HEAD TO HEAD ELECTRIC CROSSOVERS

Two funky but mainstream TopGear.com Electric Awards winners go head to head, where should you put your money?

- WORDS GREG POTTS

At first glance it isn't immediately obvious just what segment the two cars on these pages fall into. Are they hatchbacks? Are they crossovers? Are they the size of a Smart Fortwo or a full fat Range Rover? Heck, how has one of them managed to claim the same drag coefficient as the infamous Vauxhall Calibra?

That last question is answered by the Kia EV3, which arrives as the relative newcomer in this test looking like a cross between an imperial stormtrooper and the long lost sibling of the BMW i3. Despite its boxy shape it manages a drag coefficient of 0.26 thanks to its raked windscreen and roof, a rear end that's slightly narrower than the front and an underbody that's 80 per cent covered to reduce drag. Yes, the frontal area is pretty chunky so the CdA will still be higher than the swoopy late 1980s Vauxhall, but it's still an impressive stat for a little box on wheels. Oh, and this Sunset Orange paint is standard on all EV3s here in the UK and looks fantastic.

The Volvo EX30 actually better resembles a more traditional five door hatchback - perhaps even more so than slightly bloated rivals like the Volkswagen ID.3 or Cupra Born, which definitely are hatches - but as it sits on lightly raised suspension and makes use of some black plastic cladding, we named it our 'Best EV Crossover' at the 2024 TopGear.com Electric Awards. And you don't need 20/20 vision to see where this is going - the EV3 picked up the very same gong in 2025.

So, we know that both of these cars are better than average, but which is erm... best?

The EX30 we have here is in single motor, rear wheel drive form with the smallest available 49kWh usable battery and a 268bhp motor. You can have an Extended Range version or a lightly bonkers 422bhp twin motor Performance with all wheel drive, but this entry level powertrain still manages a very respectable 5.7secs for the 0-62mph sprint.