Volvo’s ageing mid-size electric SUV gets a name change. Does that help bring it back on trend?
They’ve rebadged it, you fool! This Partridgism was originally shouted about the Rover 100, but we’re using it here as shorthand to explain the new Volvo EX40.It is, in fact, virtually mechanically identical to the electric version of the Volvo XC40, the Recharge.The name change is to bring it in line with the rest of Volvo’s electric SUV range, such as the forthcoming Volvo EX90.The ‘Recharge’ tag will be binned, but the XC40 moniker will survive purely for the petrols.This means the EX40 will get a small-battery (66kWh) single-motor 235bhp rear-wheel-drive model and a large-battery (79kWh) 402bhp four-wheel-drive model.There is now a Performance Pack for the 4WD model, which ups power to 436bhp.The EX40’s rivals are the same as the XC40 Recharge’s too. The Skoda Enyaq shares the EX40’s straight-laced demeanour, the BMW iX1 is perhaps aiming for a slightly younger audience, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 is a lot zanier and the Tesla Model Y is thoroughly different throughout.As you can see from the photos, we have only driven the EX40 on snow and ice with studded Michelin X-Ice tyres.So these are our initial impressions, tied in with our extensive knowledge of the XC40 Recharge
