Auto start stop function
 

Just bought a new XC40 B4 awd and the auto start stop disable button has been removed. The garage didn’t know anything about it and there was no information from Volvo to state this. They have since updated their on-line manual, after I had received the car. So if you don’t want to have this function constantly active, the only choice is not to buy one. Disappointing.

Can you not still disable the Start/Stop function in the function view on the centre display?

Exmpa

I didn't believe this so I checked the manuals and AlexXC40 is correct.

Drive in Dynamic mode, that disables stop/start.

AlexXC40 is correct insofar as the removal of the centre console switch is concerned, but the manual still tells you how to switch stop/start off from the centre display.

The removal of the switch is wholly logical as it’s sole function was probably to send a signal to the processor.

Exmpa

What about handbrake on, foot off the brake?

The online manual was recently updated to show the removal of the button from the centre console, but not until after I received the car. Dynamic mode does help the situation but not the fuel consumption. Doesn’t really matter about hand brake being on or off as the car decides itself upon engine power draw more than anything else, like air con etc.
Sorry exmpa, not sure what you mean by why this removal is wholly logical?
You cannot switch this function off from the centre console anymore. How many other XC40 versions this applies to I do not know.
It all depends on what type of driving you do whether or not this is an issue for you. Living in the city it does help the co2 emmissions, which is why it’s there, but I live in a rural location. Sitting at a busy junction or at a roundabout with the engine off doesn’t fill you with confidence for entry into fast moving traffic. One day the car will not start again, that’s my worry.

Alex I see it as an application of technology. I was trained to fly in the 1960s, the technology was pretty much WW2 and even aircraft with fairly simple systems had separate switches and gauges for everything. The result was a crowded ergonomic slum. By the time I retired the flight deck of even quite complex aircraft looked decidedly sparse. There were still buttons and switches but in the main their function was to reconfigure systems after a malfunction. If they were used routinely it was usually a case of switch on before start then leave them alone.

Now, it has effectively been decided for us by our elders and betters that the default setting for Stop/Start is On. If we are perverse enough to want to disable the system it is still positive do so by entering the command via the centre screen. We are permitted to do this “pre-flight” . So, why is it necessary to access control of the system “in flight”? It saves money to delete a physical switch that only signals a processor anyway, it doesn’t signal the ECU directly.

I’m probably conditioned by my background as I went through enormous change in my working life. We have really only started down this path in cars in the last 10 years. A prime example is the way an Airbus cons you into thinking it’s a conventional aircraft when you go into the landing flare.

You mention the car failing to start, I would suggest the incidence of this is low and non- critical. Electronic parking brakes have been known to fail “On” but manufacturers haven’t left a mechanical handle in place as an option.

I’m afraid that like it or not it’s “Progress “

Exmpa

You must be reading the wrong manual. They have removed the option to turn it off from the centre display. There never was a physical switch to my knowledge.

The removal of stop/start off is most likely due to the Government emission tests which keep changing .. if they had put that function in on that model year you would have been in the higher tax band no doubt .

That is why the early stop start cars never had an OFF button to keep the car within the tax band, it was that marginal . some of the earlier cars with an OFF provision were probably well within the emission limits and had room to spare .