They wanted to fall in love with the Volvo EX30. They didn’t. Reviewers have wrapped up a year-long test of the Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance — and the verdict is brutal. Over 12 months the electric crossover covered roughly 8,000 miles (about 12,900 km). Living with it, the testers admit, turned out to be “very annoying.” The main culprits? The software, the key, the highway range and the touchscreen-only controls.
The Volvo EX30 does have strengths, and you spot them right away. It really is a compact electric crossover: noticeably shorter than the Tesla Model Y, which makes it a breeze around town and easy to park. The cabin still fits four adults comfortably, the seats are supportive, and the interior design feels fresh. Performance impresses too. The Twin Motor Performance trim hits 60 mph (around 97 km/h) in 3.6 seconds — that’s hot hatch territory.
And then the trouble begins. The driver-attention monitoring is hair-trigger sensitive, while half the car’s functions are buried in the central touchscreen. The paradox is glaring: the car demands your eyes on the road — then forces you to dive into menus for every single setting.
The testers also ran into trouble with Apple CarPlay, the touch-button for the rear windows and the keyless fob, which didn’t always unlock or lock the car properly. Minor stuff? Only until it happens every single day.
Range was another letdown. The test car’s EPA rating sat at 250 miles (about 402 km), and in real-world driving it actually beat that — 256 miles, roughly 412 km. But the moment you point it at a highway, the number collapses to around 200 miles, or about 322 km. That’s the same 100-mile haircut every time. Fast charging peaks at around 150 kW and a claimed 10–80% in 26 minutes — useful, but not enough to make the EX30 a real road-trip car.
Earlier it was reported that a 1998 diesel VW Passat covered almost 2,400 km on a single tank.
