Ctek Battery Charger & Negative Connection to XC60 Chassis
 

I have a Volvo XC60 year 2016 and will connect the positive lead from the charger to the battery's positive terminal.

In accordance with Volvo's handbook the negative should be connected to the chassis and never to the battery negative.

I am seeking advice from those who have connected in this way as to where the ground point is under the bonnet as the handbook is not clear.

Wasn't obvious on my V60, so I clipped it onto the engine. So long as the current then flows via the sensing block on the battery negative terminal the charge status will be updated?

On my V60, I connected it to the nearest convenient bolt on the engine; in the case of the T6, one by the the aircon compressor. I drilled a hole in the battery box and used a rubber grommet, chopped off the ring connector to pass the wire through and crimped on another one.

I have the CTEK 7 and the same MY car. The negative is connected just behind the battery, underneath the windscreen towards the top of the firewall. If you take the cover off the battery, then the section of the panel near the wiper blade and behind the battery, you can see the chassis connecting point. It is a bit tricky to get to. There is a small panel/tray present to the nearside which obstructs easy access, that tray simply unclips and lifts out. Once out of the way it's a dead easy job to connect the lead. The CTEK's rat's tail that connects to the battery is just about long enough. I bought the optional indicator socket and it sits there flashing one of three colours and lets you know if you need to give the battery a top up, its well worth the extra couple of quid.
If you want some images just let me know and I'll sort some.

Seems like a lot of trouble when you can more easily clip the negative lead onto the engine?

Yes, I would be pleased if you could post a some of images to help me.

I want to connect the charger leads as stated and leave them in situ so that when I need to check or charge the battery I just connect the charger cable to the cable in situ saving time in the long run.

The only reason they say do not connect direct to the battery is to avoid sparks in the same physical space as the battery, where explosive hydrogen gas can be emitted.

Applies to old fashioned very simple chargers.

Modern intelligent chargers like the CTEK never create sparks when connecting as they do a soft start and gently ramp up the voltage.

So you can connect direct to the battery with no issues

Also, connect the charger to the battery first, then plug in the charger to the mains. That way there can never be a spark regardless of what charger.

Perhaps no safety issues, but direct connection to the battery bypasses the vehicle state-of-charge monitoring system and will result in confusing warning messages... on my Volvo the sensor is a series element built into the battery negative lead, hence the requirement to connect the charger negative lead to a chassis/earth point (and also why access to the battery negative terminal is not very convenient, unlike the positive terminal access). It's described in the manual.

So when down the line the Volvo owner finally has to change the battery ( after 7 +yrs?? ) as soon as they connects the new fully charged battery, on first start up they are greeted by "confusing warning messages"??? ( which can only be cleared by a dealer VIDA/DICE????)
I'm with SwissXC90 on what he says about connections, but I'd just connect to engine bolt if the negative terminal was difficult to get to.

A worrying part about running these "modern" vehicles is that using some of the "first principals" I leaned 40 years ago are sometimes the quickest ways to scrap components in these modern cars :(

Cheers
Bob