Vauxhall Astra vs Volvo EC40

The Volvo EC40 costs £16,865 more than the Vauxhall Astra. For that premium it adds 100 kW faster peak rapid charging, 52 litres more boot space and 60 kW more power. The Vauxhall Astra is not just cheaper - it also offers lower energy use, 150 versus 167 Wh/km. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Vauxhall Astra comes out ahead overall.

The Vauxhall Astra is £16,865 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Vauxhall Astra comes out roughly £16,945 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 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra and 206 miles for the Volvo EC40 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Volvo EC40 goes roughly 15 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-26 minutes.

The two are within 13 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra and about 527 mm of total clearance for the Volvo EC40. The Vauxhall Astra also turns in a 0.5 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 Vauxhall Astra and 84% for the Volvo EC40. 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.