ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Volvo's little electric EX30 gets crossover-themed Cross Country treatment. Jonathan Crouch drives it.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 34

Volvo adds a set of hiking boots to the look of its smallest EV to create this EX30 Cross Country. It won't actually cross much country, but it's nicely ruggedised for the winter months.

Backgroundword count: 169

If you've ever travelled in Sweden up towards the Arctic Circle, then you'll be familiar with the decades-old practice whereby Swedes winterise their cars for the arduous Arctic colder months. It didn't take Volvo long to realise that this was a look that buyers in markets with less challenging climates might find appealing. Hence, a quarter of a century ago, the introduction of the big V70 Cross Country estate, a model then succeeded by a longer-lasting variant, the XC70. That XC70 was eventually phased out as interest in the brand's purpose designed SUVs took hold, but in more recent years, the company has started to rugged-ise more standard models again and we've seen the Cross Country badge revived for slightly tougher-looking versions of the V60 and the V90. That badge has also made an appearance on two of the company's strongest-selling electric models, the EX60 and this car, the EX30, which was the first EV and the first SUV to use the Cross Country badge. Let's take a look.

Driving Experienceword count: 296

Volvo says the EX30 Cross Country is for 'weekend explorers', but it's hard to think of any places very far off the beaten track that you could actually go exploring in it because predictably, its off-road prowess is very limited indeed. Still, that's not the point. The changes made here are just the sort of thing a Swede living up on the Arctic Circle might want if they were planning to use this EX30 on slippery, snow-packed roads throughout an arduous winter. So ride height has been raised by 19mm and the car is shod with 720mm all-terrain road tyres. Plus the five-link rear suspension has been softened to enable the car to better cope with 'ankle-deep' snow, muddy tracks and bumpy terrain. The set-up really works too; it handles bumps and potholes brilliantly and is one of the things that might really sell us this car, which is easily the best-riding EX30 in the line-up. If you happen to know people who live at the end of bumpy lanes, you'll just sail along them in this Volvo. The brand offers the EX30 Cross Country with either a 272hp single motor set-up; or, perhaps more appropriately, the 428hp Dual Motor P8 AWD powertrain we're trying here, which (courtesy of a potent 543Nm of torque) storms the car to 62mph in just 3.6s en route to the 112mph maximum that all modern Volvos share. Either way, you have to have the brand's larger Long Range 69kWh battery, which returns mileage figures of either 300 miles for the single motor P5 model - or up to 280 miles for the dual motor P8 version. There are three drive modes - Range', 'Standard' and 'Performance'. And a 'One Pedal Drive' brake regen system with 'High', 'Low' and 'Off' settings.

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