Mercedes-Benz EQA vs Volvo EC40

The Volvo EC40 costs £3,365 more than the Mercedes-Benz EQA. For that premium it adds 37 miles more WLTP range, 100 kW faster peak rapid charging and 64 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Volvo EC40 comes out ahead overall.

The Mercedes-Benz EQA is £3,365 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Mercedes-Benz EQA comes out roughly £3,405 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 219 miles for the Mercedes-Benz EQA and 206 miles for the Volvo EC40 - effectively matched, and both well below their WLTP figures because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-30 minutes.

The Mercedes-Benz EQA is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 39 mm narrower than the Volvo EC40. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 566 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz EQA and about 527 mm of total clearance for the Volvo EC40. The Volvo EC40 also turns in a 0.4 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Mercedes-Benz EQA and 84% for the Volvo EC40. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.