I Drove The 2025 Volvo EX40 Twin Motor Ultra. Here's My Brutally Honest Review originally appeared on Autoblog.
Not quite up to par
Before the EX40 Twin Motor Ultra was delivered to me, I’d reviewed a fully loaded $88,695 2025 Volvo XC90 PHEV T8 Ultra AWD. It was the first Volvo I’d ever reviewed, and it was surprisingly roomy, had a gorgeous interior with equally attractive materials. It was a little bit funky and lacked Android Auto (though it’s a Google-based OS and had Apple CarPlay), but overall, it was a great introduction to the brand. So, when I was told that a 2025 Volvo EX40 Twin Motor Ultra was being delivered, I had very high expectations.
On paper, it had a lot going for it. With two motors (AWD), it has a combined horsepower figure of 402 (147 from the front and 255 from the rear), a zero-to-sixty time of 4.1 seconds, quick charging, and an overall range of about 260 miles. It’s the electrified version of the XC40, which is about the size of a Genesis GV60 or a Hyundai IONIQ 5–so it’s not too big, but not too small to fit the family or a dog. A week-long review revealed its nearly crippling weaknesses, which made it difficult for me to rationalize the price, especially when its competitors are much more affordable and come with more features.
The tiny screen was low-res and glitchy
Before starting it up, which was a weird ritual of putting it in reverse or drive while sitting in the driver’s seat, I saw the 12.3-inch display and assumed I’d be working with the same (or at least a similar) vibrant, high-resolution, and responsive OS as the XC90. Nope. Instead, it looked like it was designed in the 1990s and loaded just as quickly. The EX40 had Android Auto, surprisingly, but once I connected my phone to Bluetooth, it took a very long time for the Android Auto screen to load. Sometimes it would play music, but the app wouldn’t load, and if I pushed the button, it would freeze the screen. The screen had a terrible lag if I tried to scroll through the settings, and it took a very long time for any app to open. Since all of the driver functions are embedded in the screen, except for the defroster, hazard lights, and media volume controls, it made adjusting anything a royal pain.
It had a backup camera, but it was also low-quality and was placed in such a way that it was angled towards the ground, so you were looking at your rear wheels more than anything behind you. Since it was displayed on a low-resolution camera, it made it harder to decipher what you were seeing. It wouldn’t have been so bad if more controls were buttons or knobs, or if the screen and OS were just as good as the ones in the gas or PHEV models, but the screen made it very difficult for me to fully enjoy driving the car.
It was remarkably quick, but the ride was very noisy
For an EV that size, the power was truly incredible. The slightest press on the gas pedal excited all 402 horses, and paired with the AWD, gave it so much power and grip that the wheels would chirp if you pressed the pedal down with any sort of gusto. Getting on the freeway from a stop was both blistering and a blast, and brought a smile to my face every time. In absolute silence, the little Volvo blended into traffic from a stop within seconds. For a Volvo so unassuming, the power was easily its best trait. My oldest daughter and husband loved it the most.
When we weren’t encouraging the ponies to gallop and just cruising around town, one of the first things my husband and I noticed was that the road noise was very loud. Even with my music pumping through the Harmon Kardon sound system, the humming of the tires and the whooshing of the air passing over it were loud. My husband partially blames the large and gorgeous, tinted sunroof, but even with the shade closed, it was still loud. Road noise is something everyone gets used to over time, but at that price, it’s a little surprising. Especially when I found the Mustang Mach-E and Hyundai IONIQ 5 to be much quieter.
There was room for the kiddos, but not much else
One of the things I love about EVs is the increased cargo and passenger space. I understand that the EX40 is small, but I was expecting a little more wiggle room in the rear and in the trunk, especially since there are EVs similar in size that have more space (again, like the Genesis GV60). Getting my toddler daughters’ seats in the car wasn’t hard with marked lower anchor points with openings to make them easy to secure, and the upper tether point was easy to find and secure, but the windows in the rear were fairly high, which my toddlers were not fans of. Even with a height boost, they had difficulty seeing out of their windows. They loved the sunroof, though.
With their car seats installed, most of the space in the rear was taken up. There was enough room in the footwells for my purse and water bottle, but that’s about it. The trunk was pretty small for its segment, and while there was enough room for a diaper bag and groceries, I could see fitting a stroller or double stroller being a struggle. If you didn’t have kids, though, the space in the rear seats and the trunk would be more than enough.
The range isn’t great compared to its competitors
All-wheel drive is going to cut into an EV’s overall range. With vast improvements to EV technology in the last few years, though, there are a few compact EV SUVs that offer a better range than the EX40. The Hyundai IONIQ 5, for instance, has a maximum range of 290 miles when equipped with the larger battery, the Nissan Ariya EVOLVE+ e-4ORCE AWD model gets around 272 miles, the Mustang Mach-E eAWD with the Extended-Range option gets 300 miles according to Ford, and the Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD sees around 295 miles of range.
The kicker here, too, is the fact that most of those EVs, even with the more expensive AWD option, are less expensive. Around town, that range figure was perfectly fine, and quick charging was a very welcome feature. I don’t have an EV charger installed in my house, but if I did, the Volvo could easily be an around-towner. However, that’s a pretty penny for something that will make it a struggle to get outside your city’s limits. It does come with an NACS adapter, so you could charge it at a Tesla Supercharger, but you’d have to dedicate a good chunk of time to keeping it charged.
You can get better for less
Granted, “better” is subjective. And I use that word because compact EV SUVs I’ve driven had better and more reliable technology, a better backup camera, more space, a better range, and a quieter ride for less. I keep referencing the Hyundai IONIQ 5 because it’s similar in size, and that price range is $44,200 for the base SEL to $67,800 for the performance-oriented N. The Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD Extended Range (also referenced due to similarity in size) is $46,745, the Kia EV6 GT-Line AWD is $58,900, and the Audi Q4 e-tron quattro is $49,800. All of which had a much more updated, comfortable, and quieter interior.
Now, the one thing its competitors don’t have is the power. So, if you’re willing to sacrifice the stomach-dropping AWD all-electric launch and handling that will make you giggle like a piglet for the technology, then the Volvo might be the one for you.
Final thoughts
The Volvo EX40 Twin Motor Ultra is a bit of an oddball. I struggled to identify the ideal buyer for it, as older drivers would struggle with the screen-dominant interior, and younger buyers would go insane with the low quality and glitchiness of the screen. The size would be great for single drivers or couples without kids, or used as a commuter, since the range isn’t the best, but the price tag makes it difficult for me to give it a thumbs up. When I drove it to bring my husband some coffee with our girls, we both guessed it would be around $45,000, given the interior quality and design. The screen was the worst offender and we were both shocked when I read the price as $62,045. The first thing we said was, “That’s way too expensive for what it is.”
I Drove The 2025 Volvo EX40 Twin Motor Ultra. Here's My Brutally Honest Review first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 16, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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