• Cheaper to fuel than petrol or diesel cars
• Two battery options
• Rear- or four-wheel drive

What are the running costs?

How cheap an electric car is to run depends largely on how you charge it. Public rapid charging at peak times might cost you more than filling a car with dinosaur juice. On the other hand, charging from your home with a cheap night rate makes running and EV quite attractive.

There’s also a low rating for Benefit in Kind company car tax, making the C40 even more tempting for business users.

Both single-motor and twin-motor versions are available. As the former is around £4,000 cheaper, we suspect it will be the big seller. Though at the time of writing, it’s actually cheaper to lease via Care by Volvo, which is an interesting anomaly.

The twin motor cars get an impressive official 342-mile range from their 82kWh battery pack. Official consumption is 3.5 miles per kWh – on our test drive, we saw an indicated 3.2mi/kWh. That gives a realistic range of around 250 miles, which is very usable and almost up to the standards set by the Tesla Model 3 or Kia EV6.

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The single-motor cars have a little less range, officially 297 miles from their 69kWh battery – but they’re more efficient, with an official figure of 3.7mi/kWh. That means they should cost less to charge, at home or publicly, for the same mileage.

Servicing and warranty

Volvos come with a three-year/60,000 mile warranty. Roadside assistance, a three-year paintwork warranty and 12 years of cover against rust.

If you opt for Volvo’s Care by Volvo subscription service maintenance is bundled into the price and insurance can be added for additional money.

The battery is covered by a separate eight-year/100,000-mile warranty.

Reliability

• No recalls
• Too new for much owner feedback
• Cars with shared mechanical parts are proving reliable

Seeing as the C40 is still rather new, it’s a bit too early to tell about the reliability. The good news is that mechanically it shares a lot with the Volvo XC40 Recharge. This car has been largely blemish free, but has been subject to one recall regarding a control module.