Mercedes-Benz GLB vs Volvo EX40

The Mercedes-Benz GLB costs £6,490 more than the Volvo EX40. For that premium it adds 120 kW faster peak rapid charging, 130 litres more boot space and 2 more seats (7 versus 5). On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Mercedes-Benz GLB comes out ahead overall.

The Volvo EX40 is £6,490 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 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 £6,450 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 268 miles for the Mercedes-Benz GLB and 242 miles for the Volvo EX40 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Mercedes-Benz GLB goes roughly 27 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 20 minutes in the Mercedes-Benz GLB and 28 in the Volvo EX40, so the Mercedes-Benz GLB loses less time at each stop. That makes the Mercedes-Benz GLB the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 12 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 539 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz GLB and about 527 mm of total clearance for the Volvo EX40.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Mercedes-Benz GLB and 84% for the Volvo EX40. 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.