For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 Recharge have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The MINI SE Countryman doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
The XC40 Recharge’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The SE Countryman doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC40 Recharge are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI SE Countryman doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
Both the XC40 Recharge and SE Countryman have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC40 Recharge has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The SE Countryman’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.
The XC40 Recharge has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The SE Countryman doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the City Safety in the XC40 Recharge as “Superior.” The SE Countryman scores only 3 points and is rated only “Advanced.”
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The XC40 Recharge has a standard CTA Auto Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The SE Countryman doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the XC40 Recharge’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The SE Countryman doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The XC40 Recharge Plus/Ultimate has a standard 360-Degree Surround View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The SE Countryman only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The XC40 Recharge’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The SE Countryman doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the XC40 Recharge’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The SE Countryman doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the XC40 Recharge and the SE Countryman have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Volvo XC40 Recharge weighs 815 pounds more than the MINI SE Countryman. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.