In almost every ecosystem there is a keystone organism that helps to hold the system together. In the forests of Scandinavia, the moose is considered to be a keystone species as their presence can shape young forest stands and determine the successional trajectory of forested ecosystems.
For Volvo that keystone species is their new and smallest electric SUV, the EX30. As this is the smallest ever electric SUV produced by Volvo it also boasts the smallest carbon footprint of any Volvo produced to date. But beyond this, the EX30 is important for the success of the all-electric future that Volvo Cars has committed to.
Production of the EX30 models is currently occurring in Zhangjiakou, China and from 2025 it will also be manufactured at the Ghent plant in Belgium. There are three models in the EX30 lineup and I recently spent some time in the top-of-the-line Volvo EX30 Twin Performance Ultra. Overall, I found that the EX30 was a quiet, solid feeling EV, but the ride was a bit bumpy on uneven road surfaces.
This EX30 is powered by a 69kWh lithium-ion battery with a single speed transmission and a motor delivering a combined 315kW (Front 115kW + Rear 200kW) of power and 543Nm (Front 200Nm + Rear 343Nm) of torque. The top speed is limited to 180 km/h and if you engage the Performance AWD under one of the menu settings the EX30 will do 0-100km/h in just 3.6 seconds. The charge port is located on the passenger side at the rear of the vehicle and the lightning bolt is illuminated green when charging is in progress.
The claimed maximum range is up to 445km (WLTP) and for my week I used 17.3kWh/100km giving me a potential maximum range of just under 400km. Although the EX30 emits no greenhouse gas emissions while driving, over the course of the vehicle’s life cycle from production, use for 200,000km, and disposal this EX30 will produce 28 tonnes of greenhouse gas equivalent using a European electricity mix.
Almost everything about the EX30 is minimalistic starting with way you access it. There are three ways to do this, either by using the button-less plastic key fob, the Near Field Communication (NFC) smart card key; or you can download the digital key to your smartphone with the and swipe it over the NFC readers on the B-pillar. As you approach the EX30 it lights up, but one downside of having no buttons on the key fob is you can’t press them to tell you where the car is in a carpark. You just have to walk around until the car lights up.
There’s also no start/stop button in the cabin and the EX30 is awake and ready to go as soon as you sit in the driver’s seat and fasten your seat belt. To move you engage Drive on the gear selection stalk and when you have arrived you simply press the Park button on the end of the stalk. When you exit the vehicle, it will lock as you walk away or you can slide your hand across the door handle to lock it, if you don’t trust the vehicle to do so.
Another feature missing from the EX30 is a driver’s display with nothing sitting behind the lovely tailored sport design steering wheel except for the driver attention monitor. All of the information about the EX30 is displayed on the 12.3-inch tablet screen in the centre of the vehicle. But I would like at least have a small digital speed read out in front of me or head up display so that I didn’t have to glance over to the screen to see what speed I was doing. Volvo also use non-descript buttons for their steering wheel controls with the right-hand side for your audio controls and the left-hand side is for adaptive cruise control settings. Although you do learn what the buttons do by trail and error, I would prefer that they have symbols on them to designate their use.
With regard to the lack of a speedo in front of the driver, Volvo would probably argue that their advanced speed assistance system with a speed sign recognition negates the need to have this because once you have engaged the adaptive cruise control by pushing the gear selection stalk down then the computer controls the speed. Yes, this system does work well, but it can get confused as with what happened to me when I was driving in a roadwork zone on the motorway at 80km/h. The speed sign recognition picked up a 60km/h somewhere not on the section of road I was travelling on and started to slow the vehicle automatically and I had to override it to the correct speed.
The feature that does dominate the dash though is the soundbar speaker that elegantly integrates tweeters, mid-range speakers and a woofer outlet in a stylish audio unit covering the full width of the dashboard in front of the occupants. It’s part of the Harman Kardon Premium Sound with 9 speakers, 9 channels, 1040W of output, and includes 1 subwoofer. The media sources include FM/DAB radio only, Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay and one slightly annoying this was every time I got into the EX30 I had to turn the radio on again. This speaker concept also frees up valuable space in the doors while reducing weight and material resources. The expansive cubby in the front doors easily fitted my large metal drink bottle, but as there is no moulding for the bottle it would just fall over, which was annoying.
As the most sustainable Volvo model ever produced, the leather-free interior of EX30 incorporates recycled and renewable materials such as flax, wool and denim upholstery created from the waste fibres of the denim recycling process. I noted the nice design of the door handles and I liked the contrasting use of materials on door trims. But the carpet mat on the driver’s side was not profiled exactly to fit the floor, so extended a little onto the accelerator pedal and this shows just a little lack of attention to detail, which is not Volvo like at all. I also thought that the outer air vents at the front did not offer a great range of direction control.
The Volvo EX30 seats are designed to fulfill the same comfort, ergonomic and safety requirements in larger cars. There is one toggle on the side of the seats to adjust the recline, forward/back, front angle of the seat base and you press the centre of the toggle to switch between the options. When adjusting the driver’s seat, a graphic displays on the screen so you know what you are doing and the settings can be saved to your profile that is linked to your key, so it sets when you approach the vehicle. The front seats are heated, as is the steering wheel and there are five ambient themes that you can select from with accompanying music and ambient lighting settings for a relaxing drive.
The centre display has Google Services (Assistant, Maps and Play) integrated into it and in-car web apps including YouTube. The map displays multiple different charging station options and tells you the type of charger and the number available. Wireless Apple CarPlay is available, but the EX30 does not have Android Auto, but this will be coming at some point. All controls for the vehicle are located on the screen, but apart from setting the position of your side mirrors a you can use the excellent voice control to set everything else. One problem with using the screen for all controls is it gets bad fingermarks on it.
There is a convenient multi-storage area at the floor, and a sliding unit in the tunnel console between the front seats that serves as a cupholder as well as a storage box and it has a removable tray in the bottom for easy cleaning. Below the split flip up covers is another storage area with two USB-C ports and this space is large enough for a handbag and as it has sides so your handbag will not fall over. A wireless charger for compatible phones is down low at the front of the console and the glove box is above this and opened via a button on the screen.
A large fixed panoramic glass roof provides a spacious and airy feel inside the car for everyone to enjoy, whether they are seated at the front or at the rear. The panoramic sunroof has no electrochromic controls, but you can option the EX30 with a blind to cover the sunroof. I wasn’t so much bothered by the heat coming through the sunroof, but the sun glare at certain angles was more of a problem.
I had ample head room in the rear seats, but taller individuals may find it a bit tight and my legs were hard up against the front seat and my knees felt like they were sitting up high. There are two ISOfix/three rear tether child seat restraint points for younger passengers.
Rear passengers get no rear air vents or cup holders and although you could squeeze a plastic drink bottle into the rear door cubby, there is no moulding to hold it in place. There are two USB-C ports located at the rear of the centre console as are the rear windows controls or they can be controlled from the front by pressing the ‘rear’ button and using the front window controls. There is a pull-out storage tray in the back of the centre console that can be removed, which would be a good place to store rubbish and it has one of the EX30’s Easter Eggs with a moose and forest scene moulded into its side. The mats on rear floor do not cover the centre part of the floor even though the transmission tunnel is low.
The powered boot is opened from the button in the middle of the tailgate or a button on the screen in the cabin. The boot size is adequate for the weekly shop or a smaller shop and a pram and there’s a handy ‘will it fit’ guide located on the inside of the tailgate. The boot space has four substantial tie down points and two moulded hooks, one 12V socket and a light that consists of one LED globe. Under boot floor is additional storage space for the charge cords or other items that you don’t always need and the EX30 comes with a tyre repair kit. If more space is required the rear seats have a 40:60 split fold mechanism with the release located on the outside of the shoulders. The EX30 also has a small storage cubby under the bonnet as well and there’s another moose moulded into the plastic here.
All EX30 models have a 5 star ANCAP (2024) rating with an Adult Occupant Protection score of 88% and a Child Occupant Protection score of 85%. Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting airbags are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard.
For convenience the EX30 also has automatic LED headlights with active high beam and rain sensing wipers. There are no controls for the wipers on the stalk apart from the windscreen wash button, with the wipers set on the screen to auto and left that way. A standard rear-view camera is combined with a 360-degre camera with 3D view and front and rear parking sensors and Park Assist Pilot to make parking a synch.
Autonomous emergency braking (Car-to-Car, Vulnerable Road User, Junction & Crossing, Backover and Head-On) (AEB) as well as a lane support system with lane keep assist, lane departure warning, blind spot information and emergency lane keeping are standard on all variants. As is adaptive cruise control, which has speed adjustment is in 5km/h increments only. Pleasantly the driver attention warning has an unobtrusive bong to warn you rather than a harsh one like many other vehicles have.
ANCAP tests of the AEB (Car-to-Car) system showed GOOD performance with collisions avoided or mitigated in many test scenarios, including in many of the AEB Junction and AEB Crossing scenarios where the test vehicle can autonomously brake to avoid crashes when turning across or into the path of an oncoming vehicle. Tests of the AEB Head-On system functionality showed ADEQUATE performance. ANCAP tests of lane support system functionality showed GOOD performance, including in the more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios and overall, the ANCAP Safety Assist score is 80%.
The Volvo EX30 comes with segment leading 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty, an 8-year roadside assistance package, 8-year battery warranty and 2-year interval servicing. The first years servicing costs are included in the purchase price.
For Volvo, the moose in their forest is the EX30, with their trajectory very much dependent on the success of this electric SUV. The Volvo EX30 range starts at $59,990 for the Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Plus and this Volvo EX30 Twin Performance Ultra is $71,290 plus on-road costs with the EX30 I tested fitted with optional 20” 5 spoke Aero alloy wheels. You can Build your Own EX30 online or visit your preferred Volvo Retailer for more information.
| Pros | Cons |
| It’s a zippy urban SUV | No speedometer in front of the driver |
| The ‘will it fit guide’ in the boot | Sun glare through the panoramic sunroof |
| Unoffensive driver attention warning bong | Lack of features for rear seat passengers |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.