Volvo EC40 Review 2024

If you want your electric SUV to have a dash more style than the norm, and you don’t mind sacrificing a little bit of practicality in order to get it, then the EC40 could be the car for you. It takes Volvo’s trademark chic styling, and throws in a coupe-like roofline for good measure.

If you only ever do short urban journeys, then you could save yourself a few quid by sticking with the entry-level Single Motor variant. The range of 300 miles is still good, and will be way more than most people need on a daily basis. However, if you do longer distances regularly, or want more of a safety net, then the Single Motor Extended Range version only costs a couple of grand more. We can’t see why anyone would need the amount of performance delivered by the Twin Motor cars, but we can see why they might want it.

As a prestige SUV with slinkier coupe-like styling, perhaps the EC40’s biggest rival is the BMW iX2. Audi’s Q4 Sportback might also be in your sights, too, and although it’s a more conventional SUV shape, the Mercedes-Benz EQA might also have plenty to say about where your money goes. Other alternatives to consider would be the Lexus UX300e or the Alfa Romeo Junior. 

The trim level of EC40 you choose governs the exact nature of finishes, colours, textiles and trim pieces your car has, and others can be specified optionally, but the possibilities seem endless, in each and every example we’ve experienced, the mix of them is both interesting and tasteful. 

The more structural bits of the cabin feel high in quality, with a good standard of plastic used, and the solid way everything is assembled gives an appealingly sturdy feel. Perhaps rivals like the BMW iX2 have the EC40 just pipped when it comes to sheer wow-factor and lustrousness, but the Volvo really isn’t far behind.

A 9.0-inch portrait orientated infotainment touchscreen sits in the centre of the EC40’s dashboard. Importantly, all the functionality you’d want is provided, including DAB radio, Bluetooth, sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

There’s much more to it than just that, though. The operating system was developed in conjunction with Google, and that brings a range of benefits: the navigation uses the latest Google Maps, Google’s voice assistance is built-in, and you can download a variety of apps through the native Google Store.

In terms of its general user-friendliness, the system is pretty impressive, with fast responses and logically arranged menus. However, we do think that a few of the more frequently used functions - such as the ventilation system - should be operable outside of the touchscreen system, and should get physical buttons and dials with which to control them.

In terms of dimensions, the Volvo EC40 is 4440mm in length, 2034mm wide (including door mirrors), and 1596mm tall. That means it’s far from being the biggest car in the compact prestige SUV class.

Nevertheless, there’s plenty of space in the front, although in fairness, you’d expect that in any modern car. In the rear seats, meanwhile, legroom is adequate if not class-leading, but headroom is more of an issue due to the sloping roofline. Passengers of six feet tall will probably just about fit, but they’ll feel quite cramped and might find themselves slouching down to seek out more space.

Carrying three in the back isn’t the most pleasurable experience, either, because not only are your rear-seat dwellers short of headroom, but they’re also short of shoulder room when sitting three abreast, and there’s not much foot space in the back, either. It’s better to think of the EC40 as a four-seater that comes with a fifth seat belt for emergencies.

Compared with its EX40 sister car, you might be surprised that the EC40’s low-slung roofline only robs it of six litres of boot space, giving a residual figure of 404 litres. That’s still not huge for the class, though. Happily, the boot space you have isn’t partially taken up by charging cables, because there’s a 31-litre ‘frunk’ under the bonnet for storing those.

The EC40 is only available as an all-electric car, but don’t go thinking that this doesn’t give you a choice of powertrains: there are actually four to choose from.

The entry-level choice is called the Single Motor, which - unsurprisingly given the name - has a single electric motor powering the rear wheels. The motor has an output of 238PS, giving a thus-equipped EC40 an official 0-62mph acceleration time of 7.3 seconds.

Next up is the Extended Range version, which has the same basic arrangement, but with a slightly bigger battery for - you guessed it - slightly more range. It also has a shade more power, punting out 252PS to the rear wheels, but the added weight of the extra battery cells means that the 0-62mph acceleration figure still stands at an identical 7.3 seconds.

Then there’s the Twin Motor version, which delivers a sizeable uplift in performance. This adds a second electric motor to the front axle, giving all-wheel drive and hiking the power output all the way up to 408PS. Predictably, the 0-62mph sprint time falls dramatically, with an official figure of 4.7 seconds. 

Completing the set is the Twin Motor Performance variant, which uses the same basic layout, but hikes the power up even further to 442PS, and at the same time trims the 0-62mph sprint time to 4.6 seconds. Like with all Volvos, the top speed is limited to 112mph on all versions of the EC40.

The only one we’ve tried so far is the non-Performance Twin Motor with 408PS. The numbers we’ve quoted suggest fairly brutal acceleration, but the reality perhaps feels even more brutal than that. All of the motors’ power and torque is served up the very instant you bury the accelerator pedal, so the off-the-mark acceleration feels nothing short of savage, and there are no gearchanges to break up the building of that bombastic velocity. It’s quite something, and why anyone would feel the need to add the Performance Pack, we have simply no idea.

The official WLTP range that your EC40 is capable of varies according to which version you buy. The entry-level Single Motor version has a 69kWh battery pack (nominal capacity, that is, which equates to 66kWh of usable capacity) and that gives it an official range of up to 300 miles. The Single Motor Long Range version has a larger 78kWh battery (75kWh usable) to give it a range of up to 346 miles, the longest that any EC40 has to offer.

The Twin Motor version’s battery is even bigger at 82kWh (79kWh usable), but the extra power sees the maximum official range drop to 340 miles, while in the Twin Motor Performance, that same battery delivers a maximum of 337 miles. It should be noted that all these figures are a wee bit superior to those of the equivalent version of the mechanically identical EX40 SUV, and that’s down to the EC40’s slightly more slippery shape.

As you might expect the EC40 is a very chilled-out way of getting around. Like with most electric cars, there’s little more than a faint whirr from the powertrain, even when it’s delivering every ounce of its devastating pace, and the effective suppression of wind- and road noise also helps keep life very peaceful, even on the motorway.

The suspension isn’t quite as quiet as the rest of the car, however. While the soft setup helps it smother road imperfections very effectively, it clonks and creaks a fair bit as it does so. The fact it’s so noticeable is probably as much to do with the shortage of other noises as it is the volume of the noise itself, but notice it you do.

If there’s one thing you can expect from a Volvo it’s peerless safety: no car manufacturer has a safety reputation like Volvo’s, and it’s been hard-earned and well-deserved over many, many years.

And as you’d expect, all versions of the C40 come stuffed with pretty much every preventative safety measure and driver assistance function you could think of. That includes autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert with rear collision warning, and adaptive cruise control with semi-autonomous driving functionality. 

The car was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2022, back when it was known as the C40 Recharge, and it achieved the full five-star rating for crash safety. That’s not hugely surprising, because every Volvo tested since 2001 has achieved the same feat, despite ever-improving safety standards.

The EC40 - and the C40 that preceded it, for that matter - are still too new to have been factored into the data (both reliability data and customer satisfaction data) that comprises the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. That means we still don’t have a clear view of how the model is rated by owners in either area.

However, if you look at the performance of Volvo in the brand standings for overall customer satisfaction (in which reliability plays a part), you’ll see that the Swedish firm sits 14th out of the 29 car makers considered. That’s a very middle-of-the-road performance in our book, so neither great nor catastrophic.

Volvo’s warranty is also very middle-of-the-road, with three years/60,000 miles of cover provided. The battery, meanwhile, is covered for eight years, 100,000 miles.

The insurance grouping system works on a scale of 1 to 50: cars that fall into group 1 are the cheapest to insure, while cars that fall into group 50 are the most expensive.

The most basic version of the EC40 sits in group 35 for insurance, while the most powerful Twin Motor versions sit in group 41. No version of the EC40 will be cheap to insure, then, but premiums shouldn’t be unreasonable compared to those of rivals, either.

Right now, you pay nothing at all in VED road tax on the Volvo EC40, and that’s by virtue of the fact that it’s an all-electric car. However, this won’t remain the case for long, because as of April 2025, the Government is set to scrap VED exemption for electric cars, meaning owners are likely to face a similar annual outlay to drivers of combustion-engined vehicles.

While its EX40 sister car is offered in three trim levels, the EC40 is marketed as a plusher, higher-end car generally, so it’s not offered in the EX’s base-level Core trim, meaning the only two available are Plus and Ultra. This means that even the base-level EC40 comes with absolutely shedloads of standard kit. This includes 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, power folding door mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, two-zone climate control, cruise control, heated front seats, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, a powered tailgate, wireless phone charging, a contrasting roof, rear privacy glass, keyless entry, front parking sensors, a hands-free powered tailgate, a powered driver’s seat, a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, and adaptive cruise control with added semi-autonomous driving functionality. You also get a heat pump, which gives more efficient heating of the cabin to preserve your car’s range in winter.

The range-topping Ultra trim gets even more, with 20-inch wheels, self-cleaning headlights, a panoramic sunroof, 360-degree cameras, a powered passenger seat, power folding head restraints, and a Harman Kardon premium sound system.

Black Edition models are also available, but these simply have black paint, black wheels and black exterior badging, along with some different interior trim. Otherwise, equipment levels are the same as on the rest of the range.