DS N°4 vs Volvo C40 Recharge

The Volvo C40 Recharge costs £11,360 more than the DS N°4. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the DS N°4 comes out ahead overall.

The DS N°4 is £11,360 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the DS N°4 comes out roughly £11,480 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 232 miles for the DS N°4 and 227 miles for the Volvo C40 Recharge - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 29 minutes in the DS N°4 and 37 in the Volvo C40 Recharge, so the DS N°4 loses less time at each stop.

The DS N°4 is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 33 mm narrower than the Volvo C40 Recharge. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 570 mm of total clearance for the DS N°4 and about 537 mm of total clearance for the Volvo C40 Recharge. The DS N°4 also turns in a 0.6 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the DS N°4 and 84% for the Volvo C40 Recharge. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.