Volvo EC40 vs Volvo EX40

The Volvo EC40 costs £7,250 more than the Volvo EX40. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. The Volvo EX40 is not just cheaper - it also offers 56 miles more WLTP range. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Volvo EX40 comes out ahead overall.

The Volvo EX40 is £7,250 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £184 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 £7,250 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 206 miles for the Volvo EC40 and 242 miles for the Volvo EX40 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Volvo EX40 goes roughly 35 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-28 minutes.

The two are within 0 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 EC40 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 Volvo EC40 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. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.