Toyota bZ4X vs Volvo EC40

The Volvo EC40 costs £6,865 more than the Toyota bZ4X. For that premium it adds 50 kW faster peak rapid charging, 50 kW more power and a 1.3s quicker 0-62mph time. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Toyota bZ4X comes out ahead overall.

The Toyota bZ4X is £6,865 cheaper to buy. The Toyota bZ4X is cheaper to charge, roughly £144 a year versus £184 for the Volvo EC40, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Toyota bZ4X comes out roughly £7,065 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 230 miles for the Toyota bZ4X and 206 miles for the Volvo EC40 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Toyota bZ4X goes roughly 24 miles further between charging stops. Both rapid-charge to 80% in a similar time, around 26-30 minutes.

The two are within 13 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 540 mm of total clearance for the Toyota bZ4X and about 527 mm of total clearance for the Volvo EC40.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Toyota bZ4X 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.