Land of slope and glory
What Car? UK|May 2022
With their curvaceous roofs and electric power, these coupé-like SUVs are the height of fashion. Let's see which one will have us singing its praises the loudest
Land of slope and glory

Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron

50 quattro S line

List price £56,045 Target Price £56,045 The Sportback builds on the regular Q4's classy interior and refinement with sleeker looks and a slightly longer (298-mile) official range

NEW Volvo C40 Recharge

Twin Plus

List price £55,550 Target Price £55,550 Based on the XC40 Recharge, the all-new C40 is much more powerful than the Q4 but has a shorter official range of 274 miles

What could the all-new Volvo C40 Recharge and a pair of skinny Nudie jeans possibly have in common? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot, actually. Not only are they both very much bang on trend, but they also share the same design philosophy by being sleeker, more stylish variants of fundamentally practical products. Oh, and both are vegan.

Okay, we'll admit that's where our knowledge of fashionable jeans begins and ends, but we do know a thing or two about electric SUVs, and the C40 is one of the latest to enter the fold. Based on the XC40 Recharge, it sheds that car's square-cut looks, replacing them with a coupé-like roofline and a sloping tailgate to lend the C40 a sleeker appearance.

But the C40 is more than just a fashion statement. Not only is it the first exclusively electric Volvo, but it's also the first to entirely shun leather for its interior. As with the XC40 Recharge, you get the choice of a front-wheel-drive version with a single electric motor or a four-wheel-drive version with two motors - one for each axle. We're testing the latter.

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