Hyundai IONIQ 5 vs Volvo EX40

The Hyundai IONIQ 5 costs £1,085 more than the Volvo EX40. For that premium it adds 60 kW faster peak rapid charging and 110 litres more boot space. The Volvo EX40 is not just cheaper - it also offers 82 miles more WLTP range, 60 kW more power and a 1.2s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 comes out ahead overall.

The Volvo EX40 is £1,085 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £160 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Volvo EX40 comes out roughly £965 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 228 miles for the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 242 miles for the Volvo EX40 - 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 18 minutes in the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 28 in the Volvo EX40, so the Hyundai IONIQ 5 loses less time at each stop.

The two are within 17 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 527 mm of total clearance for the Volvo EX40 and about 510 mm of total clearance for the Hyundai IONIQ 5. The Volvo EX40 also turns in a 1.0 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 89% battery health for the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and 84% for the Volvo EX40. That gives the Hyundai IONIQ 5 a modest edge in retained real-world range. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.