VOLVO EX40

A coastal excursion reveals great refinement, but range could be better

- JACK WARRICK

Shortly after starting life with a new car, it's become a ritual for me to take it on a south-westerly trip across the country to get properly acquainted. Our Volvo EX40 comes with the larger, 79kWh battery that is claimed to offer a range of up to 340 miles, so there was initially some hope that I'd make it the full 302 miles from north London to Lizard Point without stopping. The plan never stood a chance, however, once a meagre '220 miles' appeared on the range display as I set off.

That was enough to get me to my usual stopping point of Exeter services, where a Gridserve charger replenished the battery from 10-80% at a peak rate of 145kW (not far off the EV's claimed 155kW maximum). It meant I didn't have to sit in the car park for more than 30 minutes during the worst storm of the year. The journey itself was silky-smooth. This Volvo's ride quality over long distances is excellent, with its cosseting front seats and unobtrusive ADAS technology helping to shrink hours-long drives.