Volvo has taken its subsequent step in direction of its eventual aim of being an electric-only model.
It already presents the XC40 and C40 Recharge Pure Electrical fashions in Australia, however they’re each primarily based on a platform that additionally helps petrol and diesel energy. The brand new Volvo EX30 is a special beast fully.
Underneath the pores and skin, it rides on what mother or father firm Geely calls the SEA structure. Together with the EX30, it types the idea of the Zeekr X and the Sensible #1 – each of that are small electrical SUVs in the identical vein because the Volvo.
This can be a bespoke platform, and the ethos right here is consultant of the place Volvo needs to take its subsequent era of merchandise.
Sufficient in regards to the future although, within the right here and now the EX30 has a troublesome job forward of it. The EV area is getting crowded in Australia, and the little Volvo is priced consistent with the big-selling Tesla Mannequin Y.
Does it have what it takes to face out from the gang?
How does the Volvo EX30 examine?
View an in depth breakdown of the Volvo EX30 in opposition to equally sized automobiles.
Volvo
EX30
How a lot does the Volvo EX30 value?
The EX30 has already been hit with a worth hike relative to its launch sticker. The EX30 Single Motor Prolonged Extremely on check right here was $64,990 earlier than on-roads at launch, however any new 2025 orders is $1300 dearer.
To see how the Volvo EX30 strains up in opposition to the competitors, try our comparability device.
What’s the Volvo EX30 like on the within?
Wow. Though cues just like the portrait touchscreen and vertical air vents mark this as a Volvo, the EX30 seems like a clear sheet design. It’s a very good-looking little factor inside, and is chock filled with attention-grabbing supplies.
The basics are good. Volvo has at all times performed wonderful seats; though they don’t have fairly the identical vary of adjustment as these within the XC40, the wool-trimmed seats within the EX30 are nonetheless sensible.
Coupled with a cool, squared-off steering wheel that feels good in your palms, it is a little automobile that feels accomodating for larger drivers. Most of what you contact is top of the range, too.
The seat trim is heat and welcoming, whereas the metallic door handles are chilly to the contact.
Even the recycled sprint supplies are attention-grabbing, quite than feeling harsh and low-cost. With that stated, the indicator stalks and steering wheel buttons really feel fairly flimsy, and issues just like the open central bin (as an alternative of a slot beneath the lift-up armrest) communicate to the very fact manner Volvo has labored to chop prices.
Likewise the central glovebox, and window switches which must be toggled from the entrance home windows to the rears.
Volvo has adopted Tesla down a single-screen path. All the most important controls are housed there, proper all the way down to the mirror adjusters, and there’s no instrument cluster or head-up show.
The positives? The velocity readout is massive and simple to make out at a look, most of what you wish to do is inside one or two button presses, and all of the responses will make anybody who’s used an iPad instantly really feel at dwelling.
Given it’s constructed utilizing Android as a base, Google is baked proper into all the pieces the EX30 does. Google Assistant is your voice assistant behind the wheel, the mapping is equipped by Google, and also you’re capable of obtain apps from the Play Retailer for native podcasts, music, and EV route planning.
Apple CarPlay wasn’t accessible on our tester, however it’s reportedly coming with a software program replace.
Sadly, it’s too arduous to show off key features just like the too-keen driver monitoring system.
There’s additionally some awkward lag within the Bluetooth system that meant my iPhone wouldn’t join till the automobile had been transferring for some time – and at occasions it was reticent to start out my music.
These are all issues that may be ironed out with software program updates, and so they’re the form of bugs which can be frequent in fashionable automobiles constructed on new tech architectures. However they’re additionally the form of issues that will actually annoy anybody who has spent greater than $60k on what’s meant to be a cutting-edge new product.
Rear seat area is spectacular given the diminutive exterior… however poor alongside equally priced rivals just like the Kia Niro, not to mention the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
It’s an area finest saved for teenagers or smaller adults, with restricted legroom and middling headroom for full-sized adults. There aren’t any air vents, however you do get USB-C ports to maintain children’ units charged on lengthy drives.
Notable by its absence is a fold-down central armrest, in one other cost-cutting transfer.
The rear backrests fold 60/40, making it simpler to load lengthy objects. The area itself is once more fairly spectacular given the scale of the physique, but it surely’s small when you think about what’s on supply in equally priced electrical (and petrol, hybrid, diesel) SUVs.
To see how the Volvo EX30 strains up in opposition to the competitors, try our comparability device.
What’s beneath the bonnet?
That is the EX30 variant with the longest vary, though the Twin Efficiency Extremely is quicker in a straight line.
To see how the Volvo EX30 strains up in opposition to the competitors, try our comparability device.
How does the Volvo EX30 drive?
Some electrical automobiles feels heavy and cumbersome due to the chunky battery beneath the ground.
At 1800kg the EX30 isn’t a featherweight, but it surely feels mild on its ft like the most effective metropolis automobiles. Even in single-motor guise it has extra efficiency than most house owners will ever want, with a hot-hatch-troubling 100km/h dash time making it a champion within the visitors mild grand prix.
You sit larger than common hatches and sedans – albeit solely by a bit – within the metropolis, and it’s simple to identify the automobile’s corners in tight areas.
Throw in mild steering that not often calls for drivers take their palms off the wheel on the town, and also you’ve received a automobile that’s enjoyable to level and shoot by way of the cut-and-thrust of city.
Volvo does have work to do on its regenerative braking. The EX30 doesn’t supply correct one-pedal driving, and what occurs whenever you elevate off the accelerator varies primarily based on what’s occurring with the automobile in entrance of you.
It doesn’t encourage confidence, and is worse than the setup within the current XC40 and C40 EVs.
Experience high quality is superb on the town. This can be a little automobile driving on massive wheels, but it surely does a superb job maintaining pimply streets from undermining the refinement inside, and smooths out sharper hits from potholes and velocity bumps higher than you’d anticipate.
It doesn’t fall to items at larger speeds, both. The punch from the electrical motors doesn’t wane as you speed up to 100km/h, and Volvo has performed an excellent job maintaining wind and street noise to a minimal at excessive velocity.
This behaves like an even bigger automobile on the open street, aided by the suite of driver assists.
The comfy trip within the metropolis does imply the EX30 sometimes takes multiple motion to settle over massive crests or dips, but it surely’s nonetheless effectively managed.
Volvo’s driver assists are a blended bag, which isn’t one thing we’ve stated about its older fashions.
The adaptive cruise management is predictably wonderful, and the lane-keeping help solely intervenes when it’s required quite than attempting to tear your the wheel out of your palms. The Pilot Help system takes issues a step additional and takes a extra energetic position in maintaining you in the midst of the lane when cruise is energetic.
However the driver consideration monitoring system is manner too eager to make its presence recognized, and requires too many button presses to be turned off.
What do you get?
EX30 Plus highlights:
11kW on-board chargerHome charging cable, 7m (10A)Air high quality systemCabin filterHeat pumpDual-zone local weather controlAuto-dimming inside, exterior mirrorsDoor opening alertDriver alert systemLED headlightsActive high-beamOne-pedal driveRain-sensing wipers19-inch 5-spoke aero wheelsRoof high, mirror caps in Onyx BlackBlue air vent decorDenim decorInterior illumination, excessive levelRemovable rear storage boxSliding cupholders, storageSports steering wheelTextile, Nordico upholsteryTextile inside cabin ground matsEnergy outlet, load compartmentEnergy tailgate12.3-inch centre touchscreen5G capabilityDAB radioFront, rear USB cost portsGoogle Constructed-in – 5 yearsGoogle AssistantGoogle MapsGoogle Play StoreHarman Kardon premium soundOver-the-air updatesVolvo EX30 appWireless telephone charging
EX30 Extremely provides:
Heated steering wheelRear privateness glass360-degree digicam, 3D viewPark Pilot AssistPanoramic roofPower entrance seat adjustment incl. 4-way energy lumbarHeated entrance seats
Is the Volvo EX30 protected?
The EX30 hasn’t been crash examined by Euro NCAP but.
Customary security options embody:
Adaptive cruise controlBlind-spot assistCollision avoidance mitigationAutonomous emergency brakingAutonomous emergency steeringVehicle, bicycle owner, pedestrian detectionFront cross-traffic alertIntelligent velocity assistIntersection auto brakeStraight crossing pathRight, left turnLane-keep assistOncoming Lane MitigationOncoming mitigation by brakingParking sensors entrance, rearPilot AssistAdaptive cruiseLane centring assistRear collision warning and mitigationRear cross-traffic assistRear-view cameraRoad signal informationRun-off Street Mitigation
The Extremely additionally receives rear low-speed auto braking.
How a lot does the Volvo EX30 value to run?
The Volvo vary in Australia is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee. The battery can be backed by an eight-year guarantee, and house owners are handled to eight years of roadside help.
CarExpert’s Tackle the Volvo EX30.
Quite than a brand new tackle an outdated system, Volvo has began contemporary with its smallest automobile and delivered a very attention-grabbing little SUV. It’s not excellent, however there’s plenty of potential there.
The nice? It’s genuinely actually pleasurable to drive within the metropolis, and the inside is endearing and attention-grabbing as an alternative of low-cost and nasty – regardless of cost-cutting in the end being on the core of why so lots of the selections have been made right here.
There’s additionally one thing to be stated for the holistic pondering driving a few of Volvo’s design right here.
Recycled supplies, lighter weight, and easier manufacturing can’t absolutely offset the grubby elements of constructing an EV, however they lend extra credibility to the thought the EX30 is a automobile designed to be higher for the world than what got here earlier than.
As for the unhealthy? It’s nonetheless costly for a small automobile, and the touchscreen infotainment system wants refinement.
Volvo has labored so arduous to construct its model right into a protected, stress-free different to the German luxurious institution, and the mixture of infuriating energetic security options and an obstructive touchscreen doesn’t match with that picture.
There’s actual attraction right here, and it’s effectively value heading out for a check drive. There’s potential for the EX30 to be even higher although, and we’re trying ahead to seeing how Volvo evolves it.
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