Small electric car on test: Volvo EX30 – Sweden’s popular electric car for everyday life and excursions

A little electronics on the test
Volvo EX30 – an electric car for the Swedish people for everyday life and travel

April 9, 2024, 6:44 am

Read the article

Smaller, cheaper and younger than any other Volvo: the EX30 is intended to open up the Swedish car brand to new customer groups. To achieve this, he comes up with a few unusual solutions.

The EX30 is an electric car and is currently the cheapest Volvo in Germany. The compact hybrid is on the platform from parent company Geely and will soon become the Swede’s best-selling model. Also by tapping new younger customer groups. He brings a lot to the table.

At 4.23 meters long, the EX30 is approximately 20 centimeters shorter than its bigger sister model, the EX40. Therefore, a new car is not very suitable as a family car, but singles and couples should live well in everyday life. It is not small because the trunk is quite spacious even in the basic position at 318 liters. There is another small storage space under the front hood that holds the charging cable. There is room for three people in the back seat, but even two adults should be reduced. The lower back seat is more suitable for children.

Some things are unusual for Volvo

If the space situation is unusual for a Volvo, the atmosphere is even more so. This applies a little to the reduced cockpit, which can be described as open-Scandinavian, but instead of equipment and operation. For example, not all test car drivers liked the large areas of hard plastic that are inside the doors and dashboard. If you put sustainability higher on your personal priority list than the sense of reward, you may also get along well with faux leather on the seats.

A rescue effort that can be seen from many angles takes more getting used to. For example, Volvo is moving the window openers to the center console to save complexity and cable length. A similar idea could be behind simply fitting the driver’s door with a keyless sensor or saving the central device behind the steering wheel. If you want to read the driving speed, you should look at the large vertical touchscreen on the center console – which was received differently by different drivers, but in general it works surprisingly well. The numbers are large enough to read out of the corner of the eye with peripheral vision, so the eye doesn’t stray further from the road than with a standard speedometer setup.

Volvo does not offer a head-up display as an option. The same applies to the classic key, which the Swedes have decided to completely save for the chip card. This is annoying because the EX30, like other electric Volvos, does not have a starter motor head. When parking, the automatic system is set to the “P” position and it just goes out – without pressing a button and without much feedback from the car. This Tesla-trained attitude of seeing the car as an electronic device rather than a machine is not convincing in everyday life, at least after two weeks of testing.

What is convincing, however, is the underlying capability: dirt-free driving. It starts with a nice layout in the Android navigation system, which anyone with a little Google experience can quickly learn to use. And it continues with a range of actions and charging times suitable for daily use. The largest of the two existing batteries (49 and 64 kWh) was installed in the test car, which, according to the manufacturer, stores electricity up to 475 km. In practice, with a large number of roads, it was only about 350 km, but if you drive mainly in the city, you can also get close to the limit of 500 km. However, the small battery is enough for close ranges (typical range of 337 km), which makes the car almost 5,000 euros cheaper. At least 43,300 euros, the long-term version of the EX30 is already slightly removed from the sphere of Volksstromer.

Cheap entry level price

The low starting price is put in perspective a bit if you want more than standard equipment. It’s basically good, but if you want extras like automatic air conditioning, adaptive cruise control or a smartphone charging cradle, you have to go straight to the top-of-the-line equipment line, which costs a cool 3,000 euros. Volvo doesn’t offer any personalization options apart from upholstery and rims.

When it comes to charging, the smallest Volvo performs well on paper, but in practice it’s pretty average. An 11 kW charger is standard on board, and a 22 kW model is available on top equipment. The Swedes promise up to 153 kW power charge on the fast charger, but in the best conditions with high temperatures, initial conditions and a low starting rate, only around 100 kW was possible.

Those in a hurry may wish for more charging power. Also because the EX30, like every electric SUV, becomes an electric device more than 100 km. If you want to push the values ​​below the threshold of 20 kWh per 100 km, you have to slow down, but then you will definitely end up with figures close to the normal levels of about 17 kWh.

Overall, the Volvo EX30 is currently one of the best electric small cars on the German market. Anyone who can get used to the reduced plastic interior and likes Android operation will find a comfortable, modern and well-equipped crossover for everyday use and travel.

The only thing that separates it from the real volume electric car is its still high price in absolute terms and perhaps also its unique features with the speedometer, the locking system and the start button.

Volvo EX30 – technical data

• Compact SUV; Length: 4.23 meters, width: 1.84 meters (including exterior mirrors: 2.03 meters), height: 1.55 meters, wheelbase: 2.65 meters, turning circle: 10.7 meters, trunk volume: 318-904 liters including 7 liters in front
• Single Motor Extended Series: rear PSM electric motor, 200 kW/272 HP, maximum torque: 343 Newton meters, 0-100 km/h: 5.3 s, Vmax: 180 km/h, all-wheel drive rear, single gearbox, lithium-ion -Battery (NMC), capacity: 69 kWh (usable: 64 kWh), maximum charging power 11/22 kW (AC)/153 kW (DC)
• When heated via heat pump, typical consumption: 17.0 kWh/100 km, range: 475 km, test consumption: 20 kWh/100 km
• Price: 43,290 euros