Battle of the electric crossovers: Kia EV3 vs Volvo EX30

At first glance it isn't immediately obvious just what segment these two cars fall into. Are they hatchbacks? Are they crossovers? Are they the size of a Smart Fortwo or a full fat Range Rover? Heck, how has one of them managed to claim the same drag coefficient as the Vauxhall Calibra?

That last question is answered by the Kia EV3, which arrives as the relative newcomer in this test looking like a cross between an imperial stormtrooper and the long lost sibling of the BMW i3. Despite its boxy shape it manages a drag coefficient of 0.26 thanks to its raked windscreen and roof, a rear end that’s slightly narrower than the front and an underbody that’s 80 per cent covered to reduce drag. Yes, the frontal area is pretty chunky so the CdA will still be higher than the swoopy late 1980s Vauxhall, but it’s still an impressive stat for a little box on wheels. Oh, and this Sunset Orange paint is standard on all EV3s here in the UK and looks fantastic.

The Volvo EX30 actually better resembles a more traditional five door hatchback – perhaps even more so than slightly bloated rivals like the Volkswagen ID.3 or Cupra Born, which definitely are hatches – but as it sits on lightly raised suspension and makes use of some black plastic cladding, we named it our ‘Best EV Crossover’ at the 2024 TopGear.com Electric Awards. And you don’t need 20/20 vision to see where this is going – the EV3 picked up the very same gong in 2025.

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

So, we know that both of these cars are better than average, but which is erm... best?

The EX30 we have here is in single motor, rear wheel drive form with the smallest available 49kWh usable battery and a 268bhp motor. You can have an Extended Range version or a lightly bonkers 422bhp twin motor Performance with all wheel drive, but this entry level powertrain still manages a very respectable 5.7secs for the 0–62mph sprint.

That makes it two tenths quicker than Volkswagen’s current Golf GTI, and a whole lot quicker than the EV3. Again, we’ve gone for the entry into the range, and while Kia only lists the gross battery capacity of its 58.3kWh battery, we’re told that usable capacity is around 55kWh. The EV3 is front wheel drive and gets a 201bhp electric motor for a 0–62mph time of 7.5 seconds.

The Kia comfortably wins the range war on paper though, claiming 270 miles on a single charge to the Volvo’s 209 miles on the WLTP cycle. Although by virtue of the latter’s smaller battery and slightly faster charging speed, it’ll take you less time to top back up from 10 to 80 per cent. A claimed 26 minutes in the EX30 in this standard range form (which can charge at 134kW) plays 29 minutes in this smaller batteried EV3 (topping out at 100kW). Oh, and just so you’re aware there is a big battery option for the Kia too. For £3,000 you can upgrade to a massive 81.4kWh gross unit for 375 miles of range. Impressive.

There isn’t much to separate the two while looking at the price lists, either. Gone are the days when Kia couldn’t play in the same league as Volvo, so the EV3 starts at £33,005 while the EX30 range kicks off at £33,060. Here we’ve got the Volvo in £34,410 Plus trim which adds a Harman Kardon soundbar, wireless phone charging, two zone climate control, heated front seats, a powered tailgate and more sensors to allow for tech like assisted lane changes and Volvo’s fancier adaptive cruise control system. It’s worth the extra over the entry level Core trim.

The Kia that you see here is absolutely bog standard in the lowest Air trim and wouldn’t cost you a penny more than the entry price, but that’s not to say it’s short on kit. The Korean contender gets 17in aero spec alloy wheels, three display screens (we’ll come on to that later), a rear parking camera, heated seats, a heated steering wheel and all manner of driver assist systems.

Unfortunately, it’s a bit of a maze of menus to switch some of those overeager systems off, and if you don’t deactivate the Driver Attention Warning immediately it’ll ping and bong away while you’re fiddling in said menus. Argh! Thankfully there are shortcuts for the annoying speed limit warning (press and hold the volume button on the steering wheel) and lane keep assist (press and hold the auto steer button on the steering wheel, which also looks after part of Kia’s impressive Highway Driving Assist 2.0 tech).

Although while we’re on the subject of small gripes, all EV3s get flush front door handles. Now, on the GT-Line and GT-Line S trims they pop out automatically, but on this boggo car they’re manual and require the hand span of an NBA player and the dexterity of Chopin just to gain entry. And woe betide anyone wanting to turn the car on for the first time – the start button is completely hidden behind the spokes of the Air trim’s chunky steering wheel and tucked up against the steering column.

Rant over. Once on the move things get much better, with the EV3 a very satisfying little car to drive. The steering has a reassuring weight to it and decent feel, while everyday acceleration is well judged so there’s never a need to select Sport mode. In fact, the 0–30mph getaway even feels perfectly acceptable in Eco mode, so we mostly stuck with that to help extend range. You get steering wheel mounted paddles to adjust the regen which can add a small bit of engagement on a twisty road, but mostly you’ll just be pleasantly surprised at how refined the Kia is for a small car.

There’s a little bit of wind noise around the Minecraft mirrors at motorway speeds, but barely any road noise is transmitted into the cabin, and it’s softly sprung but well damped so copes with potholes and speed bumps admirably. The smaller wheels of the Air trim and associated chunky tyre sidewall probably help in that regard. The brake pedal can feel a little light underfoot at times, but you can get round that by using the strong one pedal drive mode.

Jump into the Volvo and immediately it feels quicker and more responsive, but then that’s likely because it doesn’t have any drive modes to wind the power up or down. What you can do is dive into the menus on the portrait touchscreen and select your steering weight – it’s best in firm but still doesn’t offer a huge amount of feedback. The lightest setting resembles the City mode in old Fiats. Avoid.

The Volvo is generally able to disguise its 1,840kg kerbweight though (the Kia is also a porky 1,800kg) with a decent turn of pace and damping that has a reassuringly expensive feel. It’s also slightly wider and lower than the Kia, so doesn’t tip into corners or roll quite as much. It’s certainly a little firmer but still copes with bumps admirably and cossets its driver from the outside world.

A very narrow win for the Volvo on the road, then? Well yes, for those who want to drive it on the doorhandles, but probably not for those who just want to get from A to B, or perhaps C. You see, on our test this EX30 recorded an average efficiency of 3.3 miles per kWh while covering over 200 miles on motorways, country lanes and inner city streets. Not bad, but that’d give you a real world range of just over 160 miles with the temperature down in single digits. In the same conditions and on much of the same roads, the EV3 averaged a mightily impressive 4.1 miles per kWh. That’d give you a real world range of over 225 miles, and despite the cold we saw closer to 5.0 miles per kWh while carving through traffic in London. Somehow, Kia has built a practical five seat box that’s enormously efficient.

The Volvo EX30 is let down by its almost completely buttonless interior. There is some method in this madness, of course – the Swedes wanted to create a car with the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo to date. They managed it too. A life cycle assessment indicated a carbon footprint of 23 tonnes per 124,000 miles for the EX30. That’s a 60 per cent improvement versus a petrol powered XC40. Shunning fiddly buttons means the interior is easier to produce and uses fewer raw materials, but it also means you can’t open the glovebox without dipping into the screen. The same goes for adjusting the mirrors. If you parallel park regularly and are the type of person who doesn’t want their 18in wheels to look like they’ve been attacked with a cheese grater, you cannot buy the Volvo.

The Kia is simply far more practical, generally easier to operate and (crucially) hugely efficient

The Kia does also have issues with its screens, not least the fact that the separate little climate panel is obscured by the steering wheel. We’re glad it’s there though – a slight tilt of the head is much easier than having to dive into menus to adjust the cabin temperature. Said menus can feel a little overbearing and monotonous in the Kia too, although the central touchscreen is large and responsive.

Thankfully the rest of the interior is fairly bright, and the cloth seats are comfortable and supportive. Almost looks like the Koreans have been copying Volvo’s homework in that regard, doesn’t it? Behind the front seats, there’s also way more leg and headroom in the Kia than in the cramped Volvo. And while the EX30 gets 318 litres of bootspace, the EV3 gets a huge 460 litre chasm. Both frunks only have space for a single cable, though, which is a shame in the Volvo given that its motor is out the back. Surely there should be more usable space available there?

Still, we like the eco friendly Volvo a lot here at TG, so there’ll be no stripping of previously won titles here. It’s a handsome little car with its ‘Thor’s hammer’ headlights, chunky door handles and two tone roof. With pleasing colour combinations and plush but sustainable materials, it feels pretty smart inside too despite its rather bare appearance. And yet, if we were to pick one of these dinky crossovers to live with on a daily basis, it would absolutely have to be the EV3. Its design is perhaps slightly Marmite, and it doesn’t quite have the same ‘small but premium’ feel as the Swede, but the Kia is simply far more practical, generally easier to operate and (crucially) hugely efficient.