2022 Volvo XC40

Volvo’s never been known for making sonorous powertrains. Reliable? Sure. Symphonic? Nope. So it shouldn’t be all that shocking that the turbocharged, 248-horsepower unit in the 2022 Volvo XC40 T5 allows the crossover to feel quick, but is neither a Teutonic baritone, bragging about its muscle, nor high-revving Japanese or Italian brash. Nope: It’s almost sheepish about propulsion, getting the job done, dutifully, like a Swedish meatball filling you up with calories but hiding the gravy in the back of the kitchen.

Look around the cabin, however, and you forget all that. Heck, turning up the insanely great optional 13-speaker, 600-watt Harman Kardon sound system to hear Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood” let us pretty much forget about the engine. In the compact SUV segment, Volvo’s not alone in bringing in premium audio, however. Direct XC40 competitors like Acura’s RDX, BMW’s X1, the Mercedes-Benz GLA and Lexus’s UX and NX crossovers all offer premium sound systems and accommodations to match. Volvo also builds an all-electric XC40 Recharge, which we review separately. 

The “hack,” however, is that even base models feature quite good audio, so you’re smart to plug in your phone during a test drive and sound sample a song you know well in base as well as premium trim. Maybe the upgrade is worth it, but definitely comparison shop before plunking down more cash. Even if you’re only listening to NPR, the XC40 distinguishes itself in other important ways: namely style, comfort and safety.

Back to the excellent quarters: Volvo’s clever trick that more carmakers should crib is to use soft materials where everyone else chooses plastic. From the pillars to the oversized door cutouts that were large enough to hold my laptop and all the mail I was fetching from the post office, it’s all backed with a woven fiber you might find on, duh, furniture! Volvo treats interiors the way Scandinavian designers would, hence the heavy “driftwood” open pore planks on the dash, the Orrefors crystal shift knob and the beefy metal-framed vents.

The clever, attractive design makes the front quarters in the XC40 feel larger and airier inside than its exterior dimensions would suggest. The back seat is tighter, but for its diminutive size there’s plenty of cargo room, too. Volvo is nothing if not pragmatic, so they craft a few basic, but very wise additions in the XC40. The floor in the hatch accordions forward, with a well for larger items, like a gallon of milk, and hooks for hanging reusable grocery bags. Volvo also bakes in both wireless charging and USB-A and C ports. 

In typical Volvo fashion, there are lots of safety features, but not all come standard. One extra worth considering are Volvo’s new $350 pixel LED headlamps that adapt 84 individual beams of light down the road but around the oncoming car in the opposite lane, basically creating a shadow for that car (by using the front camera to detect that vehicle) while still illuminating the right-hand shoulder farther down the road. It’s clever tech that’s only just become legal in the U.S.

Performance 10/15

The XC40 offers two powertrains. T5 models use a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 247 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque and come standard with all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Less powerful (and cheaper) T4 models use a lower-powered version of the 2.0-liter with 187 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque and drive only the front wheels, but use the same transmission. 

T5 versions add $2,000 to the bill, so the cheapest Core model with the more powerful engine will scrape in just under $40,000. Then again, do you need it? That 221 lb-ft from the less boosted engine hits at just 1,400 RPM, so it’ll be quick from a standstill. 

Yes, the T4 is pokier to 60 mph, taking 8.1 seconds to the T5’s 6.1, but given that our test car had a Polestar Engineered mode (the sportiest of settings and yet all that seems to do is quicken gear changes), this just argues that the XC40 just isn’t meant to be all that sporty. It’s fine, but in this segment, the RDX, X1 and Audi Q3 all offer more lively handling.  

This is not a crisis. Lincoln’s latest crossovers also aren’t trying to trade punches with Alfa Romeo and that’s just fine. Just know that the XC40 isn’t an exceptionally sporty crossover. Serene? Sure. Reasonably adept, check. But the shifty wide receiver on the field? Nope. It’s quietly confident, and we’re all good with Volvo being Volvo. 

Fuel Economy: 12/15

The EPA says you’ll 25 mpg combined from the XC40 T5, broken down as a not extraordinary 22 city and 30 highway mpg. Opt for the lighter T4, however, and you’ll see a better 24 city and 32 highway. Plug-in hybrid crossovers are also proliferating and if you cross-shopped the XC40 T5 AWD by fuel economy alone (not on creature comforts) you’d find that both Toyota’s RAV4 and Honda’s CR-V hybrids manage to be a lot more frugal on fuel and sticker for less to boot. 2023’s XC40 will also bring mild-hybrid tech.

But the luxury rival that’s a better comparison on cost, as well as power and better fuel economy, has to be BMW’s X1 sDrive 28i. It manages 24 city and 33 highway fuel economy, which is a wash versus Volvo’s base engine—yet while also delivering 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque. That’s nearly the same muscle as Volvo’s pricier powerplant, but better fuel efficiency, and at a base price for the front-drive X1 model of $36,395. Hmmm. 

Safety & Driver Assistance Tech: 15/15

Volvo earns both five stars from NHTSA for the XC40 and an IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus, which is that group’s highest score. 

The XC40 T5 AWD comes standard with a brace of both passive and active safety gear, from whiplash-protecting seats, to automatic braking in case of a cross-traffic collision risk. It also comes with pedestrian and cyclist detection, as well as large animal detection, and it has both passive blind-spot warning and will steer you back into your lane if you miss that warning. There are front and side curtain airbags, and a driver-side knee airbag. Adaptive cruise control is also included.

At the base level $36,195 base XC40 T4 Momentum you lose the pedestrian, cyclists and animal detection and the adaptive cruise control, but the rest of the safety suite is still baked in.

Comfort & Room: 11/15

The XC40 is roomy enough, but it’s not that big inside. Take rear seat knee room, where the Subaru Crosstrek’s 36.5 inches best the Volvo’s 36.1. (And that Subaru will cost you a good $20,000 less). 

OK, dumb comparison? That’s not luxe versus luxe, is it? Right, then compare the capacities versus BMW’s X2, a similarly priced, similarly luxurious and similarly capable crossover. There you find that the X2 and XC40 are basically tied for front legroom but the X2’s just a bit less cramped in the second row. The XC40 is tied with the Audi Q3 on rear legroom, but all three are way ahead of the Lexus UX’s 33.2 inches in back.

The fit and finish of the Volvo are stellar, as we’ve explained already, and the storage configuration is especially slick. But if you’re a bigger person, or have long legs, especially as a driver or teen or adult passenger in the second row, this car could feel cramped.

Infotainment: 10/15

While we ooh’d over the audio system earlier, we’re not as wowed by the centralized touchscreen control system. For a company obsessed with safety, the idea of only including a volume knob but not one for tuning seems silly. Further, navigating that panel to adjust settings and controls can be distracting, and while it plays nice with an Android phone, and then makes integration of all your Google Home preferences seamless, especially navigation, it plays less well with Apple products.

If you’re an Apple person, CarPlay gets shunted to the bottom of this screen, with Volvo’s own suite of options still holding fast to the top, and then navigating either to a CarPlay option or a Volvo one (or just to the radio) all require one extra beat with your eyes off the road.  

Is this a dealbreaker? Hardly. But the fact that Volvo’s system does seem happier with Android phones could become an issue. The Swedes have a tiny market share in the US.. and nobody’s switching phone brands just because they bought a Volvo. 

Cargo Space & Storage: 14/15

With all seats folded the Volvo’s cargo hauling capacity is good for its size, with 57.5 cubic-feet. That’s better than you’d find versus what you get from the BMW X2 we mentioned above (50.1 cubic-feet), though the X1 bests both with 58.7 cubic-feet. In case you’re wondering, an Acura RDX is in the same ballpark, and 58.9 cubic-feet, but an Audi Q3 is cramped, with only 48 cubes. The Lexus UX trails the entire pack.

Volvo’s 20.7 cubic-feet behind those rear seats is also decent, especially when compared to most car trunks, and we’ll also add that crossover shoppers should always think about load height, because a tall-riding rig is a pain for loading and unloading anything heavy, and the XC40 rides at a sweet spot, where it’s not ridiculously tall, even for shorter folks, to pile in groceries. We were also able to pile in heavy stuff, like bags of potting soil, without gymnastic effort to get them in or out of the car. 

Style & Design: 8/10

The XC40 may be the least pretty of all Volvos the carmaker sells these days, especially with the proportionally far more gorgeous XC60. as well as V60 and V90 wagons. And Volvo’s also in the midst of an aggressive transformation toward electrification, with the XC40 relatively long in the tooth. It heralded a new beginning for Volvo, and every model they’ve debuted since has been more attractive. And it’s still pretty cute, and the inside is absolutely hitting a grade that’s still very hard to top. 

Perhaps Audi has its own level of clarity of purpose with their cabins, and you could argue that now Hyundai is defining its own aesthetic, too. But Volvo’s still at the apex, which is one reason why they’re benchmarked by so many brands, well beyond the automotive space. Sure, the digital side could use revisiting, but then, we could say that about every single carmaker, pretty much without exception.

Is the Volvo XC40 Worth it? Which XC40 is the Best Value?

Just a few weeks ago the XC40 Recharge EV might have made more sense than an XC40, but thanks to the newly minted Inflation Reduction Act, that $52,795 EV will no longer qualify for federal tax credits since it’s made overseas.

That makes the T4 versions of the XC40 the best possible version of this beautifully crafted crossover, and from a design standpoint, there’s a lot going for it—we do very much like the overall packaging and feel of the XC40. You have to be mighty careful though. Adding any extras like heated seats, power to the passenger seat and (surprisingly) keyless entry, will layer on cost.

There is, possibly, a wrinkle you weren’t thinking about for the Recharge, and it depends on where you live. Because if you’re in California or perhaps New Jersey, there are still incentives to weigh. The Garden State waives its 6.625% sales tax when you buy an EV, saving you $3,547 off the purchase of that XC40 Recharge. That’s still less than you’d have previously gotten from the feds, but the Recharge is a whole bunch faster and more efficient.

Muddled? Yes. That’s the automotive world we live in, and that picture isn’t changing soon.

How Much Does it Cost to Insure the Volvo XC40?

The XC40’s Insurance costs are similar to many of its competitors. According to our data, a typical 30-year-old female driver with a clean record can expect an average annual premium of $1,890, though this averages all 50 states. Notably, that’s about $1,000 less than the XC40 Recharge. The gas-powered XC40’s costs compare to $2,172 for the BMW X1, $2,237 for the Audi Q3 and $2,206 for the Mercedes-Benz GLA. To get a more accurate picture of your potential insurance expenses, visit our car insurance calculator.