Compare the2025 Volvo EX40VS 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo EX40 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Alfa Romeo Tonale doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The EX40’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Tonale doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the EX40 and Tonale have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The EX40 Ultra has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Tonale’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The EX40 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 Tonale doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The EX40 has standard Post-impact braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Tonale doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the EX40’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Tonale doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

Both the EX40 and Tonale have rear cross-traffic warning, but the EX40 has Braking Intervention (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Tonale’s Rear Cross-Path Detection doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the EX40 and the Tonale have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, 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 EX40’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Tonale’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the EX40 for 4 years and 40,000 miles. Volvo will pay for cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Alfa Romeo only pays for the first scheduled maintenance visit on the Tonale.

There are over 2 times as many Volvo dealers as there are Alfa Romeo dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the EX40’s warranty.

The EX40 Twin Motor’s optional electric motors produces 117 more horsepower (402 vs. 285) and 144 lbs.-ft. more torque (494 vs. 350) than the Tonale’s 1.3 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid. The EX40 Twin Motor Performance’s standard electric motors produces 151 more horsepower (436 vs. 285) and 144 lbs.-ft. more torque (494 vs. 350) than the Tonale’s 1.3 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the EX40 Twin Motor electric motors is faster than the Alfa Romeo Tonale:

On the EPA test cycle the EX40 gets better mileage than the Tonale running on electricity:

On the EPA test cycle the EX40 gets better mileage than the Tonale running its gasoline engine:

The EX40 can travel with zero emissions on a full charge for 260 to 296 miles. The Tonale has to start its internal combustion engine after only 33 miles.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Volvo EX40 higher (10 out of 10) than the Alfa Romeo Tonale (6). This means the EX40 produces up to 12.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Tonale every 15,000 miles.

For better traction, the EX40 has larger tires than the Tonale (F:235/50R19 & R:255/45R19 vs. 225/55R18).

The EX40’s standard 235/50R19 front and 255/45R19 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series front and 45 series rear profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Tonale’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the EX40 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Tonale.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the EX40’s wheelbase is 2.6 inches longer than on the Tonale (106.4 inches vs. 103.8 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the EX40 is .8 inches wider in the front and 1.4 inches wider in the rear than on the Tonale.

The EX40 AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Tonale Veloce (26.3 seconds @ .7 average G’s vs. 26.7 seconds @ .68 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the EX40 has a 1.3 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Tonale (6.9 vs. 5.6 inches), allowing the EX40 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The EX40 is 3.5 inches shorter than the Tonale, making the EX40 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The EX40 has .4 inches more front hip room, 1 inch more front shoulder room, .1 inches more rear headroom, 1.1 inches more rear hip room and 1.5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Tonale.

The EX40 has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Tonale with its rear seat folded (57.5 vs. 50.5 cubic feet).

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the EX40. The Tonale doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The EX40’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. Keyless-Enter-n-Go standard on the Tonale doesn’t offer a sensor on the rear doors, so you’ll have to reach a front handle to unlock the rear door.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The EX40 offers available headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Tonale doesn’t offer headlight washers.

When the EX40 is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Tonale’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

Both the EX40 and the Tonale have standard heated front seats. The EX40 also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Tonale.

The EX40 is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Tonale doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

The Volvo XC40 outsold the Alfa Romeo Tonale by over 13 to one during 2023.