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Back in February, Lease Electric were kindly given a six-month demo of the Volvo EX30 Extended Range. Since then, the team and our customers, have well and truly put it through its paces. From trips to London and everyday commuting to customer demos, golf days and even becoming our very own mini event van, it’s had a busy six months.
So, what do we think?
The first thing you notice when you sit behind the wheel is… well, what’s not there. There’s no traditional driver display in front of you and no head-up display either, just a clean, blank space and a small gloss-black unit monitoring driver alertness.
Whether you passed your test in 1966 or 2026, having your speed directly in front of you feels like the norm, so this definitely took some getting used to. Six months later? We barely notice it’s missing.
Instead, in a very Tesla-esque move, Volvo has placed almost everything on the central infotainment screen or, as one of our demo customers called it, “the iPad”.
Your speed sits at the top of the screen, while pretty much everything else lives there too, from opening the glovebox and adjusting the mirrors to climate control, navigation, radio, Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. With Google built in, Google Maps is ready to go and easy to follow, while Google Assistant makes pulling up directions to wherever you need to go simple.
From the infotainment screen, you can also access Volvo’s Park Pilot Assist. Pop the EX30 into Park, tap through the screen and the car can identify a suitable space before taking care of the steering and manoeuvring for you.
Admittedly, it’s not brand-new technology, some manufacturers have offered self-parking systems for years, but it’s still a genuinely useful feature. And there’s something undeniably futuristic about sitting back and watching the steering wheel turn itself as the EX30 neatly slots into a space.
Not quite ready to let the ‘robots’ take the wheel? The 360° camera, complete with a bird’s-eye view and parking sensors, makes parking the EX30 surprisingly easy. Whether you’re navigating a tight car park, tackling an awkward driveway or squeezing into that parallel parking space you’re sure the Volvo will fit into before you’re inevitably late for a meeting, there’s plenty of tech to lend a helping hand.
At the wheel, everything feels equally simple. The steering wheel fits neatly with the EX30’s Scandinavian design, with straightforward controls for Adaptive Cruise Control, volume and Pilot Assist (more on that in a moment). Drive, Reverse and Park are selected using a stalk on the right-hand side, while the indicators remain reassuringly where you’d expect to find them.
Then there’s Pilot Assist. Much like Park Pilot Assist takes some of the work out of parking, Pilot Assist can provide steering assistance on the road, making small adjustments to help keep the EX30 within its lane while also helping maintain your speed and distance from the vehicle ahead.
It’s certainly not hands-off or self-driving, you still need to remain in control and attentive at all times, but feeling the steering wheel make those adjustments for you does offer an interesting glimpse at how increasingly assisted driving might feel in the future.
One-pedal driving is another feature that quickly becomes second nature. Lift your foot off the accelerator and the EX30 uses regenerative braking to slow itself down, often meaning there’s little need to touch the brake pedal in everyday driving. We’re certainly no strangers to EVs, so the feeling isn’t new to us, but it’s still one of those features that makes driving around town and in stop-start traffic that little bit easier.
Visibility is excellent, blind spots are minimal and the automatic lights work brilliantly, we’ve barely needed to manually switch between high and low beam.
That minimalist Scandinavian approach continues throughout the cabin. The doors are sleek and surprisingly bare, thanks to a clever soundbar freeing up storage space in the doors and the window controls being moved to the centre console.
Here you’ll also find a clever double cup holder that neatly tucks away when it’s not needed. Under the centre armrest there’s useful open storage and a shallow tray for hiding away the usual clutter, and a wireless charging pad for your phone.
The seats are supportive, easily adjustable and comfortable even on longer journeys. Heated seats have been welcome on cooler days, while the climate control, particularly the parking climate function, has been fantastic during this very hot summer.
The panoramic roof and tinted rear glass also help make the cabin feel bright and airy without becoming uncomfortable in strong sunshine.
And, for those of you who, like us, enjoy a bit of in-car karaoke, whether that’s singing your heart out down the M5 or keeping yourself entertained while stuck in traffic on the A417, the Harman Kardon soundbar is a noticeable step up from standard in-car audio. For those who’d much rather get stuck into a good podcast, it does a pretty good job there too. Running across the dashboard rather than having speakers dotted around the doors, it’s another clever touch.
In the back, things can feel a little snug. Four adults on a trip to London eventually started to notice the space, but that’s worth putting into context: the EX30 is a small EV, not a large family SUV.
For commuters, young families and company pool cars, the size makes a lot of sense. And while some rear passengers have commented on the space, nobody has described it as uncomfortable, quite the opposite.
There are some fun touches back there too, including clever storage and a pull-out tray featuring a little moose and trees, a very Volvo 'Easter Egg'. ISOFIX points and usable rear space also make the EX30 a genuinely practical little family car.
Then there’s the boot.
Over six months, our Volvo EX30 has become something of a workhorse. And when we say workhorse, we mean it.
With the rear seats folded down, our entire Everything Electric display was packed into the EX30, delivered to the event and brought all the way back to HQ afterwards. Our gazebo, all the sides, a roller banner, table, chairs, boxes of tablecloths, sweets, marketing materials… you name it, it was in there.
Still not sure what you’ll fit in the back of an EX30? Thanks to one of those wonderfully practical Volvo touches, the boot has a little size guide showing measurements for common items, so you can work out what will fit.
That experience certainly changed our perception of just how much you can squeeze into this little EV. Customers have put the space to the test too, trying it with pushchairs, suitcases and big weekly food shops. There’s even room beneath the hidden boot floor to keep the charging cable neatly tucked out of the way.
Then, of course, there’s the range.
Our Extended Range model has comfortably handled longer journeys, including Gloucester to London and back, a 218-mile round trip.
It has even rolled into the Lease Electric car park showing just 3% battery which, even for a team surrounded by EVs every day, introduced a little range anxiety.But, as with most EVs, by the time we’d finished a day’s work, the 7kW charger, the same speed as most home charging points, had topped the EX30 up to around 70%, giving us more than 200 miles of range.
In six months, we’ve only needed a quick top-up charge once, and that was down to poor planning on our part, not a lack of range! Again, just like most other EVs, a 25-minute stop , timed nicely with a quick lunch, was enough to add around 100 miles of range, and then we simply carried on with our day.
For everyday family life, the range has proved more than enough too. For one of our customers, an 80% charge gave them around 220 miles, which means plugging in just once a week is enough to cover everything from school runs and the work commute to all the usual running around in between.
And then there’s the cost.
Thanks to a dedicated home charging tariff, those 220 miles cost them around £3.64, working out at just 1.54p per mile. Based on their usual 12,000 miles a year, they calculated they’d spend around £185 on home charging for the entire year. A huge saving compared to their current petrol costs!
Over its six months with us, the EX30 has become a familiar face at events across the county too. It’s been displayed at the C2S Awards, Go Electric Gloucestershire, multiple golf days and networking events, to name just a few.
Branded up with the Lease Electric logo against that sparkly black paintwork, we think it really looked the part and it certainly got plenty of attention wherever it went.
Now, the livery is off and it’s almost time to hand the keys back.
After six months, the EX30 has genuinely won us over. Some of its design choices feel unusual at first, particularly the central screen and lack of a traditional driver display, but you quickly adapt. It’s small, comfortable, surprisingly practical, easy to drive and refreshingly different.
It’s been a commuter, a customer demo car, an event display, a mini van and everything in between and it’s taken all of it in its stride.
So, as we say goodbye to our EX30, we can only hope that whoever chooses one next enjoys it and is just as impressed by this little Volvo as we have been.