2022 Volvo XC40 vs Honda HR-V

What's the difference?

In such a rapidly evolving electric car space, the XC40 Recharge definitely finds its place. To me, this is a more appealing offering than something like the similarly equipped and priced Mercedes-Benz EQA, with the Recharge feeling particularly coherent for an EV on a combustion platform.

With the healthy range, easy-to-use tech, and impressive performance on offer, I can see how the sums might add up against its less-premium long-range rivals, especially since the price is not so much higher that it might rule it out for first-time adopters.

However, it would be nice to see a trimmed back version in the future with a more efficient 2WD drivetrain and smaller battery option to put price pressure on rivals, particularly the likes of the also design led and much larger Hyundai Ioniq 5. Until then, you can always wait for the similar Polestar 2, which brings much of the same in an interesting package, arriving early in 2022.

You could look at the 2022 HR-V and think that Honda has taken a step back.

After all, there’s less space in the boot, there’s one less seat and the prices have – at first glance – gone up.

In reality though, the HR-V, especially in this e:HEV L form, offers up a genuine rival to Toyotas, Mazdas and Kias that dominate the small SUV space.

The 2022 HR-V is a properly handsome car, the hybrid powertrain is miserly on fuel, and the handling characteristics are honestly pretty fantastic.

It’s been a while since I’ve driven an XC40, and although this car launched back in 2018, it is ageing very well. The exterior is still as sleek as ever, having been slightly and tastefully tweaked for this fully electric version, and the interior remains, in my opinion, one of the best examples of design in the entire small SUV market.

Starting from the outside, though, one thing I’ve always liked about Volvo’s current design ethos is how it doesn’t try to scream about its alleged performance or how prepared for the future is. It’s quiet, elegant, and understated, with confident lines, gentle but meaningful highlights, tasteful wheel designs, and sturdy proportions.

Yet none of this makes the XC40 anonymous; it’s still striking to appreciate, set well apart from the designs of other brands. It slots seamlessly into Volvo’s very attractive line-up of SUVs, and I dare say it will continue to look good for years to come.

The car’s interior only builds on this theme, with an attractive and well-proportioned dash design, premium-feeling materials throughout, and heavy digitisation via the portrait media screen and digital dash cluster.

The seat designs continue the comfortable and attractive motifs of Volvos past, while the newer design elements - like the carpet lining in the doors (constructed of recycled plastics, no less) and the ‘cutting edge’ pattern that makes up the highlight cutaways - set it apart from rivals.

The abundance of piano-black gloss highlight panelwork looks classy, but you should keep in mind how easy it is for materials like this to get covered in fingerprints. Dust and scratches always stand out, too.

Regardless, the interior has a sense of balance and flow that mirrors this car’s exterior, and the commitment to a cohesive feel for the interior and exterior is to be applauded.

The only thing I will note is how the portrait touchscreen has dated. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an excellent design element, but at 9.0-inches it doesn’t feel as striking as it did just a few years ago, now that many vehicles are offering massive 10 or even 12-inch multimedia panels.

If you close your eyes for a second and think of the best-looking Hondas of all time, I bet the likes of the first-generation NSX, S2000 and two-door Integra come to mind.

And while this new HR-V design doesn’t quite match the heights of Honda in the 90s, it’s certainly a significant step in the right direction compared to the car it replaces.

Gone is the slightly derivative styling and pudgy proportions, replaced with a much more taut, muscular and confident body.

The new grille design is of particular note, as it melds the intakes with the bumper and, when combined with the sleek headlights, makes the HR-V look like it could be from the future.

From the side, the new HR-V retains the hidden door handles of its predecessor, which pays homage to the three-door SUV shape available in the first-generation car.

The long bonnet, short overhangs and sloping window line also give this Honda a particularly athletic appearance, while the 18-inch wheels are also just about big enough to fill the arches, and feature an interesting enough design.

The rear end is dominated by the latest automotive design trend of connected tail-lights, but the relatively flat bootlid and clean aesthetic give the HR-V a really modern look.

The bootlid spoiler is also a nice touch, while this car’s contrasting kick plate adds to the illusion of its off-road credentials.

Inside, the HR-V also adopts a cleaner aesthetic – much like its Civic sibling – centred on a large 9.0-inch central touchscreen multimedia system, which thankfully features a physical volume control knob.

There are some cool design touches here too, like air vent switches with settings for open, close and diffusion, and touch-operated roof lights.

The best part of the interior, however, is fit, finish and feel. All the touch points are soft and there’s just a solid weight to everything. It’s probably no coincidence that all new Australian HR-Vs are now sourced from Japan.

To us, the new HR-V is a stunner. The styling is more mature and confident than before, and between this and the new-gen Civic, Honda’s design department seems to have rediscovered its mojo.

The XC40 is in a bit of a Goldilocks-zone when it comes to the size of a ‘small-SUV’ (which, unlike the mid-size hatch segment, is not very well defined). This grants it a healthy amount of cabin space for four adult occupants, as I can fit myself with comfortable knee room and plenty of headroom behind my own driving position, despite a seemingly taller floor.

The seats are comfortable regardless of where you sit, and there are big bottle holders in the door and two stepped ones in the centre console. There’s a wireless phone-charging bay under the multimedia unit, with some extra space for objects, and a decently sized armrest console box, with an odd little removable box.

The cool carpet trim continues to line the bottom of the bottle holder in the door. Don’t spill anything there. It will be a nightmare to get out.

Adjustability and visibility is excellent for the front passengers, too, and although the climate functions and most of the multimedia system has moved to touch functions, I’ll hand it to the layout of this Volvo’s touchscreen for being one of the easiest on the market to use.

Boot space is down a little on combustion variants at 418-litres (VDA), and the Recharge makes up for it by swapping an otherwise busy engine bay out for a frunk, which not every combustion-platformed electric car manages. It measures in at 31L. There is even some underfloor space in the boot for your charging paraphernalia, although you only get a tyre-repair kit rather than a space-saver spare wheel for emergencies.

From the outside, aside from the styling, the 2022 Honda HR-V doesn’t seem like its changed all that much – it’s still a practical five-door small SUV, right?

And from the front seat, the new HR-V paints a very familiar picture.

There is plenty of room for the driver and front passenger, the seats have plenty of adjustability, and there’s storage for your water bottle, wallet and phone.

There’s even an underarm storage cubby that’s deep enough for you to lose some spare change or throw a charging cable or two into.

However, from the second row, the story really starts to change – especially compared with the outgoing model.

Whereas the old HR-V was classed as a five-seater, the 2022 version has seating for only four.

This is due to the middle ‘seat’ fouling Australia’s unique design rules for what can be classified as a seat, and does not have a seat belt.

How much would you’d actually use the middle seat if there was a seat belt there? That’s for you to decide, but it’s certainly a deal-breaker for some families.

Regardless, the two outboard seats offer heaps of leg- and shoulder-room, and our head can just about squeeze in comfortably without hitting the roof.

It’s certainly comfortable enough, and there’s a bottle holder in the door and air vents here to keep you comfortable, while the lack of centre seat means second-row passengers can have a full-time armrest with extra cupholders.

There’s also USB ports and backseat map pockets with a handy phone sling, so you don’t have to go reaching all the way down to get your mobile.

One saving grace for the rear seats, however, is the inclusion of Honda’s versatile ‘Magic Seats’, which allows you to fold the base of the rear seats up to accommodate taller objects like house plants.

The rear seats can also fold flat, creating a 1274 litre boot space, which measures just 304L with the rear seats upright.

This makes the 2022 HR-V’s boot smaller than the outgoing model, which could accommodate about 100-130 litres more, and even smaller than rivals like the Toyota C-HR and Mazda CX-30.

In fact, so small is the new HR-V’s boot, it’s even smaller than the Jazz light hatchback that was discontinued in 2020 – so don’t expect to see this small HR-V hauling timber from Bunnings or flat-packed furniture from Ikea.

You might be shocked to see the new-generation HR-V kicks off with the Vi X grade for $36,700 driveaway, while this top-spec e:HEV L is positioned at $45,000.

With the previous-generation car kicking off from $31,300 and topping out at $41,000, it would seem like the new HR-V has jumped up quite substantially in price, right?

Well, Honda Australia’s new strategy is to slim down the range, and offer a few, highly-specified grades that it knows are more popular than others, hence the number of options for the HR-V going from five to just two.

Also keep in mind that these are driveaway, no-more-to-pay prices, whereas its rivals, like the Toyota C-HR, Mazda CX-30 and Kia Niro that all start at around $30,000, are quoted before on-road costs.

Once you do the math, you’ll find the cost of all these small SUVs to be surprisingly close.

Honda Australia has tried to offset the increased pricing with a boat load of equipment though, with standard features that include automatic headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, fabric interior, LED daytime running lights, rear privacy glass, push-button start and a 7.0-inch drive display.

Handling multimedia duties is a 9.0-inch touchscreen that allows for wireless Apple CarPlay. Unfortunately, for Android users, you’ll need a cable to make use of Android Auto.

The multimedia set-up in the base car also features satellite navigation, but there are only four speakers throughout the cabin.

Stepping up to the more expensive e:HEV L nets buyers a powered tailgate, heated steering wheel, leather-accented cabin, automatic wipers, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, active cornering lights and an extra two speakers to better pump the tunes.

Of course, it’s the hybrid powertrain that makes the top-spec HR-V jump up so much in price, but we’ll go into more detail about this in the powertrain section of this review.

While the equipment list is long and extensive for the Vi X, there are some notable omissions on the top-spec e:HEV L that make its $45,000 pricetag a bit harder to swallow.

Namely, where are the cooled seats, wireless smartphone charger, head-up display, sunroof and electronic seat adjustment?

Browsing the optional extras, at least one of these things can be added in, but the wireless phone-charger kit will add another $640 to the pricetag. Come on, Honda!

The XC40 Recharge is ridiculously powerful for its size class. It’s nearly twice as powerful as the nearest combustion version of this car and packs a Tesla-rattling punch from its dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup.

It’s always nice to see something with more power than it needs, especially with all the added weight of its massive 78kWh battery pack.

On offer are two motors offering 150kW/330Nm each, combining for a total of 300kW/660Nm. The XC40 Recharge will accelerate from 0-100km/h in just 4.9 seconds and has a single-speed reduction gear transmission.

While having the full-fat performance and security of all-wheel drive helps justify the cost of this SUV, it has drawbacks when it comes to efficiency, which we’ll explore next.

Under the bonnet of the HR-V e:HEV L you’ll find a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, but Honda has also thrown in two electric motors to make this car a hybrid.

In total, there is 96kW of power and 253Nm of torque available, making it competitive against its rivals for potency, but the bigger benefit of this hybrid set-up is in its lower fuel consumption figure.

Meanwhile, the Vi X forgoes the electric motors and is powered exclusively by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

The entry-level HR-V manages to muster up 89kW of power and 145Nm of torque – and if that sounds a little underpowered, it’s because it is.

Compared to rivals like the Toyota C-HR and Mazda CX-30, the cheapest HR-V is well down on power and torque as all its competitors make use of larger engines or a turbocharger for a bit more grunt.

Whichever HR-V engine you end up with, both are paired to a continuously variable transmission that sends drive to the front wheels.

Powering the XC40 is a 78kWh battery pack, which grants this all-wheel drive an officially rated 418km of driving range. This is more than enough for an EV, although this car’s sister product, the Polestar 2, uses the same motors in 2WD with significantly more range from the same battery.

The XC40’s consumption is higher than I would like, with an official/combined consumption figure of 25.5kWh/100km. For a bit of perspective, most EVs this size will get under 20, with the best I’ve ever seen being the FWD Kona electric, which scored just 11kWh/100km.

In my testing of the XC40, consisting of mainly urban driving (where EVs are at their best, courtesy of their use of regenerative braking) I scored 21.3kWh/100km. Better than the official claim by quite a bit.

The XC40 Recharge has a European-standard Type 2 CCS charging port, and can charge at a maximum rate of 150kW on DC, or 11kW on AC.

At maximum DC-charging speed, you can expect a 10-80 per cent charge in around 40 minutes, while at the more common 50kW DC charging locations, you can expect a charge in just over an hour. At maximum AC speed, 11kW at a home or car park AC location, you can expect a full charge in around eight hours, and a wall socket will charge the car from empty to 100 per cent in around 33 hours.

Charging specs are bang-on for a car in this class, as 22kW AC charging is extremely rare, while a DC-charging rate higher than 150kW generally requires more elaborate and expensive cooling systems.

Officially this HR-V e:HEV L will return a fuel consumption figure of just 4.3 litres per 100km, helped by its petrol-electric hybrid powertrain.

This figure not only beats out the petrol-only Mazda CX-30 line-up, but also matches the Toyota C-HR Hybrid for frugality.

In our time with the HR-V e:HEV L, we actually managed to match the 4.3L/100km claim with a healthy mix of inner-city and freeway driving.

Very rarely do fuel consumption claims translate to a real-world setting, so it's heartening to see that the Honda HR-V living up to what’s promised on the box.

The petrol-only Vi X meanwhile, wears an official fuel consumption figure of 5.8L/100km, but having not yet driven that car, we cannot comment on the accuracy of that claim.

For a car that shares its underpinnings with a combustion vehicle, there are a lot of little things the XC40 does right which its rivals don’t. It starts as soon as you hop in. Like Teslas, Volvo has quite correctly removed the need for an ignition, you just hop in, put the car in drive, and you’re ready to go. This combines with four-door keyless entry for a great first impression.

The Google integrated services are all sleek too, not really requiring phone mirroring, again in a similar fashion to the Tesla model 3. Just chuck your phone in the charging bay, and you’re good to go with a Bluetooth connection.

The software suite has also improved out of sight, and while I’m never a fan of 90 per cent of a vehicle's functions being moved onto a screen, at least this Volvo does a great job of making all the climate settings easy to use with the portrait layout. As is inputting an address, should you need to use the navigation.

The driving position is immediately excellent, offering a superior view of the road from such a relatively small vehicle, with a high but not unsettling seating arrangement. Take off is nice and smooth with both axles providing power, and the XC40 Recharge has a single, aggressive regenerative-braking system, which can be entirely switched off if need be. The regen system is similar to the one in my Nissan Leaf long termer and is generally lovely to use.

The steering is generally nice and smooth and lending this little SUV some meaningful feedback, although it is a little overly electrically assisted for more spirited cornering, removing some of the feel from the front wheels at the extremes.

The ride is also firm, something the XC40 range is known for, especially compared to the softer ride of other Volvo models. This isn’t helped by this car’s weight. While things are generally very well controlled, road conditions like corrugations and sharp imperfections can really find their way into the cabin in the worst possible way. That having been said, undulations and bodyroll are kept remarkably under control, and traction from the all-wheel-drive system is also Tesla-like in its grip.

The cabin is very quiet around town, leading to a sense of security and comfort, but I was a little disappointed to find tyre roar really picks up at freeway speeds, perhaps courtesy of the large wheels and burdened dampers.

On a final note, for a car with such a quiet demeanour, the straight-line performance is ridiculous. Press the accelerator down and this car will seriously throw you into the back of your seat, reminding you of the huge potential of its electric motors. Suddenly the sub-five-second 0-100km/h sprint time becomes visceral.

Ultimately, this is a little SUV that has only been improved by electrification from behind the wheel, bringing some of that Tesla-like convenience and performance to a car which you might not expect to have such virtues. It could use a little sandpapering in a few areas, but it’s impressive for something that isn’t on a bespoke electric platform.

How do you think a small SUV should drive on the road? To us, I want something that is easy to use with great visibility and a minimal number of rattles and squeaks.

And this Honda HR-V absolutely delivers.

Let’s start with the powertrain. On paper this HR-V e:HEV L’s outputs are nothing to write home about, but out in the real world, there is plenty of gusto to come off the line briskly.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not going to blow away hot hatches or even most turbocharged cars, but accelerating up to 60km/h isn’t an exercise in testing your patience.

The powertrain is also a smart one, able to switch EV, hybrid and engine mode depending on what is required in any given situation.

The switchover from EV to petrol power is also smooth and seamless, there’s no jerkiness or clunkiness here, it all just works exactly how, and when, you want it to.

In fact, if you had your music pumping at head-bobbing levels, we’d wager you wouldn’t even know whether the petrol engine or electric motors were at work, save for the ‘EV’ indicator light on the instrumentation.

The CVT in this HR-V also does a fairly decent job, and for the most part fades into background of the driving experience – which is a good thing.

When flat-footing it, the HR-V does get a bit revvy and harsh, but for the most part, and especially during inner-city journeys, this car is a delight.

The steering is also very nicely weighted, and there’s a connection between the wheel and what’s happening underneath that’s rare to see in this class of car.

It means the HR-V is genuinely fun to pilot, whether ducking into an on-street park or navigating a series of S bends on a country road. What a pleasant surprise!

Each third-generation HR-V comes fitted as standard with Honda’s Sensing suite of driver-assist technologies.

This means advanced driver assist technologies like autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera, traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning are included.

However, buyers will need to step up to the e:HEV L grade for rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitoring – two features that should really be included across the range, especially because some rivals, like the Mazda CX-30 and Toyota CH-R include them as standard.

At the time of filming, Honda’s new HR-V is yet to be tested by ANCAP, but Euro NCAP has handed it a four-star crash-test rating.

While scoring a respectable 82 per cent in the adult occupant protection test, the HR-V scored less in the child occupant, vulnerable road user and safety assist categories.

While a four-star rating certainly doesn’t make the new HR-V unsafe for you and your family, it lags behind the five-star safety of rivals, such as the Mazda CX-30 and Toyota C-HR.

Volvo models are covered by a five-year and unlimited-kilometre factory warranty, which is ahead of many rivals (like Audi and BMW) in the premium space. The high-voltage battery components are covered for the industry standard eight years and unlimited kilometres.

Volvo says the electric motors in the XC40 are ‘sealed for life’ and have no serviceable components, although other fluids, brakes, and minor serviceable items need to be attended to. The XC40 is covered by a service program that lasts for the first three years or 100,000km, normally at a cost of $1500, which is included in the purchase price for the Recharge.

A five-year service plan (which normally comes at a cost of $2500 for combustion variants) will also extend to the Recharge, although pricing has not yet been announced. With less to look after, the XC40 Recharge only needs to visit a service tech once every 30,000km or 24 months.

Like all new Hondas sold in Australia in 2022, the HR-V comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Scheduled service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first, which is a bit less mileage than the industry standard of 12 months/15,000km.

However, all of Honda’s vehicles now fall under its ‘5 Low Price Services’ scheme, which means each service for the first five years will only cost $125.

This means that the first five years of ownership should only set buyers back $625 – and this price applies to the hybrid and non-hybrid engine of the HR-V.

What’s even better, however, is that this makes the 2022 HR-V cheaper to maintain than the CX-30, C-HR and Niro.