Geely EX2 review

Buying a car from an all-new brand might seem unnerving but Geely is no overnight start-up. It’s a colossus which already owns Volvo, Polestar and Lotus. It’s aiming to control 100 UK dealers before the end of 2026, spread evenly around the UK rather than concentrated in the south-east, and its ambitions are as massive as they are terrifying for the European establishment.

Geely is targeting 100,000 UK sales per year by 2030. It wants to grow from zilch to a 5 per cent market share in just five years. So the EX2 will be joined by a fleet of SUVs, and the EX2 itself is set to receive regular over-the-air and model year updates to keep it relevant.

How much will I be paying?

Prices for the EX2 start at £20,990. There are three trim levels, all of which sound like they could be the most expensive one, which is a tad confusing. The base level is called Pro, and that comes as standard with the 80bhp motor and 37kWh battery.

It’s a £2,500 increase to the EX2 Max, which gets the enlarged battery and more powerful motor. Then another £2k on top for the EX2 Ultra. Geely reckons this flagship will be the top seller, and overall the EX2 will find 10,000 homes a year.

How much equipment do I get?

Plenty. Your 155-mile range Pro gets electric front seats covered in fake leather, keyless go, LED running lights and rear privacy glass. There’s also seven airbags as standard, and sadly all the ADAS is thrown in on the house.

For £23,490, the Max version doesn’t add any more toys but gets the range and power upgrade to 214 miles and 114bhp. All EX2s can charge at up to 80kW, so you won’t be taking advantage of motorway rapid chargers, with Geely reasoning this isn’t a long-distance commuter tool.

Should you find yourself drawing the maximum power available, Geely quotes a 30-80 per cent charge time (rather than the more industry standard 20-80%) of around 25 minutes. An overnight wallbox charge at home will be around seven hours.

The £25,490 Ultra unlocks two-tone paint, a mighty 256 colours of ambient lighting, wireless phone charging, heating for the front seats and steering wheel, 360-degree parking cameras which are impressively sharp, a weirdly incongruous electric tailgate and an upgraded six-speaker hi-fi. The standard paintwork is white: it’s £600 for anything else. A white interior instead of the standard grey is a £200 premium.

Anything else to be aware of?

Because the EX2 is built in China, you won’t be getting a discount of those prices courtesy of the government’s EV grant. At the time of writing it’s also too early to tell if, like other Chinese newcomers, insurance costs will be higher than rivals due to difficulty with repairability and parts sourcing.

Geely says it’s working hard to ensure residual values don’t dissolve like an Eighties Alfa at the seaside, meaning monthly costs can be kept close to the European and Korean mainstream. Time will tell, but if the Chinese brands which beat Geely to the UK are anything to go by, these companies aren’t coming here to play around in the small-time. They’re here for the big leagues.