Volvo C40 Recharge review

And now we can say, with some confidence, just how few Volvo C40 Recharge owners are likely to notice the difference when this car does make that switch. This is a car with plenty of Volvo-typical strengths, although an unlikely one to be a default choice for anyone comparing EVs rivals on paper for reasons we’ll get to. But, like a lot of Volvos in general and plenty of electric cars more widely, it doesn’t invite much driver engagement. Its performance and handling are of the kind for which descriptors like ‘fine’ and ‘okay’ could have been coined. But it’s comfy, quiet, pleasant, well equipped and reasonably practical - and, being reasonably compact too, it is also fairly easy to manoeuvre and park.

The C40 is the lower-roofed, swoopier-looking crossover coupé silbling car of the Volvo XC40 compact SUV. I’ve often been stuck to find good rational reasons why someone might buy similar cars, whether in connection with one of Audi’s Sportback SUVs or a BMW X4 or a Porsche Cayenne Coupé, but the age of electrification seems to be making it a little bit easier.

Volvo says the single-motor C40 gets 4% better electric range on the motorway than the equivalent XC40 thanks to its more aerodynamic body design, which the WLTP lab test range numbers seem to confirm. Four per cent isn’t much, especially on a car that declined to promise more than 180 available miles on a full charge at any point during our testing. (Around town, you might just see 200 miles, and likewise in slightly warmer conditions than during our time with the car.) 

But, where range is concerned at least, more is definitely more, which is one reason to buy the swoopier model. Unfortunately for Volvo, several of the C40’s rivals offer more battery capacity for similar money and would more dependably carry you 200 miles and farther between charges, whatever your route and the prevailing weather.

On the road, the C40 drives with plenty of accessible acceleration. It doesn’t feel hyper-sensitive to throttle inputs, nor does it flood its front wheels with so much torque as to trouble the traction control very often, or bring on much steering corruption. It’s easy to drive and assured of character. Even around the national speed limit, though, it has decent overtaking urge, and at low speeds, while regenerative braking and pedal feel can be a bit inconsistent, it’s not a hard car to drive smoothly.