It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts. Having been promised range of up to 296 miles, slipping behind the wheel of our new Volvo C40 long-termer for the first time at the end of February to be met with the message ‘range 180 miles’ and ‘90% charged’ was a little disheartening. 

Our new long termer is the lower range single motor C40 which does, indeed, state a WLTP range of “up to 296” from its 69kWh battery, according to the press information, compared to the twin motor version’s 333 miles from an 82kWh unit. 

However, a quick look at the EV database on the Fleet News website estimates a summer range of 250 miles and winter range of 180 – so it’s bang on for real-world driving. That’s a big 70-mile disparity though. 

So far, the predicted range is proving very accurate, certainly better than some full electric cars which dramatically drop if they haven’t been pre-conditioned before the morning journey. 

One month on, as spring has started to finally take hold and daily temperatures have risen above 10 deg. C, the predicted range has already climbed to a more palatable 240 miles. 

Our car is the C40 Recharge RWD Ultimate 69kWh model, costing £57,555 on the road. Had we taken delivery of a brand-new model, it would be badged EC40, as Volvo has just renamed the car to fit its ‘E’ nomenclature.  

It has also streamlined the trim levels and added an extended range battery to the single motor version. 

In ‘C’ format, Ultimate trim topped the range, which started with the well-equipped £48,355 Core. They sandwiched the £53,850 Plus. 

However, as the rebadged EC40, the car is available in just two trims: Plus and Ultra. And only the Plus now comes with our single motor standard battery (starting price of £52,555); Ultra is the extended range or twin motor only and starts at £58,355 for the extended rising to £61,855 for the twin. 

Overlooking the fact that our car is no longer available in this trim/battery combination, the single motor option has 66kWh of usable capacity. 

Charging time is 34 minutes for 10-80% fill on 130kW charger, while zero-to-full on an 11kW charge point takes from 11 hours. 

Confusingly, electric efficiency is “up to 3.8mi/kWh”, according to the spec sheet from Volvo. Confusing, because that would give a theoretical maximum range of 250 miles from a 66kWh battery – it would need to average almost 4.5mi/kWh to get 296 miles of range. After a couple of weeks, we’re averaging 3.08mi/kWh. 

Volvo has confirmed the figures are correct but has yet to clarify the apparently oddity. We’ve used this calculation on previous BEVs with complete accuracy. 

Standard kit on all C40s includes nine-inch touchscreen with voice activated control, Google Automotive Services, including Google Maps, access to apps and four years’ data allowance, Volvo Cars app for remote functionality, City Safety (pedestrian/cyclist detection, front collision warning with automatic emergency braking), Pilot Assist, driver awareness (blind spot alert with steer assist, cross traffic alert with autobrake, rear collision warning and mitigation), Lane Mitigation assistance, Run-off Road Protection which tightens the seatbelts if the car leaves the road, front/rear parking sensors and rear parking camera. 

Exclusive to the Ultra are: Active Bending Pixel LED headlights with cleaning system, cornering fog lights, 12-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system, 360-deg surround view camera and power folding rear seat headrests. 

First impressions are good: the car feels smooths, it is easy to drive, and it looks fetching in its zero-cost sage green metallic paintwork.