Volvo EX30 - long-term-review

We kicked off this limited series with an anecdote about the happiness a luminous yellow Volvo EX30 brought the wider public. After 10 months, is anyone still smiling?

Yes and no.

Yes, because it’s a handsome shape; not too bulky, not aggressively designed, not festooned with scoops and fins and so on. Just neat. And clean.

And while we miss the luminosity of the Single Motor Long Range car we started with – a definite grower, for sure – the Cross Country version’s greige colourway suits the EX30’s subtle nature.

Yes, because the interior is a relaxing place in which you can while away journeys. We’ll get onto That Thing in a bit (the Thing that sits firmly in the ‘no’ pile), but in general the layout, material choice, build quality and general ambience is good.

Yes, because in whatever spec you choose, it’s a good handling and sprightly car. Performance in the Single Motor Long Range car is rapid; the CC takes that baton and sprints off even harder. You’ll not want for pace in either.

Comfortable, too. The suspension’s nicely judged in both the versions we spent time in; the CC felt like a more premium setup, for sure, but both dealt with crap roads well, and contained the EX30’s mass nicely when being thrown around with merry abandon.

Speaking of which, it’s a chuckable – albeit distant – companion, too. There’s ample grip, and the steering felt nice and sharp. Range was OK: in the Single Motor Long Range car, we were seeing up to 3.6mpkwh. That dropped fairly significantly in the Cross Country, with an average of… 2.7mpkwh. Might be useful to know we weren’t actively trying to save range.

However. Much of your experience with the EX30 hinges on just how well you can cope with that screen. As we’ve discussed in detail both in this limited series and in our main review, it’s a polarising setup. Punting every function onto a large tablet has its advantages – easier to update, modern sensibilities etc etc…

… but also… no. Cars are not smartphone, and some controls like climate and audio need proper physical buttons. TopGear.com is happy to pitch up a tent on this hill. As is, incidentally, former Apple creative Sir Jony Ive (as he explained when revealing the interior of the Ferrari Luce).

Attempting to turn the volume up or down or trying to adjust the climate on the fly or attempting to alter the wing mirrors or trying to turn off the driver assistance soon becomes tiring.

And while we never suffered a mass of gremlins, both cars did have the odd panic attack: the rear camera failing to open when we put it in reverse, or the volume buttons on the steering wheel not working, or the Bluetooth failing to connect… and so on.

We’re not really sold on the point of the EX30 Cross Country, either. As fun as it is to have so much power and speed on hand, are you ever really going to take one of these across country? Likely not. And you don’t need any more power and speed than that offered by the SMLR car, either.

Plus, at pushing £50k, the CC stretches the ‘affordability’ bit of an entry-level Volvo, even if its more premium trappings like better seats and a pano roof make it feel plusher than its siblings. The entry-level car’s £33k and our SMLR’s £37k feel much better pitched in this regard.

Though, nobody’s really buying the entry level ‘Core’ trim. Volvo told us over 75,000 EX30s have found homes across the globe since it was launched, and the biggest single market is the UK. But of the 20,000-plus EX30s on our shores, just four per cent are made up of Core and Cross Country. 

The most popular – 51 per cent – is the mid-range Plus trim, with the remaining 45 per cent the top Ultra trim.

It’s a good car overall and we’ve enjoyed our time with it – it’s the only car my puppy has ever known! But where the needle moves from there depends on just how you like yer screens. Smiling? More of a smirk, now.