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Volvo EX40 review

Volvo EX40 switches from front to rear-wheel drive

All-wheel drive model also available

Longer range

Comfortable driving experience

Design & Powertrain

The Volvo EX40, previously called the XC40 Recharge, looks like a boxy SUV, with a wide stance and big wheels. This isn’t likely to be ideal from an aerodynamics point of view, but the benefit of the body style is practical amounts of space inside, with lots of rear legroom, a 452-litre boot, or 1,328 litres with the rear seats folded, and there’s even a front trunk (‘frunk’) to store the charging cables.

The EX40 Plus Single Motor has a 69 kWh battery (66 kWh usable capacity) and a 238 hp electric motor delivering rear-wheel drive.

Driving Experience

Most Volvos deliver a comfortable and relaxed driving experience, and the EX40 is no exception to this, with its SUV suspension successfully soaking up the majority of uneven urban road surfaces. The Volvo EX40 is also a very quiet, refined and capable motorway cruiser.

Comfortable is also the best way to describe the handling - rather than sporty or agile. The performance of the Single Motor model, with 238 hp and a 0-62 mph acceleration time of 7.3 seconds, is perfectly adequate, but the Twin Motor model offers considerably more power (408 hp), which certainly adds to the fun factor.

Unusually, there’s no choice of drive modes in the EX40, apart from ‘standard’ or ‘off-road’; these options are accessed by pressing the small cog button at the bottom right-hand corner of the touchscreen. And it’s a similar process to change the level of brake regeneration - you can’t do this via the gear selector, and there are no steering wheel-mounted paddles, so you have to go searching for buttons in touchscreen menus (via the cog button again) for ‘one pedal drive’; the options are auto, on and off. One pedal drive ‘on’ and one pedal drive ‘off’ both do what they say on the tin; if you select ‘auto’ the car decides on the level of regenerative braking itself, resulting in it braking strongly sometimes, but not at other times, so you’re left with an issue of inconsistent braking pressure.

The central touchscreen features four boxes for functions such as maps, radio, phone and car status, however you can change these by swiping the boxes to the side and selecting other ‘app’ options. Underneath the screen there’s a physical ‘home’ button, which takes you back to the four boxes, but if the screen has, for example, the window open for radio, there are no shortcut buttons to take you directly back to eg. maps; instead you have to press the home button then press the maps button.

Climate controls are located at the bottom of the touchscreen; if you want to adjust details such as where the ventilation is coming from, you need to do this on a separate climate screen, and, again, if you want to go back to eg. maps, you need to press the home button first.

The EX40 has a high driving position, which is quite common with SUVs, and there’s no start/stop button, you just get in that car, select a gear, and you’re off.

Range & Charging

The Volvo EX40 Plus Single Motor has an official combined WLTP driving range of 294 miles. You should be able to expect a real-world range of 220-240 miles depending on the time of year.

The EX40 has a heat pump, which aims to minimise any loss of driving range due to cabin heating in cold weather. It also has heated front and rear seats, and a heated steering wheel, which should also help preserve range in winter.

The EX40 Plus Single Motor has a maximum DC rapid charging rate of 130 kW, which can provide a 10% to 80% charge in 34 minutes when using public charging.

New to EVs? Elevate your charging know-how by taking a look at our charging guides: How much does it cost to charge an electric vehicle? and How long does it take to charge an electric car?

Price and Model Range

The Volvo EX40 Plus Single Motor costs £52,555. The EX40 is available with three trim levels: Core, Plus and Ultimate, and in Single Motor from, delivering 238 hp of power, or with Twin Motors giving 408 hp. There’s also the EC40, a ‘fastback crossover’ version of the EX40 SUV, which has the same choices in terms of trim levels and single or twin motors.

Conclusion

There’s very little to fault the Volvo EX40. It’s comfortable, refined and spacious. The main change for 2024 is the move to rear-wheel drive, which Volvo claims helps to increase the driving range, as well as eliminating wheelspin and torque steer, and it makes the car more rewarding to drive, even though the driving experience may not be particularly exciting in 238 hp Single Motor form. However the EX40 in 408 hp Twin Motor guise, which delivers the added traction of all-wheel drive, offers impressive performance, and a reasonable amount of fun.

Equipment Highlights

  • Google built-in

  • Air purifier

  • Harman Kardon Premium Sound

  • 360° camera

  • Cross traffic alert

  • Volvo Cars app

  • Automatic over the air updates