2025 Volvo EX30: Resetting the EV value proposition

The Volvo lineup has been moving up in size and price as more models get electrified.

With the EX30, Volvo is going after the entry-level EV market with an all-electric, Chinese-made compact crossover that will arrive in the U.S. in the first half of 2024.

With the 2025 EX30 priced from $36,145, including shipping, it is billed as the most affordable, fastest accelerating and greenest Volvo yet.

The EX30 sits atop Geely Group's Sustainable Experience Architecture platform, with a wheelbase of 104.3 inches. The compact design allows for a smaller, less expensive battery without compromising driving range. The crossover's low hood and air curtains up front, and a roof drop in the rear, reduce drag and boost energy efficiency.

Overall, it measures just over 166 inches in length, making it shorter than Chevrolet's Bolt, the Nissan Leaf and Hyundai's all-electric Kona.

The crossover is equipped with a 69-kWh battery that delivers 275 miles in the single-motor version and 265 miles in a dual-motor performance variant. The EX30 battery can charge to 80 percent from 10 percent in 26.5 minutes.

Volvo is also readying a more rugged EX30 — a Cross Country variant — with skid plates, black panels on the front bumper and trunk lid and a small, hood-mounted Swedish flag.

We've rounded up some early reviews from journalists who recently drove the EX30 in Europe.

"The Single Motor's, um, single motor is mounted to the rear axle, producing 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. This'll get the EX30 to 60 mph in a perfectly respectable 5.1 seconds, and Volvo estimates a 275-mile driving range for this configuration — though not if you're testing that aforementioned launch time on the regular, of course.

"The Twin Motor Performance has the same rear drive unit, but adds a second motor to the EX30's front axle for a total output of 422 hp and 400 lb.-ft. of torque. That's a whole heck of a lot of power — even for a 4,140-pound crossover — and my goodness, does this EX30 scoot. Put the EX30 Twin Motor into its Performance AWD setting, stomp the throttle and you'll hit 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. That makes the EX30 Volvo's quickest accelerating production car ever.

"Nifty as that is, however, after a day of driving the EX30 on winding Spanish country roads and darting through traffic in Barcelona's busy city center, the Single Motor is the way to go. Remember, even the pokiest EVs still feel quick thanks to instant electric torque, and at no point does the Single Motor EX30 ever feel like it can't get out of its own way.

"Beyond that, though, the EX30 Single Motor is simply more fun to drive. At 3,858 pounds, the rear-drive EX30 is 282 pounds lighter than the AWD version, and all that weight comes off the front end. This makes Volvo's tiny EV feel more playful and agile while cornering, especially with the well-weighted steering — not to mention the fun-to-handle squircle wheel.

"It's also worth noting that the EX30 Twin Motor's all-wheel-drive system is reactionary, where the front drive unit doesn't power up unless deemed necessary by acceleration demands or traction control. In order to keep the front motor running at all times, you have to activate the Performance AWD setting in the infotainment system's drive mode screen. Doing this will almost certainly tank your range, though I'll admit I'm impressed by the fact that, despite its added power and weight, Volvo says the AWD EX30 should still return 265 miles on a full charge. Not a huge loss compared to the rear-drive model."

— Steven Ewing, Autoblog

"You could call the EX30's Scandinavian minimalist cabin stark, if you were being unkind, but it does feel well put together and full of worthy recycled and renewable materials, including woven flax, upcycled denim fibers from blue jeans, ground plastic waste, recycled polyester and carpet from recycled PET bottles.

"This may seem odd, but the door handles are a particular triumph. Solid metal loops that cleverly fool you into thinking that high-end feel is here in the 'budget' Volvo, as long as you don't spec the flecked interior plastic that has more than a whiff of hospital waiting room about it.

"Much like a Tesla cabin, that touchscreen is your path to nearly all the controls, including replacing the instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. Volvo's Google-powered UI is one of the best out there, as we've stated before, but this still doesn't make up for such a lack of physical buttons. Yes, cost-cutting is the order of the day here for the brand's entry-level EV, but the prevailing wind in car design is definitely moving away from 'no buttons' toward a varying mixture of touch and physical knobs — and for good reason. It's a shame Volvo has ignored this."

— Jeremy White, Wired

"Despite a shortish wheelbase, which can more readily transmit pitch and hop into the cabin, the EX30 feels nicely controlled, even over the broken pavement, choppy expansion joints and undulating dips on the long stretches of Volvo's test track that simulate America's tattered tarmac. Rebounds feel stable and devoid of bump-stop crashes, and isolation is admirable, even compared with the brand's lovely, larger XC40. All of this is achieved without computer-controlled air springs or adaptive dampers. A suite of advanced driver-assistance systems, including blind-spot monitoring and Volvo's Pilot Assist (lane-keeping aid, plus adaptive cruise control), is standard, as you would expect.

"Handling is aided by the presence of the 64-kWh battery pack in the floor, lowering the center of gravity of the stubby EV (which is about the size of a VW Golf, albeit some three inches taller). Volvo's recent switch to a rear-wheel-drive default for its AWD EVs helps as well. The front axle only engages when slip is detected at the rear, the accelerator is pressed deeply, or Performance mode is engaged. (The 3,858-pound Single Motor Extended Range starter model is rear-wheel drive only and pumps out 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque, providing a claimed 60-mph time of 5.1 seconds.)"

— Brett Berk, Car and Driver

"For Volvo's purposes, they're calling the EX30 their 'smallest ever SUV.' But it's up to you to decide if it's really a compact SUV or large hatchback; the driving experience leans toward the latter with a light and maneuverable feel. The expected torque of the electric motor (or two, if you choose) provides ample quickness for street driving or escaping freeway wolf packs. The build quality doesn't feel as solid as a traditional Volvo — the car make that cliches swear is 'built like a tank.' Still, Volvo obsesses over driver safety, even in a $35,000 package.

"The EX30 dimensions (166.7 inches long; 72.3 inches wide; 61.2 inches high; with a curb weight of 4,034 to 4,284 pounds due to battery bulk) drop this vehicle smack in the middle of that fading large hatchback category — bigger and more comfortable than a small hatch, but too small for it to serve many of the duties we usually assign to larger SUVs. All is well in the front seat (or what Volvo terms the front interior room) as an EV's natural absence of a drivetrain and front-mounted engine opens up ample legroom. Still, with two grown-ups in the front, the same number of said adults will have to squeeze in the back."

— John Scott Lewinski, Inside Hook

"The Single Motor feels like it reaches 60 as swiftly as advertised. And the steering has a light feel and quick turn-in. So light that it's easy to forget that it's a tiny SUV that weighs more than a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice. Of course, it's quiet. Yes, the sensation of instant torque is satisfying. And it's comfortable over even the occasional busted-up Spanish road.

"Absolute adhesion is limited by modest, all-season Goodyear tires. But this isn't a vehicle that many will use to test the limits anyhow.

"The Twin Motor, in contrast, feels as if it's launched by catapult. Volvo claims a 3.4-second 0 to 60 mph rush for this 315-kilowatt (422-horsepower) 4,140-pound squirt. Every one of the 400 pound-feet of torque feels eager to reach the ground and with four driven wheels, they all do.

"While the Twin Motor feels heavier and less nimble than the Single, it's still a scurrying thing. In traffic, it can pound into openings that no ICE small SUV would dare exploit. Like the Single, top speed is limited to 112 mph. Range is a claimed 'up to' 265 miles, but that remains to be tested."

— John Pearley Huffman, Road & Track

"By today's EV standards, the EX30 is light, weighing in at 3,858 pounds with one motor or 4,140 pounds with two. It DC fast charges at a rate of 153 kW in 26.5 minutes, from 10% to 80%.

"From a performance standpoint, the EX30 is capable and fun to drive, with plenty of thrust from a standstill and at highway speed, with either rear- or AWD. It could be argued the single-motor EX30 handles better because the AWD variant adds 220 pounds up front and a bit of torque steer.

"As for energy efficiency, our test drive in a single-motor EX30 achieved a competitive 3.9 miles per kWh, while the twin-motor was less impressive, at 3 miles per kWh. There's just one setting to turn on one-pedal driving, but Volvo is considering an OTA update to add a second, less abrupt setting for regenerative braking.

"Battery-electric vehicles are launching so frequently that they are starting to blur together in terms of dynamic performance: They're all quiet, smooth, and torquey, with a low center of gravity, which makes range, styling, and interior features the most important differentiators when shopping across brands.

"In the case of the EX30, Volvo opted for a bare-bones interior with too much hard, cheap plastic in an aggressive bid to keep the sticker price down.

"To be clear, there are interesting and innovative materials inside the EX30 — pegged to recycling, repurposing, and sustainability — like the ground-up denim scraps used from blue jean manufacturing to weave the base Indigo seat fabric, or the pine resin and polymer used to make Nordico as a leather replacement on another trim, or the linseed plants used to make string for the distinctive flax weave that decorates the instrument panel and doors in certain models, or the top-level seats made from a sturdy blend of wool and recycled pop bottles."

— Tom Murphy, Autoweek