2023 Volvo XC40 Exterior and Dimensions

Although it's been around for a few years now, the XC40 remains one of the more attractive crossovers in this segment. It's got a more youthful personality than larger Volvos, but it retains that sense of Swedish sophistication and restraint. The Core models come with 18-inch alloy wheels, power-folding door mirrors, bright aluminum roof rails, a black grille with vertical slats and a chrome surround, black lower side-window trim, and LED headlights. Higher in the range, the XC40's cabin is flooded with natural light thanks to a laminated panoramic moonroof. The Plus and Ultimate trims can be had in a choice of Bright or Dark Theme for the exterior. The former has a grille with chromed vertical slats and a chrome surround, as well as metallic finishes for the lower front and rear valances, the lower side window trim, and the roof rails, while the latter has a black mesh grille and gets black-out treatment for all the mentioned exterior trim items.

The Ultimate has larger 19-inch alloy wheels and high-gloss black exterior trim. Volvo offers some 20-inch wheel options for the Plus and Ultimate for between $800 and $1,475, and we love how they look on the XC40. The XC40 Recharge gets 19-inch wheels, even on its Core trim level, along with a smooth body-color panel in place of a grille. On all XC40 Plus and Ultimate models, LED foglights with a cornering function are standard. The Recharge Plus optionally gets access to flashy five-spoke diamond-cut 20-inch wheels; these are standard on the Recharge Ultimate.

The XC40 slots into the subcompact luxury crossover segment with dimensions of 65 inches in height, 174.8 inches in length, and 80.1 inches in width including the mirrors - and 75.2 inches without. The wheelbase is 106.4 inches long. The Recharge shares identical dimensions but its electric components also make it far heavier. Whereas the gas-only FWD XC40s vary from 3,627 to 3,726 pounds in front-wheel-drive B4 guise and maxes out at 3,837 to 3,861 pounds in the all-wheel-drive B5 configurations, the AWD XC40 Recharge weighs between 4,679 and 4,741 lbs.

Although it doesn't have the ground clearance of a Land Rover, the XC40 was never intended to be a serious off-road vehicle - Recharge models get 6.7 to 6.9 inches while that of gas models vary from 8.1 to 8.3 inches.