Volvo EX30 Cross Country Review & Prices

The Volvo EX30 Cross Country adds a little off-road ruggedness to this small, stylish electric SUV – but the changes aren’t comprehensive and it costs a lot of money.

It’s a bit like a pair of ON running shoes – there’s a practical purpose but they’re designed to look fashionable at the same time.

It’s tricky to suggest obvious alternatives, purely because of the 4x4-ish appeal and circa-£50k price tag. There are other small electric SUVs, such as the Skoda Elroq and Kia EV3, which can be had for a lot less cash, while the larger Mini Countryman Electric and Kia EV6 can be had well-specced with a long range for EX30 Cross Country money.

The Volvo’s off to a good start though, because it certainly looks the part. The base car is a looker, and the rugged black panels and lifted suspension of the Cross Country only enhance things, particularly if you spend extra on the knobbly off-road tyres and the roof basket.

Nothing’s new on the inside, but on the plus side that means you get a cool, minimalist design that’s spacious enough up front and has stylish metal door handles that add a real touch of class.

Volvo EX30 Cross Country: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 280 miles
Efficiency: 3.4mi/kWh
Battery size: 69kWh
Max charge speed: 153kW
Charge time AC: 10hrs, 0-100% @ 7.6kW
Charge time DC: 28mins, 10-80% @ 153kW
Charge port location: Left rear
Power outputs: 428hp

You also get a large infotainment screen in the centre, which has sharp graphics and a simple enough layout. It responds quickly to your touch, but the problem is that too many functions – in fact pretty much every function – runs through this screen. It can make simple things like changing the temperature or even opening the glovebox a bit of a faff.

Rear seat space is not as impressive as it is up front. You get plenty of headroom but most adults will find kneeroom limited, and you don’t even get a big boot to compensate. At 318 litres it’s considerably smaller than the Elroq and EV3 boots.

You don’t get the lower-powered, longer-range single-motor models that are the pick of the regular EX30 line-up. Instead your only option is the top-of-the-range Twin Motor model – that means you get off-road-friendly all-wheel drive, but a wholly unnecessary 428hp, which is enough to accelerate the EX30 so quickly you can embarrass proper performance cars.

All that performance does feel at odds with the raised, softer suspension, which encourages a more leisurely style of driving on the road. That makes the EX30 a comfortable companion for motorway driving, but the 280-mile range is a bit of a disappointment and means you’ll have to stop to charge more often than similarly priced alternatives. It’s much bigger, but for EX30 Cross Country money you could have a nicely specced Kia EV6 with a 360-mile range.

And the off-road credentials are there, but we need to find some tough green lanes back in the UK to see how effective they are. Yes, you get all-wheel drive, and the raised ride height means you should be able to dodge rocks and tackle steeper inclines than normal, but you have to pay a whopping £2,000 on top of the circa £47,000 you’ve already stumped up to get some knobbly all-terrain tyres, which will make all the difference.

The price tag is so high because as well as being limited to the high-performance motors, the Cross Country is only available in range-topping Ultra trim. However, if you’re already looking at a fully loaded EX30 it’s only about £2,200 extra to get the Cross Country, so it could be worth it for the cool aesthetic changes and slightly comfier ride if that appeals.

That being said, the regular EX30 is so good that at this price, unless you really need the extra ride height – the muddy track to your local dog walking spot is a touch treacherous in winter, for example – the Cross Country is tough to justify.

If it does work for your needs, you can get a great price with Carwow’s Volvo EX30 Cross Country deals as well as EX30 Cross Country leasing deals. You can browse used EX30 Cross Country models, as well as other used Volvos from our network of trusted dealers. And when it’s time to sell your car, Carwow can help with that, too.

Not to sound like a stuck record, but there’s no getting away from the fact that the Volvo EX30 Cross Country is expensive. Prices start at around £47,000, and if you want the optional all-terrain tyres for maximum off-road ability they’re another £2,050, plus another £600 for roof bars and the funky roof basket you’ll have seen in all the marketing materials. Tick all those boxes and you’re a set of all-weather mats and some mud flaps away from a £50,000 car.

Other small SUVs don’t have the chunky off-roader extras of the Cross Country, but you can get a Skoda Elroq or Kia EV3 with all the trimmings for around £43,000, and both will do 350 miles-plus to a charge.

The Kia EV6 shouldn’t even be in this conversation because it’s so much bigger, but it’s worth noting that you can get one in a mid-spec trim with 361 miles of range for the same cash.

Yes, the EX30 Cross Country offers a slightly different proposition, but it’s hard to ignore the better value found elsewhere.

Excellent around town and super comfortable, but the off-road upgrades are unlikely to get you too far off the beaten track

In town

City driving is easy in the Volvo EX30 Cross Country, because it’s small and you sit quite high. Couple that with the low dashboard and it’s really easy to place on the road, though the rear pillars are a bit chunky so the view out the back isn’t amazing.

Because the car has been raised a little for off-road duties, the suspension has more travel to soak up bumps. The regular car was already really comfortable, but the Cross Country soaks up speed bumps and potholes even better. It feels like a bigger, posher car in this regard.

Because the Cross Country only comes in the EX30’s Ultra spec, you get all the tech goodies you could want for city driving, including a system that will park the car for you, or a 360-degree camera view if you prefer to park yourself.

On the motorway

Things are just as pleasant on the motorway, where it’s easy to forget just how small the EX30 is. There’s none of the noise and occasional wind buffeting you often get with small SUVs, just a comfortable ride and smooth, refined performance.

And because you only have the powerful version, getting up to speed on slip roads or pulling off overtakes is no fuss at all.

You get big car tech too, with adaptive cruise control fitted as standard, so the car can maintain your speed and the distance to what’s in front. You also get a blind spot warning, and the lane-keeping assistance isn’t too intrusive.

On a twisty road

This might be a comfy, off-road-leaning electric SUV, but the Volvo EX30 Cross Country performs admirably on a twisty road. In sharp corners you just about notice the higher riding suspension causes the car to lean a bit more, but it’s nothing to complain about, and certainly no worse than the vast majority of other small electric SUVs. With 428hp and all-wheel drive, you have plenty of oomph to catapult you out of a corner.

Fairly roomy up front, but rear seat space and boot capacity are unimpressive

Space in the front is decent by small SUV standards, with good adjustability in the seat and steering wheel so you can get a comfy driving position. The only issue is that drivers with long legs might find the low dashboard hits their knee.

There’s a centrally mounted glovebox which feels like an odd choice but it actually works well with decent space inside, but it’s annoying you have to use the touchscreen to operate it.

The traditional armrest cubby hole doesn’t exist in the EX30. Instead you get a large tray with two levels, the bottom of which is covered to hide valuables, and has a couple of USB-C slots.

Two cup holders are hidden inside the armrest and emerge at the touch of a button when needed, which is a neat space saving solution. Rubber grips mean you don’t have to worry about bottles rattling around or falling out.

Space in the back seats

Things aren’t quite so rosy in the back, because there’s very little kneeroom in the back and the seat cushions are quite close to the floor, so you don’t get much in the way of under-thigh support. Fitting a third person in the middle is a squeeze, too.

At least headroom is good, and you get reasonable door bins that can hold a small bottle of water. There’s also a storage area between the front seats where the armrest cubby hole would normally be.

Fitting a child seat isn’t too difficult because the ISOFIX mounting points are easy to find, but because space is limited you might have to push the seat in front forward to make room, which can make leg space tight if someone is sat in front.

Boot space

Unfortunately you don’t get a big boot to make up for the tight rear seats. It’s 318 litres, which makes it considerably smaller than the Skoda Elroq (470 litres) and Kia EV3 (460 litres), and most other alternatives for that matter. That’s enough for a weekly shop or some sports gear for after school clubs, but don’t expect to cram all your luggage for a family holiday inside.

You can lift the floor so there’s no lip to lift items over and create some hidden underfloor storage, or drop it down to maximise capacity, but there’s not much in the way of practical touches such as hooks or nets for loose items.

You do get a very small storage space under the bonnet, but it’s not good for much more than your charging cables, though that does at least free up a bit more space in the boot.

The cool interior design is a highlight, but controlling everything through the touchscreen can get infuriating

The EX30’s cool design theme is continued on the inside, but where the outside gets some rugged extras, the interior is identical to the regular car’s. That’s no problem though, because it looks fantastic thanks to a minimalist dashboard and cool details, such as vertical air vents and metal door handles.

You have a choice of two interiors, one which is blue and uses upcycled denim to offset the usual plastics, and another with dark green wool upholstery.

Whichever you go for there are fun design details, such as the floating arm rests in the doors and the hidden cup holders, while most of the stuff you regularly touch feels quality. There are some cheaper materials to be found, such as those on the lower dashboard, but the overall perception is that this is a posh little car.

The infotainment system is hit and miss, though. The screen itself is a 12.3-inch unit that’s bright, clear and largely easy to navigate. You have built-in Google systems so all the apps you usually use are already there or easy to download. Having Google Maps built-in means it can estimate your battery level on arrival and it’s easy to find chargers en route if required.

However, pretty much everything is controlled through the screen and it can become quite frustrating. While you’ll get used to having to tap menus for things like opening the glovebox or the now industry-typical screen-based climate controls, there are loads of annoying quality of life changes that need to be made, such as not being able to screen share Spotify and Maps, meaning you have to constantly flick between the two. Volvo is updating things through over-the-air updates though, so hopefully things will continue to get better in this regard.

There’s just the one motor and battery combination available in the Volvo EX30 Cross Country. It uses the EX30’s Twin Motor setup, so you get all-wheel drive with 428hp, which contributes to the rapid 3.6-second 0-60mph time.

The 69kWh battery returns an official range of up to 280 miles, and it’s actually not too difficult to get close to that if you resist the urge to maximise the crazy performance on every slip road – our testing indicates 200-250 miles should be reasonable in good conditions. A heat pump is fitted as standard, so although you’re likely to get less than 200 miles in winter the drop off shouldn’t be too drastic.

For the money, though, you can go a lot further between charges. A top-spec Kia EV3 has an official range of 362 miles, while a fully loaded Skoda Elroq registers 350 miles. Or you can save a huge chunk of cash and get each of those cars with their smaller battery variants and get a similar range to the Volvo.

You get a reasonably fast charging speed of up to 153kW, which will give you a 10-80% top up in under half an hour. Usefully, if you set the sat nav destination to a public charger, the car will automatically prime the battery so it’s at the optimal temperature to get maximum charge speeds.

As with all electric cars, the Volvo EX30 Cross Country is a good choice of company car because the low Benefit-in-Kind rate gives you really low running costs. It means first-year Vehicle Excise Duty is low for private buyers too, but the high price means you’ll have to pay the expensive car supplement in years two to six.

The Volvo EX30 received full marks in Euro NCAP safety testing, with reasonable scores across the board, scoring above average for its safety systems in particular – perhaps unsurprising for a Volvo.

Because it’s only offered with the EX30’s highest-spec Ultra trim, the Cross Country comes with all the safety kit you could think of as standard, including Volvo's ‘advanced sensing technology’, which uses an array of cameras and sensors around the car to alert you to potential issues.

The Volvo EX30 Cross Country shouldn’t cause any major reliability headaches, and Volvo scored a respectable top half finish in the latest Driver Power owner satisfaction survey.

You get a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard, which is about the minimum you’ll get from any car manufacturer in the UK, and miles off what you’ll get from the likes of Toyota, MG, Kia and Hyundai.