• Vegan interior options
• Android infotainment
• Doesn’t feel as plush as it should in some areas

How is the quality and layout?

The C40 is an almost entirely vegan-friendly car on the inside – it uses no leather, and aims to minimise the use of animal products wherever possible (though some are almost unavoidable, such as the use of tallow in plastic manufacturing). 

Upholstery is largely wool-based, or uses microfibre spun from recycled plastic bottles. It’s not as nasty to sit on as it sounds.

You also get 3D-printed and backlit dashboard panels in place of the faux-aluminium ones on the XC40. They look a bit rubbish in the daylight but really come alive when lit up at night, making for a very cool effect.

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Infotainment and tech

The C40 runs Volvo’s latest infotainment software, which is based on Android Automotive – a Google product. That means the more you commit to Google’s own ecosystem, the better the infotainment gets – from the built-in Google Maps optimising routes more effectively, to the natural voice commands which are better than any OEM system we’ve used before.

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It also opens the door to a whole host of Android apps being available to download from the Play Store in future, which will update over-the-air. Unfortunately, some popular ones like Waze aren’t available at the time of writing. If you’re more of an Apple than Google fan, CarPlay is standard.

Comfort

• Quiet
• Supportive seats
• High driving positioning

Despite the coupe looks, you sit high up in the C40 like a full-fat SUV. This means it’s easy to see out the front, if not the rear.

The seats are comfortable and supportive. Just the right amount of padding and cushioning. There’s no sport variant, so don’t count on bucket seats. Refinement is excellent – the C40’s slippery shape helps reduce wind noise, and you only get a little from the large door mirrors.