VOLVO EX30

EV passes its practicality test with flying colours

- Andy Pringle

WHEN it comes to assessing a family car, one thing is paramount: practicality. And I’m delighted to say that the Volvo EX30 makes us a very happy family.

But practicality is about more than just space. Because, truth is, with just myself, my wife and our 11-year-old daughter to worry about, we don’t need a huge amount of room. We're probably the ideal group for the Volvo: our daughter no longer needs a bulky child seat and we don’t have to carry the tons of kit a toddler needs. So, although the EX30 isn’t the most spacious car of its type, it suits us fine.

That much was proved over the recent half-term break, when we drove up to visit friends in Northumberland. I’m more than six feet tall, but my wife and I were perfectly comfortable in the front, while our daughter had plenty of room in the back, even with the other half of the bench taken up by luggage.

That’s because we had to take a huge amount of stuff up north, including an inflatable double mattress and all the bedding to go with it. The boot was never going to cope with all that as well as our bags, so the surplus ended up alongside our daughter on the back seat.