I've paid the $1000 deposit for a pre-order of the full EV XC40. I owned a 2014 BMW i3 full EV for three years, and just about to take delivery of my third BMW PHEV. In July, my lease of the BMW 330e PHEV ends and I'm looking forward to the XC40 Recharge. That will give me a 2020 BMW 530e PHEV for inter-city trips and a city car in the XC40 Recharge. The Recharge is a much more impressive car than the i3, on paper and in driving the ICE XC40. Suppose I open the discussion on the Recharge with some questions and comments. I do not see any other posts on the Recharge.
First, none of the four local Volvo dealers in the Houston area know anything about the car or the pre-order process. One wondered if it was going to be like the "Care by Volvo" program where the business arrangements are directly with Volvo with the Dealer serving only a delivery role. I don't think this makes any sense for Volvo, but time will tell. The Polestar 2 uses exactly the same driving train and battery as the Recharge and it is currently in pre-production testing at the China factory. First deliveries in the USA are projected to be in June. This, and the price, are very much up in the air, at this time; because of pending new Trump Tariffs on China. The XC40 Recharge is also supposed to be manufactured in the China facility, but it is also to be made in the Ghent, Belgium factory and I expect that this will be the source for USA Recharge deliveries. In a perfectly rational World, the West Coast would get China-made cars and everything East of the Rockies would get Belgian-made cars. But, it isn't a perfect World, is it? A European site has the production date for European deliveries listed as "coming". I am certainly hoping for a mid, rather than late, 2020 date.
I'd love to take a Sweden delivery of the Recharge, but there is no info on this, yet. Norway and Sweden have the most advanced charging networks available, so I wouldn't anticipate any difficulties with this.
Anyone else want to contribute to a discussion of the XC40 Recharge?
First, none of the four local Volvo dealers in the Houston area know anything about the car or the pre-order process. One wondered if it was going to be like the "Care by Volvo" program where the business arrangements are directly with Volvo with the Dealer serving only a delivery role. I don't think this makes any sense for Volvo, but time will tell. The Polestar 2 uses exactly the same driving train and battery as the Recharge and it is currently in pre-production testing at the China factory. First deliveries in the USA are projected to be in June. This, and the price, are very much up in the air, at this time; because of pending new Trump Tariffs on China. The XC40 Recharge is also supposed to be manufactured in the China facility, but it is also to be made in the Ghent, Belgium factory and I expect that this will be the source for USA Recharge deliveries. In a perfectly rational World, the West Coast would get China-made cars and everything East of the Rockies would get Belgian-made cars. But, it isn't a perfect World, is it? A European site has the production date for European deliveries listed as "coming". I am certainly hoping for a mid, rather than late, 2020 date.
I'd love to take a Sweden delivery of the Recharge, but there is no info on this, yet. Norway and Sweden have the most advanced charging networks available, so I wouldn't anticipate any difficulties with this.
Anyone else want to contribute to a discussion of the XC40 Recharge?