WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE?

The Twin Motor Performance may well be the quickest car Volvo has ever made, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag to drive. There’s no denying it’s quick, but the car feels a little overwhelmed by the power deployed from the two motors, and it’s a feeling that’s exacerbated by a fidgety ride from the standard-fit 20-inch wheels, and twitchy reactions from the overly light steering. Things improve considerably with the Single Motor Extended Range, which gets a more supple ride from its smaller 19-inch rims, and the steering feels far more fluid. Its softer, slightly more easy-going nature makes for a more enjoyable driving experience. Drivers can tweak how firm they want the steering with three different options (soft, medium and firm) but there’s very little difference between either of them, while the level of brake regeneration can be altered and there’s a one-pedal driving mode. The latter is good around the city, but it’s not as finely tuned as systems from Nissan and BMW. Speaking of systems, the EX30 gets a suite of driver assistance features that, in our pre-production test cars at least, were highly intrusive and either nibbled the steering to keep the car in-lane, or constantly bonged and beeped – this was despite these systems being switched off. We’re told these will be tweaked on customer cars.

WHAT’S THE SPEC LIKE?

For now, the EX30 starts at £33,795 for the Single Motor in Plus trim which makes it very competitive – for comparison, the cheapest Vauxhall Mokka Electric is some £5,000 dearer – and there’s promise of an ever cheaper ‘Core’ model coming in at around £32,000. Most will opt for the Extended Range, though, which starts at £38,545, which means the EX30 isn’t quite the bargain you might initially be led to believe. That said, in this guise, the EX30 is still on pricing terms with a Kia Niro EV, and there’s no doubting the Volvo badge has greater cache. The Twin Motor Performance cars, meanwhile, start at £40,995 and rise to £44,495. In terms of those trims, ‘Plus’ is very well equipped and gets heated front seats and steering wheel, ambient lighting, the Harman Kardon sound bar, wireless phone charging, an 11kw on-board charging, and a heat pump (for the larger battery versions). ‘Ultra’ adds extra tech, along with a glass roof, larger wheels, electric seats and a 22kw on-board charger.