Luke Wikner reports back on our Volvo EX40 long termer.

Report 3:

Volvo EX40 Single Motor

P11D: £52,555 BiK: 2% | £18 (20%) /£36 (40%) Range: 294 miles On fleet range: 296 miles Efficiency: 3.7mpkWh

The EX40 seems to get many admiring glances from pedestrians

It’s been business as usual this month in the XC40 Recharge (now EX40), racking up another 650+ miles sat in some of the best seats in the business. I’m still a bit baffled as to why my Bluetooth phone connection with the car sometimes has a mind of its own but more on that next time.

For the here and now, I have more of an idea of what’s going on when I’m not sat in the car, thanks to downloading and integrating the Volvo app, meaning I can see the state of charge remotely and other useful features, such as charging at specific times to benefit from cheaper electricity.

One point to note, however, is that in order to access this via your user profile – set up on the touchscreen – you will need both sets of keys that came with the car. Not unreasonably, the FW Fleet team can’t be trusted with both sets of keys (like most fleet vehicles would be supplied with) so we had to rely upon Volvo helping out. One orange master key side-by-side with the normal key later, and the full functionality of the app was ours. It’s simplicity itself to use so I’d highly recommend Volvo EV fleet drivers to follow suit, as it helps journey planning/management and just makes the EV ownership experience more efficient.

The electrically adjustable front seats are super comfy

And that includes a couple of journeys for events, fully laden with equipment and four adults. It did highlight one thing though – that despite the legroom in the back being fine when seated, actual access to it, and more specifically egress, is quite tight on the knees and the feet, so requires a kind of hip and ankle pivot to do it elegantly.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the car seems to get many admiring glances from pedestrians. It’s not a punchy colour (like the EX40 we tested recently) but it is a very attractive design, particularly from the front three-quarter angle, and has a subtlety that really appeals –representing a very tempting, less mainstream choice compared to its slightly more ubiquitous German rivals.

Report 2:

Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range RWD Plus

P11D: £38,545 BiK: 2%  Range: 296 miles On fleet range: 310 miles Efficency: 4.8mpkwh

First report:

While our new long-term EX40 may be familiar to some fleet drivers, its name might not be.

The Recharge name has now disappeared from Volvo’s price lists and though the XC40 name remains for ICE models, the XC40 and C40 Recharge have rebranded as the EX40 and EC40.

This brings the model nomenclature in line with its brilliant new younger brother, the EX30 (and new EX90), which has stolen a lot of the limelight lately – more on that comparison next time.

For now, our Ex40 Single Motor is essentially the same as the new EX30, but with a different badge at the back. That means it offers an achievable 294 miles of range and it’s incredibly comfortable too, with a heated steering wheel,  excellent front seats in a wool blend fabric (£825), and a reliable Google Maps sat-nav system.

Silver-grey appears to be the predominant colour of choice for our long-term fleet at present, and our brand-new Volvo – specified by us in ‘Silver Dawn’ – carries on the trend. It’s a very attractive ‘technical’ colour that shows off the EX40’s chunky lines nicely, and feels worth the extra £595 on top of the £52,555 list price.

Six years on from the XC40’s launch (in ICE form), the styling has aged very well, and the addition of the new grille for the Recharge BEV variants, is a subtle but well-conceived differentiator.

Luke Wikner