Geely EX2 review

Interior:

While the new horde of Chinese brands hitting the UK may be swaying car buyers with super cheap competitive pricing, they’re mostly quite impressive in terms of the perception of quality. The plastics and faux leather used on the EX2 feel rather nice and pleasing to the eye and to the touch. There’s a large infotainment screen perched on the middle of the dash and digital gauge cluster ahead of the driver, and both look really crisp.

There are very few physical buttons, which does help the interior feel clutter-free and modern, but the downside to this – as in many other modern cars, especially from Chinese brands – is that it does affect usability, which I’ll touch on later.

For some added flair in the cabin, Geely has dotted around some attractive interior lighting on the dash ahead of the front passenger and on the doorcards in the shape of the Milky Way. There are apparently up to 256 different colours you can switch these lights to, so you can customise this to your liking. It’s a nice touch that leans into the EX2 EV’s sci-fi futuristic vibe in contrast to the retro charm of its Renault 5 rival.

Dashboard & tech

As I touched on earlier, the Geely EX2 has very few physical buttons around the interior, and while it helps make the space feel uncluttered and airy, it does mean tweaking settings and drive modes is a little cumbersome through the touchscreen.

At the launch, however, we were told that the UK product team had contacted main office to suggest adding shortcuts into the software to turn off annoying driver safety bings and bongs more quickly on the fly. Just a few days later, Geely updated this with an over-the-air update, which is testament to how keen the company is to take on feedback and implement changes as quickly as possible to make this car a success – ‘bravo!’ I say, because that’s a very welcome change for drivers who find these systems all too intrusive. I’m also told that a suggestion has been made to bring over the steering wheel from another Geely model that has a physical button to do the same thing, which would be even better.

The infotainment system itself is very responsive and crisp to look at, and while the screen is large it doesn’t obstruct the view of the road ahead. While that doesn’t take away the fact that virtual controls offer very little by way of feedback compared with physical ones, it’s still one of the better systems out there with large icons that are easier to press on the fly.

Comfort

To stand out among rivals, Geely has put a lot of effort into offering the kind of interior space you’d expect from the class above on this electric supermini by cleverly packaging the EX2. There’s loads of headroom and legroom inside, not just up front, but also in the rear. Honestly, back-seat passengers – even tall, full-grown adults – will sit very comfortably. The car sits on rather small wheels, which might look a bit goofy, but the ride is well balanced as a result thanks to those high-profile tyres.

Quality

As I touched on previously, the EX2’s interior feels high–quality for the price. Geely has chosen the materials well, and there are no scratchy tacky plastics to be found anywhere in the cabin. The faux leather seats on my top-spec model felt really high-end. As a general rule the interior felt very well put together.

Practicality & boot space:

Interior space

Geely has made lots of noise about its strategy of offering practicality and space from the segment above in this humble supermini, and they’ve done an impressive job. The rear seat bench sits quite far back, so there’s loads of legroom, and the roof is high, so headroom is plentiful, too.

Boot space

You might expect that boot space would be compromised given how far back the rear seats sit, but the reality is that the Geely EX2 sports a very usable load space. There’s 375 litres to play with, increasing to 1,320 litres with the rear seats folded down, should you need it. That’s larger than the boot offered on rivals like the Renault 5 (326 litres) or the 311-litre capacity of the Peugeot E-208.

That’s not even the full story, though. Because of the absence of an engine up front, the Geely EX2 has a 70-litre frunk for even more storage. That’s something you see on larger EVs like the well-established Tesla Model 3, but a rarity on other electric superminis.

Versatility

In the EX2’s cabin you get loads of storage solutions for nick nacks. There’s a large 20-litre centre console and a spacious cubby between the front seats, and rather than a simple glovebox, there’s a unique glove ‘drawer’ ahead of the front passenger. Under the rear seats there’s even a large space where you can tuck backpacks or other bags, and Geely offers an optional box to keep this organised and hidden, too. There are a couple of USB-C and USB ports between the front occupants, too – I like that you have the option of both, as someone with lots of older charging cables that utilise the latter. There’s also a handy wireless smartphone charge pad up top.

Driving:

Driving experience

Geely is very proud of the fact that the EX2 is rear-wheel drive, given that this layout is preferred by driving aficionados for better handling. Most drivers won’t notice too much of a difference, but the point is that the EX2 does feel nimble and agile for an EV.

There are some niggles I had with the indicator stalks on the EX2 that did take away from the driving experience, though. These always self-centre, even if you’re indicating right or left, and occasionally when turning a corner they don’t self cancel, so you have to manually push them in the opposite direction to stop indicating. This is frustrating because I found I then accidentally put on the opposite indicator on occasion. I don’t know why Geely has attempted to reinvent the wheel – or the indicator stalk in this case – when a traditional stalk that sticks in the direction you’re indicating until you complete the turn would have sufficed.

Performance

While everyday EVs have earned a reputation for face-bending performance, Geely has refrained from this with the EX2, and it offers either 80bhp on the base Pro model, or 115bhp on the higher spec – pretty modest middle-of-the-road power figures. That’s actually a good thing, though, because wild performance figures on cars like these just feel unnecessary. The focus here is to offer adequate performance that’s usable enough and delivered in a smooth, comfortable way.

What matters more is that the EX2 isn’t jerky or violent when you put your foot down, and that makes for a pretty serene drive that never feels underpowered, at least in the Max and Ultra 115bhp model. If it matters to you, the 0-62mph sprint will take about 11.5 seconds in this specification, while the Base Pro’s 80bhp is a little more sluggish, doing the same in 14.2 seconds. If you’re planning on using the EX2 on the occasional faster road, then it might be worth springing for a 115bhp version, but if you’re only going to use it around town, maybe the 80bhp model will suffice.

Running costs:

Fuel economy & CO2 emissions

The Geely EX2 is an electric-only model, and that does suit it well. Go for the Base Pro and Geely says you can eek out up to 155 miles on a charge from the smaller 35kWh battery it offers, but if you go for the larger 47kWh battery offered on Max and Ultra, that figure rises to 214 miles. Of course, take these official figures with a pinch of salt, because your driving style and the types of roads you take the EX2 on will affect range, as will the weather. I only got an afternoon with the car, so it’s hard to determine how close to reality the on-paper range is, but as a general rule you can reasonably expect around 70% to 80% of that in the real world.

A heat pump is not standard on all versions of the EX2, so it’s worth buying one with it included to preserve range in colder weather. A heat pump will condition the battery to get it to optimum operating temperatures, so it’s probably worth springing for a model with one.

Reliability & warranty

The elephant in the room when buying a car from a relatively unknown Chinese brand is the question of reliability. The EX2 is much too new for established reliability stats, but the brand is keen to give buyers confidence by offering a very competitive eight year warranty that covers you up to 125,000 miles – that’s also transferable to subsequent second-hand buyers. To reiterate, that isn’t simply a battery-focused warranty (eight years for this is the industry standard), but covers the whole car, should anything go wrong. Most car brands offer just three years of cover up to 60,000 or 100,000 miles, so Geely’s offering is encouraging. Geely also sells the EX2 with four years’ 24-hour roadside assistance in the UK and Ireland, should anything go wrong.

Safety:

Safety features

Geely sells the EX2 with loads of sophisticated safety kit as standard, including blind-spot monitoring, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control, and driver attention monitoring among other features. These can feel quite intrusive and annoying, with bings and bongs screaming at you for merely looking left or right at a junction, but Geely’s UK product team suggested adding a simple shortcut to the infotainment system to be able to quickly turn this off, which the company implemented in a matter of days via an over-the-air update, which was a welcome addition.

The Geely EX2 is yet to be crash-tested by Euro NCAP, but the Chinese brand says it expects to achieve to full five-star rating, with plenty of research and development having gone into the design and safety kit to reach this. Watch this space and regularly check the Euro NCAP ratings site if safety is of high priority to you.

Trims & engines:

Trim levels

Geely offers the EX2 in three trims: Pro, Max and Ultra. The base model is offered with the smaller battery, while the main difference with Max is the larger battery and power output. Ultra gets you that, plus the full works in terms of features.

• Pro: The EX2 is limited to the smaller 35kWh battery with a 155-mile range and 80bhp electric motor. Pro is very well appointed, with features like LED headlights, privacy glass, synthetic leather upholstery, electrically adjustable front seats, a large 14.6-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as an 8.8-inch driver’s display. There’s also useful tech such as keyless entry and start, rear parking sensors with a reversing camera, and the aforementioned safety kit.
• Max: Max doesn’t add anything in terms of kit, but gets a larger 47kWh battery with a longer 214-mile range and more powerful 115bhp electric motor.
• Ultra: Ultra gets that larger battery and some extra niceties, such as two-tone paint, side skirts, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, sun visors with vanity mirrors and lights, the 256-colour ambient interior lighting, a 360-degree parking camera, wireless smartphone charging pad and an upgraded six-speaker sound system. For added convenience, this model also gets a powered tailgate and tyre pressure monitoring system, while a heated steering wheel and front seats bring added comfort in the winter months. You can also spec a white interior on this version, which does make it feel more bright and airy.

Engines

You can buy the Geely EX2 with either an 80bhp or 115bhp motor, with a 35kWh or 47kWh battery with 155 miles or 214 miles of range, respectively.

Decided the Geely EX2 is for you?

Check out our range of Geely cars for sale nearly new and used on Cazoo

Browse Geely cars for sale