Luke Wikner takes delivery of our brand-new Volvo EX40 electric crossover and explains why the name might not be familiar.

Volvo EX40 Single Motor

P11D: £52,555 BiK: 2% | £18 (20%) /£36 (40%) Range: 294 miles On fleet range: 295 miles Efficiency: 3.7mpkwh

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