering the car off the lift they had left a piece of equipment too close and it damaged the door and the wheel. They now have to get it to the body shop to repair the door and they are going to replace the wheel.

Starting to wonder if the car is cursed

 

My Volvo XC40 Pure Electric has just suffered the same problem. It started badly shuddering even when driving at very slow speeds, along with a Propulsion Error on the screen. It was effectively undrivable.

I needed to call Roadside Assistance, and when they plugged in their diagnostics computer there were 15 faults reported by the car. The car then had to be towed to my nearest dealership.

It's been over a week so far and they still do not know the cause of the issue, they have had to contact Volvo Australia and apparently the factory in China where it was built

Volvo have provided me with a hire car (a banged up Kia ), but at this stage I'm none the wiser as to if and when the issue will be resolved

@delta18 did you find out what the cause of your "shuddering" problem was?

 

@delta18 did you find out what the cause of your "shuddering" problem was?

The dealer had to phone Volvo to speak to an engineer to determine what the problem was. They passed along to me that a faulty motor may have been installed and they had to replace the entire motor to fix the problem. I still don't have the car back so no idea if the problem has been fully fixed but they say it was so we shall see.

Good luck and I hope it doesn't take them 8 weeks (and counting) to fix your Volvo

 

Finally, exactly 2 months the car first went in for service, I have my car back. It seems to be working fine now. Fingers crossed that this is the one big problem and it works flawlessly from now on.

 

Was the busted motor the front or back motor? And where the damage was...can you even tell? Good thing you got your car back. I'm just about to begin week 15 (3.5 months), and I still don't know when I'm getting it back. I hope it's this week. But I've had that hope the last 3 weeks.

 

Looks like the new motor didn’t fix the problem. Had the car for 1 week with no issues but then This morning this is the warning I got. I locked the car walked away and then came back and the propulsion system warning was still coming on but went away when I pressed OK (no turtle mode). The only thing I did differently last night was park on the street. Are these cars just that sensitive to temperature fluctuations?

 

I'd start the buyback paperwork, if I were you.

 

I got my car back after 2 weeks, however they could not find the cause of the problem. By the time the car had been towed to the dealership, the Propulsion Error went away and the car was driving fine again.

From what I was told, the dealership worked with Volvo Australia to try diagnose the error, but were unable to replicate the issue. I was sick of driving my beat-up rental car, so I just took my XC40 back.

We've been driving the car for a few weeks now without any issues, but time will tell.

 

Thanks for the insight @DreamensioN. It's a shame the error is not more specific! When I got the error there was a definite issue with the vehicle - the whole car was shuddering / jolting and had to be towed.

 

the whole car was shuddering / jolting and had to be towed.

That's exactly what happened to me when the car parked itself in the middle of the road. I had to bunny hop it out of the way off to the side. It was not a great experience. At least if it was an ICE car I could just put it into neutral and roll to the side, but I had to "force" the XC40 off the road. I just hope it didn't cause any long term damage.

 

Yeah this time when I got the error the car was in turtle mode and shuddering when I tried to drive it. Oddly I locked the car walked away for 10min then started the car again. Got the normal ‘Propulsion system warning’ but it went away after I pressed ok. Have been driving the car all day with no issues. I’m charging the car right now and plan to do an experiment tomorrow by parking the car in the driveway overnight and see if I can replicate the issue.

 

Thread title says it all, but I picked up my XC40 on Saturday, drove it home from the dealership (no issues drove great.) After getting home my wife wanted to try driving it around the block to check it out. We received a "Propulsion system requires service. Bring the vehicle to a workshop." warning. We clicked ok and tried moving the vehicle, seemed to go fine.

Went back in the house to see what this warning was about. I went back out to the car later to move it in the driveway so that it would be easier to get our other car around, no warning, so I drove it around the block no issues no alerts under the "Car Status" menu.

Today, I went out to drive the car and the "Propulsion system" warning was back and this time with a "the car will be slowed until it is serviced" alert.

This really isn't confidence-inspiring on a car I have driven exactly once and haven't even yet had time to take to the DMV.

I just posted an issue we have had.....3 months old and it has been in the shop once and now today will make it 2 times. We have had a Toyota RAV4 Prime...it has been at the dealer every 5,000 miles for the service....that is it. My wife and I chose XC40 Recharge because it is a Volvo....we passed on a Tesla.....thinking back now.....maybe we should have gone with the Tesla. Three months of this car and the reliability of it is leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

 

+1 we have a Tesla Model 3 and decided to go on a Hybrid and a Volvo, because is Volvo. We are trying now to return the unit to the brand.

 

Thread title says it all, but I picked up my XC40 on Saturday, drove it home from the dealership (no issues drove great.) After getting home my wife wanted to try driving it around the block to check it out. We received a "Propulsion system requires service. Bring the vehicle to a workshop." warning. We clicked ok and tried moving the vehicle, seemed to go fine.

Went back in the house to see what this warning was about. I went back out to the car later to move it in the driveway so that it would be easier to get our other car around, no warning, so I drove it around the block no issues no alerts under the "Car Status" menu.

Today, I went out to drive the car and the "Propulsion system" warning was back and this time with a "the car will be slowed until it is serviced" alert.

This really isn't confidence inspiring on a car I have driven exactly once and haven't even yet had time to take to the DMV.

I had an electrical system failure the day I picked up the car. The Volvo rep said he ‘d never seen that happen before. After five months, the car had been in to,the service department for 12 days with multiple electrical system malfunctions; inability to successfully upload updates; one incident of being locked out of my vehicle (neither the fobs or the manual key would unlock the car) and four strandings where car would not go into drive because the car thought a charger cable was inserted (when there was not ). Since then Corporate Volvo has had my car 17 days and now wants another 2-3 weeks to make a decision. The car I got is a lemon. Sounds like yours is too.

 

Curious reading all these reports of issues that can't be diagnosed easily. Reminds me of the C30 /P1 platform where a bad 12V battery will throw all sorts of random spurious codes and cause issues with various modules.

Have any of you had your 12V battery looked at?