Volvo EX30 Review

Pricing

In terms of price, the cheapest EX30 undercuts the cheapest Hyundai Kona Electric despite having similar range and equipment; it really is good value. The Single Motor Extended Range (which Volvo expects to be the most popular in the range) starts from around £37,000, which is decent if not quite as good value as the Smart #1 and the longer-range Kia EV3.

The Twin Motor Performance model (which is only available with the bigger battery) starts at under £42,000, and there’s not really anything – even the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y – that can offer that sort of performance at the price, other than the MG4 XPower. 

Volvo offers subscriptions, as well as traditional PCP Finance. The idea is that it’s more flexible – all of your routine maintenance, servicing and insurance costs are included, you often don’t need a deposit and you can cancel the subscription with only three month’s notice without any penalty. But, the convenience comes at a cost as subscription costs are more expensive than normal finance, so you’ll be looking at around £900-£1000 per month for a subscription on an EX30. Normal PCP finance will be more like £550 to £800 per month depending on your deposit and contract terms. and keep your eyes peeled for deals as Volvo is starting to incentivise the EX30 with some decent discounts and low-interest finance. 

Running costs

A full charge in the EX30 will cost around £16.00 in the Extended Range or £12.25 in the Single Motor, on a standard domestic electricity tariff. The Volvo is fairly efficient and is easily capable of returning 3.4m/kWh, so you can expect to be paying around 7p per mile, or you can cut that cost by half if you take advantage of cheaper off-peak tariffs. 

Rapid charging is much more expensive, and can even make an electric car more expensive to ‘fuel’ than the average petrol or diesel car, but the vast majority of owners will charge at home most of the time, making the Volvo cheaper to fuel than any combustion engined vehicle. 

Insurance

The EX30 isn’t the cheapest electric family car to insure, but it’s not terrible either. Falling into groups 35- to 40, you’ll pay a bit less for a Renault Scenic or Volkswagen ID.3, but you’ll also pay more for the Tesla Model Y.

Servicing costs

Volvo offers fixed price servicing, and the car will warn you when it needs attention – which will likely be roughly every 12 months or 18,000 miles. If you go for the subscription then servicing is included.