Compare the2025 Volvo EC40VS 2024 Volkswagen ID.4

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the EC40 are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The ID.4 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Volvo EC40 has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The ID.4 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The EC40 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The ID.4 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the EC40’s standard Hill Descent Control allow you to creep down safely. The ID.4 doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

Both the EC40 and the ID.4 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The EC40’s corrosion warranty is 5 years and unlimited miles longer than the ID.4’s (12/unlimited vs. 7/100,000).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the EC40 for 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Volkswagen pays for maintenance for the ID.4 (3/30,000 vs. 2/20,000).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Volvo vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen With 22 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Volvo higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Volvo vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Volvo 2 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

The EC40 has more powerful engines than the ID.4:

As tested in Car and Driver the Volvo EC40 electric motors is faster than the ID.4 Pro electric motors:

The EC40 can travel longer on a full charge than the ID.4 on a full charge:

The Volvo EC40 has standard four-wheel disc brakes for better stopping power and improved directional control in poor weather. Only rear drums come on the ID.4. Drums can heat up and make stops longer, especially with antilock brakes that work much harder than conventional brakes.

The EC40 Core’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the ID.4 Standard’s standard 55 series tires.

The EC40 has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The ID.4’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the EC40 is .5 inches wider in the front and 1.5 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the ID.4.

The EC40 is 5.7 inches shorter than the ID.4, making the EC40 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The EC40 has .3 inches more front hip room, 7.9 inches more rear hip room and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the ID.4.

The EC40 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The ID.4 uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Unlike the driver-only memory seat and mirrors in the ID.4 S/S Plus, the EC40 has standard driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat, outside mirror angle, climate settings and radio stations and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The EC40’s standard Keyless Entry & Drive allow you to unlock the doors from any outside door handle, open the cargo door, and start the vehicle, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. KESSY Keyless Access standard on the ID.4 doesn’t offer a sensor on the rear doors, so you’ll have to reach a front handle to unlock the rear door.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the EC40 has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the ID.4 only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The EC40 offers available headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The ID.4 doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The EC40’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The ID.4 has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Volvo EC40 has power folding mirrors that offer unparalleled convenience while maneuvering in tight places or parked. With the mirrors folded it’s easier to walk past and help prevent parking damage. The mirrors can be quickly unfolded when the driver is ready to leave. Power folding mirrors are only offered on the ID.4 Pro S Plus.

Compared to the Volkswagen ID.4, the Volvo EC40 Plus/Ultimate eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries with its standard integrated Homelink® universal remote controlled from the rear view mirror.