Volvo EX30 is the brand’s newest and smallest electric offering. I’ve had the vehicle for a week and here’s what I think of it.
EX30 is a subcompact electric vehicle with up to 420km range on a single charge. I would say it’s similar in size as Hyundai Kona. EX30’s design language is very minimalistic which eliminates most buttons and replaced by the new 12.3” LCD screen. The LCD is large, bright and crisp so I was fine getting used to this minimalistic design.
There are also no buttons on the door panel and there is no center armrest storage. Storage space, glovebox and door bins are decent in size which makes the subcompact EX30 practical and quite easy to live with.
Like Tesla, the speedometer has moved to the LCD screen so there isn’t a dash in front of the driver. It does take some time to get used to it but I eventually got used to reading the speed on the screen.
Door bin speakers are replaced by a Harman Kardon sound bar by the windshield. There are still speakers in the rear. The audio in EX30 works just fine.
For a subcompact, the interior space is reasonable and enough for 4 adults, but 5 adults would be stretching it. The trunk is acceptable in size and has a small under floor storage for charging cables.
In terms of performance, the twin motor produces over 400HP and torque; the acceleration is powerful and fast off the line; 0-100km/hr only takes 3.6 seconds. If you do not need this much power or speed, you can look at the lower trim levels that has less HP and torque. The single motor trim level offers 268HP and 253lb/ft of torque, 0-100km/hr takes about 5.3 seconds. A small negative I find is that the back wheels are quite easy to slip and spin during hard acceleration even though the tester already came with Michelin X-Ice tires.
I liked the themes for ambient lighting and the sleek ambient light bar. However, I’m not a fan of the button-less car key, as I’ve had issues with the sensor not working properly, so I prefer having physical buttons.
The EX30 is equipped with a wide array of safety features such as side impact protection, whiplash injury protection, rear cross traffic alert with autobrake, collision avoidance and mitigation, blind spot monitoring etc.
The Volvo EX30, starting at $57,298, is a great addition to the lineup. See the gallery below.
