What 41 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin

NHTSA Vehicle Safety Complaint – 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge Plus Vehicle: 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge Plus BEV VIN: [[XXX]] Date of Incident: [XXX Approximate Mileage: [26,9333] Location: [[XXX]] – occurred while going downhill Component: Service Brakes, Electric; Parking Brake; Vehicle Speed Control Summary: I experienced complete loss of braking while driving my 2023 Volvo XC40 Recharge on a highway. One Pedal Drive was active. After coasting downhill for approximately 1.5-2 minutes with no accelerator or brake pedal input, I applied the brake pedal to slow for traffic and discovered the vehicle had no braking capability. The pedal was firm but the car did not decelerate. There were no warning lights, messages, or alerts before or during the failure. This resulted in a collision with other vehicle Damage to my vehicle to the front left etc.]. Police responded and generated report #[XXX]. Additional Details: 1. Drive mode: One Pedal Drive was ON at the time of incident. This matches the failure mode described in NHTSA Recall 25V-392 for 2020-2026 Volvo BEV/PHEV models, which warns of total brake loss after 1 minute 40 seconds of coasting in One Pedal Drive/B mode. 2. No warnings: No dashboard alerts, sounds, or messages occurred before brake failure, inconsistent with a safe design. 3. After incident: Braking function returned intermittently after the vehicle came to a complete stop, also consistent with 25V-392. 4. Recall status: My VIN currently shows no open recalls on NHTSA’s lookup tool. However, 2023 XC40 BEV is explicitly listed in NHTSA Recall 25V-392. I was never notified to disable One Pedal Drive or that my vehicle was unsafe to operate. Vehicle Status: I still have possession of the vehicle and it has not been repaired. It is available for inspection. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11744615

I pulled into a parking spot with a concrete barrier pole at a pharmacy to pick up my sister. I had my foot on the brake while she was getting into the vehicle when the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward crashing into the pole. I have also had an incident where I tried to start the vehicle and could not get the vehicle to go from park to reverse. This is concerning that there could be some faults in the electrical system, sensors or brakes.

NHTSA ODI 11741990

Driver assist failed and brakes failed when vehicle veered to left on its own..Brakes and steering failed when trying to correct failure.. Overcorrection caused vehicle to veer off road and over a sign and continue for approximately 50 feet. Vehicle is currently at State Farm towing lot. My safety and others were put at risk with "reckless" driving. The problem has not been reproduced. A State Farm claims adjuster will inspect the vehicle today 2/18/26 or tomorrow. No warning lamps or messages appeared.

NHTSA ODI 11718766

On Wednesday, July 16, 2025 I was sitting at a stop light, using the Auto Hold system. A few minutes later, my car took off and accelerated on its own and hit the rear of a truck. I hit the truck so hard as he was sitting at the light as well, it pushed his vehicle into the vehicle in front of him. I was unable to stop my Volvo, it was like it took full control over.

NHTSA ODI 11674216

On Wednesday morning [XXX] at [XXX] I was parking my 2023 Volvo XC Recharge in the parking lot on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara where I was meeting my walking group for our regular morning walk on the pier and along the waterfront. While I was slowly finishing pulling into a parking spot, with my foot solidly on the brake, the car suddenly lurched and accelerated. It jumped the parking spot wooden stop and then jumped the orange iron barrier that divides the parking lot from the pier road. It felt as if I were suddenly on a runaway horse. My instincts kicked in as the car bounced fully onto the pier road, and I immediately turned the car so that I would not crash through the other barrier on the ocean side of the pier road and dive into the ocean. I immediately drove the car back into the lot and parked it. The pier is not a standard asphalt/concrete road or lot. It is wooden beams placed one after the other. It is very bumpy and the speed limit is 10 miles per hour, but usually you cannot even drive that fast because it is so rough and bumpy. I was going the slowest you can go just before coming to a full stop in my parking spot, with my foot fully on the brake, when the sudden acceleration occurred. It is a very bumpy and uneven surface and maybe that contributed to a failure in the vehicle monitoring system or automatic braking system. I feel incredibly fortunate that this malfunction did not cause more damage than a blown tire. I am grateful there were no pedestrians or cars in the path of the car and that I was not parked on the ocean side of the parking lot. This could easily have been a fatal and catastrophic incident. My trust in the car to function properly is severely compromised. Volvo kept the car for 2 months while investigating. They said there was no malfunction, but refused to release any report substantiating their conclusion. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11637199

I went through a car wash and then pulled into the first parking spot near the vacuum cleaners. As I was braking and coming to a stop, the car suddenly lurched forward and accelerated on its own. Despite pressing the brake pedal multiple times, the car did not stop until it went about 15ft. To avoid hitting the building wall directly in front of me, I swerved to the left. The car collided with the metal pole supporting the vacuum cleaner structure, causing significant damage to the entire side of the vehicle, and also clipped the corner of the building on the right as it went through the area. There were no warning lights, messages, or other indications of an issue before the incident. I have videos of the incident from the car wash. -The issue involves unintended acceleration, potentially related to the accelerator pedal sensor (APS), throttle control system, or braking system. It may also be electrical, as similar issues in 2021 and 2022 Volvo XC40 Recharge vehicles were reported due to water damage and corrosion in the cable harness, leading to unintended APS signals. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. -The vehicle suddenly accelerated without input causing a collision. To avoid hitting a building wall in front of me, I swerved to the left, and the car struck the metal pole supporting the vacuum cleaner structure. The impact caused significant damage to the side of the car and clipped the corner of the building as well. This incident could have resulted in severe injury or damage had anyone been nearby or if the car had collided directly with the building (which held the car wash electrical panel). As it stands I have a stiff neck and some PTSD. -No, the problem has not yet been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center. It's at the collision center. -No, the vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance, etc. -No warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms appeared before/during/after the incident.

NHTSA ODI 11629892

The brake systems have failed repeatedly on this vehicle, and have been replaced by the manufacturer TWICE since purchase (April 28, 2023). Brakes continued to intermittently freeze or lose pressure, so car is now classified as a lemon. However, as we have waited months and months for the lemon process to complete, the transmission began to fail. At first, we had incidents of the car seeming to shift into neutral at speeds of 30-40 MPH. The car’s engine would rev and yet forward propulsion would become coasting. Lifting foot from accelerator and then putting fit back on would often result in the gear “catching” and the car lurching into gear. On the most recent and dangerous iteration of this transmission/engine problem, when merging onto an interstate and traveling at 45-50 MPH, I attempted to accelerate and merge. Instead of downshifting to give me more power, the car entered a seeming neutral state (both hands were on the wheel, indicator said I was in Drive). The engine revved and yet the car coasted. I was unable to pull into traffic, on a very short entrance ramp. I pulled my foot off the gas pedal, waited a second, and put it back on. The car lurched into gear and shot forward. We have stopped driving this car while awaiting Volvo’s agreed upon lemon law payout. The dealer will not fix the car, given its lemon status. The buyback company, Sedgwick, takes no responsibility. We are fortunate enough to be able to afford a new car while awaiting the payout. But had we not been able to, these transmission/engine problems could easily have caused an accident. No other person should be in danger from these cars. The service manager at our dealer states that they are in the process of multiple XC40 buybacks right now. Volvo has a problem and it is simply buying back these cars. I will list the date of the most aggregators transmission issue (the merging problem) below.

NHTSA ODI 11562233

I am reporting 2 incidents for my 2023 Volvo XC40, both involving failure of brakes to engage. The 1st incident occurred on 26 August 2023. The 2nd incident occurred on 20 September 2023. A full description of both incidents, including 2 photos of the incident scenes, is attached. The 1st incident involved a collision with a Jersey wall and crosswalk signal activation sign. Repair of the resulting damage required replacement of a mirror assembly that was destroyed and some repainting.

NHTSA ODI 11550725

The contact owns a 2023 Volvo XC40. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 30 MPH, he was approaching a stop light when he depressed the brake pedal to stop the vehicle however, the brake pedal stiffened. The contact stated that he had to apply pressure to the brake pedal when suddenly the ESC warning light, the brake warning light, the ABS warning light, and another unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact then stated that in the same instance, the RPMs inadvertently increased to 1000 without acceleration when he desperately pumped the brake pedal multiple times to stop the vehicle however, the vehicle started to decrease in speed as the vehicle proceeded through the red stop light. As a result, another vehicle crashed into the front end of the contact’s vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The driver of the other vehicle sustained an unknown injury that required medical attention. A police report was filed. The contact’s vehicle was towed to the dealer however, the contact was uninformed of the diagnoses. The vehicle was repaired. The contact notified the manufacturer by email of the failure and to inquire of a recall and the contact was informed that the VIN was included in the manufacture recall R10217. The contact stated that he then received a recall notification of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V012000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The failure mileage was approximately 300.

NHTSA ODI 11520580