Volvo EX40

Revamp for this upmarket electric SUV brings a new name and a larger battery option On sale April Price from £46,505

LIFE COULDN’T HAVE started much better for the Volvo XC40. Just three months after its launch in early 2018, it had already won the What Car? Car of the Year award and (cough cough) the far less important European Car of the Year trophy. Good to drive, plush inside and ultra-desirable, this family SUV made the BMW X1 and Mercedes-benz GLA of the time seem almost agricultural.

So, when an all-electric version was announced a couple of years later, our hopes were sky high. Sadly, the XC40 Recharge never quite delivered on its initial promise. Sure, it had the same lavish and family-friendly interior as its petrol-powered sibling, but it was expensive, the range between charges was nothing special and efficiency was downright disappointing.

Some improvements were needed, and while we’ve waited a long time for them, they are at least significant. To boost efficiency, the electric motor in the Single Motor version has been moved from the front axle to the rear, meaning a switch from front to rear-wheel drive. The theory is that because the front wheels already have the job of steering the car, it’s better to delegate the task of propelling the car along to the rears.

This has helped to improve the maximum distance it can cover between charges, as has the introduction of a larger, 79kwh battery (up from 75kwh). The maximum range is currently 332 miles (from 271 miles), although that’s because, as it stands, the only way to get the big battery is to go for the heavier (and much faster) four-wheel-drive Twin Motor. In our real-world tests – on a wet and windy day with the temperature hovering around 10deg C – this version managed 232 miles on a full charge.

A Single Motor Extended Range will soon be offered, combining the 79kwh battery with rear-wheel drive for a probable range of more than 350 miles. Meanwhile, the cheapest Single Motor variant has a slightly smaller battery than before (66kwh rather than 67kwh), although better efficiency means the range has improved slightly (294 miles versus 264).

With all of this comes a name change to EX40, although this won’t take place until April; before then, you get the new tech but the old XC40 Recharge badge. The larger battery also brings faster charging (at rates of up to 205kw), so a 10-80% top-up can potentially be taken care of in less than half an hour.

The numbers are strong, then, but what’s the new car like to drive? So far, we’ve only tried the Twin Motor, so the answer is: much the same as before. Acceleration is still more akin to a theme park ride than most family SUVS; put your foot down hard at a standstill and you’ll rocket to 62mph in just 4.8sec. That’s way faster than any Audi Q4 e-tron, if not quite as ballistically quick as the Kia EV6 GT and Tesla Model Y Performance.

Less impressive is ride comfort, which is still a bit choppy – noticeably more so than in petrol versions of the XC40. And despite that ferocious acceleration, the Recharge doesn’t appreciate being asked to carry big speeds into corners; it feels heavy (that’s no illusion) and the steering fails to provide a reassuring sense of connection to the front wheels.

We suspect the Single Motor and Extended Range will make more sense, partly because their prices are more palatable. Officially, the EX40 starts at £46,505, but at the time of writing, Volvo was offering a massive £7003 discount on the updated XC40 Recharge. There are some compelling deals for those buying on finance, too – enough to make your monthly payments similar to those for an equivalent EX30, Volvo’s brand new (and much smaller) electric SUV.

And who really needs sports car levels of acceleration from their family-friendly SUV? So, while the EX40 has to get three stars for the time being, there’s every chance that wider experience of the new line-up will lead us to award a higher rating.