Sudden loss of power in XC40 T5 Recharge

Faults and Technical chat for the Volvo XC40
wpv
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:36 pm

Post by wpv »

RealGoneKid wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 11:22 pm
CDR wrote: Fri May 21, 2021 9:01 pm Has it now been resolved @RealGoneKid and how many miles have you now covered?
Say three months and 1200 miles later, so far so good.
Do you know what part was used to solve problem?
It would be great to know. I'm currently travelling in Switzerland and have the turtle problem. Volvo garage says nothing showing up...but no guarantee it won't happen again. Potential loss of power on motorway not an appealing thought. XC40 phev (otherwise very pleased with it!)

---
Posts: 57
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2020 3:10 am

Post by --- »

We've had two separate problems, which I thought were the same issue, but weren't. We've had the 'traction control' light come on over speed-bumps (the more diagonal / violent / sudden drop, the more likely to happen). I thought it was the 'turtle', but it was in fact traction control light (squiggly lines).

The other issue we had was on motorways, where we would loose power at around 93-94 kph (around 57-58 mph), in pure electric mode, especially if started from a standing start. Volvo did a software update for us previously to address this, but the issue was this there. And in fact, it turns out that every XC40 PHEV will have this issue supposedly. It's in the design / engineering, so it will always be there. It's just some people notice it, and other drivers don't. This one turns out to be an issue with the gearing. It's covered elsewhere in the forums, but in short, it goes something like this: (Sorry in advance to the tech / gearbox boffins for my poor description -- just trying to keep it not-too-technical).

Gears such as 2 and 4 are for electric use, so if you're joining the motorway, pushing the electric motor, it'll stay in gear, and at that speed-point, it does the change to the next gear up (because it "has to" now, it's reached it's limit), which is a big jump, and the gearbox doesn't have the luxury of an in-between gear (e.g. "3" because that's used by the petrol motor), so it has to reduce power momentarily while changing. No smooth option under pressure. As a result, the driver feels a lack of power for 1-2 seconds. Then power resumes again.

We don't get any error or light when at around 93-94 kph when we get the lack of power -- and you won't either. It's a "design feature" of the hybrid drive-train.

Anyway, hope this helps shed light for others on the two separate issues we experience (but we live with them, and are otherwise very happy with the T5 Recharge).
MY21 XC40 T5 Twin Engine Recharge
MY21 XC40 T4 Inscription
(MY20 XC40 T4 Inscription, rejected & now returned!)
MichaelC
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2023 12:11 pm

Post by MichaelC »

8/12/23 midday North bound M6. Very heavy traffic all moving at 50mph ish in road works with occasional backups and stops. XC 40 T5 recharge nearly new. Outside (3rd) live lane accelerating from stationary when all power lost without any warning. The most awful experience. Highways and police recovered us and vehicle to safe place. Absolutely no power and then after some time car started. Volvo assist technician attended. Full downloads. Nothing could be found of the appalling sudden failure. We continued journey following technician to destination. Car goes to main agent this week. Volvo uk customer service now informed. Full emails to everyone. Left us very ill at ease and fearful. Loyal long term Volvo owners up to now! Michael.
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