Geely EX2 Preview: Price, range and boot space

Geely EX2: Everything you need to know 

The Geely EX2 is the biggest car you've never heard of. Geely sold half a million of them a little over a year after first launching it, and the Chinese company is hoping it'll prove popular in the UK as well, where it's expected to land this summer. 

Its key competitor will be the Renault 5 E-Tech, a car that's now temptingly affordable thanks to its eligibility for the full £3750 Band 1 government electric car grant on some versions. The EX2 will need to be aggressively priced to steer people away from the 5 E-Tech and other western competitors, including the Citroen e-C3, plus locally produced rivals such as the MG 4 Urban.

Size-wise, the EX2 is closer to the e-C3 and 5 E-Tech than the MG 4 Urban. It looks similar to the products of the reborn Smart brand, which perhaps isn't surprising given that Geely co-owns Smart with Mercedes. It's a little bland by comparison to something like a #1, though, and definitely lacks the cool factor of the 5 E-Tech. Like the cars in Smart's current line-up, the EX2 is rear-wheel drive, giving it a distinction among its predominantly front-wheel drive rivals, although this is unlikely to matter to the average buyer. 

In China, there's a choice between a 30kWh or 40kWh battery pack with two levels of power, but we reckon the UK will only get the bigger, more powerful option. That gives about 250 miles of range according to the Chinese testing procedure. 

How we tested the Geely EX2

You might have noticed that we haven't given a rating for the EX2 just yet, and that's because our testing of the car was limited to all of about five minutes driving around a car park while we were on a trip to see Geely's manufacturing facilities in China. 

We were able to get some sense of what the car is like to drive in that short time, however. We could tell that it's set up softly and has a lazy throttle response. That's probably a good thing, because if the torque of the rear-mounted motor were delivered instantly, it'd surely overwhelm the Linglong tyres fitted to the test car. 

The tyre choice was the poorest element of the EX2 we drove. There's a distinct lack of grip and traction from the tyres even in bone-dry conditions, and we hope they're switched for something more premium on UK cars. 

Although our driving time in the EX2 was very short, we did have a bit longer to suss out the car's cabin. Luggage space is impressive compared to what rival cars offer, and the rear legroom might just be class-leading. 

The interior feels very premium considering the anticipated price tag, as well, with a clean design, a healthy array of soft-touch materials and a large central touchscreen that's far bigger than what you'd find in something like a Renault 5 E-Tech or Citroen e-C3. 

Is the Geely EX2 a good car?

The EX2 looks competitive enough on paper, but with Geely being such an unknown quantity in the UK, it'll need to come with plenty of kit at a very attractive price if it's to sell in decent numbers. Neither UK prices nor specs have been confirmed yet, so it's hard to say whether the EX2 is worth it, but the EX5 and Starray that have come before it are attractively priced, so we're hopeful for the same agian.

We can at least say it's competent enough to drive, based on our short time with it, and is a tyre swap away from doing all it needs to do to satisfy most buyers. 

Geely EX2 range

Currently, we have to go by the figures from the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC). This is less stringent than WLTP, which is used to generate range figures for EVs sold in the UK. With that in mind, expect the 255 CLTC figure for the larger battery EX2 to drop a chunk when official European range figures are published. The smaller battery is rated at 193 miles according to CLTC.

Geely EX2 charging

We don't know the exact DC charging capabilities of the UK-bound EX2, but some versions offer up to 85kW, making for a 30-80% top-up of the bigger battery in around 20 minutes if conditions are optimal. Plugged into a 7.4kW home wallbox, it'll be about five and a half hours for a full charge from near empty.

We can't draw firm conclusions from driving the EX2 around some cones in a smoothly surfaced car park for five minutes, but it did give us some initial impressions. The car is set up softly, meaning it does roll to a reasonable degree, but this should hopefully result in a comfortable ride on rougher roads. 

The Linglong tyres fitted to the test car were a severely limiting factor. Even though conditions were bone dry, you didn't have to be driving all that fast to feel the back of the car start to step out, and even when cornering at lower speeds, the front tyres would squeal incessantly as grip disappeared. Hopefully, these are switched out for better rubber by the time the EX2 arrives in the UK.

Geely EX2 batteries and motors

We reckon we'll only be getting the EX2's larger battery pack in the UK. It's a 40kWh unit, and is paired with a 115PS motor which powers the rear wheels. 0-62mph comes up in about 10 seconds, which is perfectly acceptable. 

There is a tedious pause before anything happens, though, and the power is then fed in quite gradually. That's probably a good thing when you're on those rubbish tyres, though – anything more sprightly and you'd be spinning up the rear wheels like a yob. 

The EX2 hasn't yet been tested by Euro NCAP, and we're unsure what safety features will be fitted as standard once the car arrives in the UK. 

The boot offers 375 litres of cargo volume, but it won't be the easiest to use for heavy and/or bulky items, with a significant lip to haul items over. A variable height floor might have been handy for when you don't need the full capacity.

The rear seats fold in a 60/40 split, opening up 1320 litres of cargo space. The area is nowhere near flat, though, which, again, could be annoying when you have to load anything bulky. At the other end of the car, meanwhile, there's a 70-litre 'frunk' under the bonnet that's lined with plastic. It'll be ideal for stashing a charging cable. 

Unusually, the EX2 has a large glovebox that opens like a drawer. There's also a storage area under the rear seats, accessible via a fold-down flap. 

The interior quality very much depends on where you look. Most of the stuff you're likely to frequently encounter comes off well, with a good range of premium, soft-touch materials at play. Cheaper-feeling hard-touch plastics get more prevalent below your eyeline, while the plastic that lines the interior sides of the boot is particularly bargain basement. You'll be less bothered when you mark it with cargo, mind. 

The EX2's 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system is far larger than what you'll find in competitor cars. It dwarfs the 10.1-inch display found in the Renault 5 E-Tech, for example. It's a shame you need to use it for climate control functions, but this is so common now that we can't really single the car out for criticism. 

We haven't had the chance to have a proper deep dive into its various functions, not helped by how little time we had with the car and the fact that it was all in Chinese, but it seems to respond well to touch. The touchscreen is joined by an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster. 

UK prices for the EX2 are currently unknown. We do know it costs the equivalent of about £7000 in China, but that's not a terribly helpful figure, because domestically produced cars are generally very cheap out there. 

That said, we do know that the BYD Dolphin Surf, one of the EX2's competitors, costs roughly the same out in China, which translates to £18,675 in the UK. This gives us a rough idea of how the EX2's UK pricing might shape up, and we have already seen Geely keenly price its first two cars to come to the UK, the EX5 and Starray. 

To tempt people away from the Renault 5 E-Tech, which starts at £21,495 once the government grant is taken into account, the EX2 could do with costing under £20,000 and coming with more stuff than an entry-level version of the Renault. 

It'll cost about £10 to fully charge the EX2's 40kWh battery if you're on a regular electricity tariff. That's not bad, considering that tenner should get you about 200 miles of running, and you can slash that figure with a special EV tariff that offers substantially cheaper off-peak rates.

EVs are no longer exempt from VED car tax, so it'll be the same £200 annual bill from year two onwards as any petrol, diesel or hybrid car. 

You'd be forgiven for being wary of buying from a brand like Geely, which is so new to the UK, but it's reassuring that the EX2 will likely come with the same warranty as the EX5. It's far better than average at eight years and 125,000 miles.