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Pros: price, cabin design and quality, performance
Cons: tight rear seats, Performance model is a bit too much for most
Volvo EX30 Design
The EX30 really is the vanguard of a whole new family of all-electric Volvos, and there’s no surprise that it shares a platform, batteries and electric motors with other cars in the vast Chinese Geely empire.
Thankfully, Volvo has given the EX30 its own distinct sense of design, but don’t go expecting wild styling flourishes. It’s quite an understated car, from the blanked-off nose to the tall, upright tail. Volvo has injected character into the design largely through the lights. The pixel-style LED lights at the front are fully animated, and can even mimic the movement of eyes if you like, while at the rear the lights are split by a panel of bodywork, and have a neat little ‘Volvo’ script built into them.
There’s more distinctiveness if you go looking through the colour options. There’s a lovely shade called ‘Cloud Blue’ which subtly changes depending on the ambient light. If you’re more of an extrovert, there’s a really striking ‘Moss Yellow’ which looks great on the car, and is certainly more interesting than the default greys and blacks you’ll find elsewhere on the colour card.
Basic models come with 18-inch alloys in a star-pattern design, while higher-spec versions get 19- or 20-inch wheels with more intricate styling.
Volvo EX30 Interior
If the EX30’s exterior is understated, then the cabin makes up for that, and it looks and feels much, much classier than you’d expect at the EX30’s cheapest price point (more on which in a moment). The bits that you touch the most — the metal door handles and the (synthetic) leather on the steering wheel — feel truly high-end, and really tactile. Other surfaces are even more interesting, such as the broad panels on the dashboard and doors made from recycled plastics. Some of these do, in fairness, look a touch cheap but you can choose from a variety of patterns and styles, so there should be one that suits your tastes.
Other high points of the EX30’s cabin are the front seats — upholstered in a mixture of synthetic leather and wool, and which are almost absurdly comfortable — and its practicality. There’s a large open storage area between the seats, which also has a shallow lidded area for tucking things away. The big door bins are lined with soft material to stop things rattling around, while the tall centre console houses a slide-out tray for those sitting in the back. There are four USB-C sockets too, so everyone gets a chance to plug-in.
The dashboard is dominated by a big, central 12.3-inch touchscreen which effectively controls everything, and which is also your instrument panel. There’s no driver’s display nor any head-up display — something that raised some safety question marks, which Volvo’s engineers said were unfounded — and really the only physical buttons you use are the column stalks behind the wheel which take care of the wipers, lights and gear selection.
The touchscreen itself uses Google Android software as a base, over which Volvo has laid its own system. For the most part, it’s a really good screen to use, with bright, clear graphics and plenty of functions which can be quickly and easily accessed. However there are some other items — notably adjusting the door mirrors — which have been buried too deep in the various menus and which have become needlessly complicated. Volvo, as with many other car makers, needs to remember that physical buttons and switches still have their place.
In the back, the EX30 disappoints — legroom is tight for anyone over the age of 15, and the high-set floor means your feet and knees are elevated to an uncomfortable angle. Headroom is, at least, fine and the optional glass roof does let in a welcome bonus of light. The boot is on the small side, at 318 litres up to the luggage cover, but you can squeeze in 400 litres if you pack it to the roof.
Volvo EX30 Performance & Drive
The EX30 will be offered with two different batteries. The cheapest version will get a 49kWh (useable) lithium-iron phosphate item. This type of battery is cheaper to make than other designs, and is reckoned to be more robust over the lifetime of the car which is good. It doesn’t hold quite as much energy for a given size, though, so the most basic EX30 will have an official range of 344km.
If you need more than that, you have to upgrade to the Single Motor Extended Range model, which uses a 69kWh battery with a more conventional lithium-ion design. This has a range of 474km, and that seems like a realistic one — our test car was showing 450km available on a 99 per cent charged battery.
Both of these versions of the EX30 use the same electric motor, driving the rear wheels and developing 272hp and 343Nm of torque. With the EX30’s relatively trim kerb weight — just over 1,700kg — that’s enough for some pretty senior performance. The 272hp motor can accelerate the EX30 to 100km/h from a standstill in just 5.3 seconds. That’s serious hot-hatch pace, and yet this is an affordable compact crossover, aimed at families.
If you think that sort of pace from a crossover is shocking, wait until you get to the Twin Motor Performance model, which has four-wheel drive and can hit 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds from rest. That’s (literally) Ferrari-fast, and yet you can buy one for less than €50,000. To be honest, the Performance version of the EX30 is a bit much — that kind of acceleration can actually make you queasy, and in the real world, the standard 272hp version is more than fast enough for anyone.
Around corners, the EX30 doesn’t handle like a high-performance machine, but it’s certainly light on its toes and engaging enough to drive. The steering is quite quick, and you can drive it with some enthusiasm. The ride is comfortable as long as you stay away from the optional 20-inch alloy wheels, and around town — thanks to its relatively compact shape and good visibility (backed up by an excellent optional 360-degree camera system) the EX30 feels entirely in its element.
Volvo EX30 Pricing
The cheapest EX30, with the small battery and the 344km range, costs €38,596 — that’s a bit of a bargain for a car with a Volvo badge, and one that mixes it with the likes of the Jeep Avenger, Renault Megane E-Tech Electric, and Volkswagen ID.3. The Single Motor Extended Range costs a still-reasonable €44,502, while the Twin Motor Performance EX30 starts at €48,883. All prices include available SEAI grants and VRT rebates.
Carzone Verdict
The EX30 is a solid entry from Volvo into the fast-expanding electric compact crossover segment. It combines some very sharp pricing with a decent driving experience, solid range and a really excellent interior design. It’s held back a bit by a lack of rear seat and boot space, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see this car become a big success, given that it puts a premium EV badge on your driveway for a very reasonable cost.