I Want To Love The Volvo EX30 But Its Tech Is Holding Me Back

It’s difficult to buy a properly small new car in North America, and a small electric car is even trickier to find. Short of the Fiat 500e and the electric Mini, few truly subcompact options exist, let alone ones that blend a city-friendly footprint with the range you want for road trips. So how about the Volvo EX30? We’ve been waiting quite a while for this little crossover to come ashore, likely due in part to a trade war with China, but it’s finally here.

On paper, it does everything right. It’s only five inches longer than a Honda Fit, has the range of a base Ford Mustang Mach-E, and acceleration figures that are genuinely surprising. Best of all, this is the EX30 that people will actually buy once it makes its way to the U.S., the cheaper single-motor model that Volvo claimed would start at just over $36,000 including freight. It took the internet by storm, but what’s it like to live with for a full week? Let’s find out.

[Full disclosure: Volvo Canada let me borrow this EX30 for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it with at least 70 percent charge, and reviewed it.]

The Basics

Battery Pack: 65 kWh net capacity lithium-ion battery pack.

Drive: Single-motor rear-wheel-drive.

Output: 268 horsepower and 253 lb.-ft. of torque.

EPA Range: 260 miles.

Peak DC Fast Charging: 153 kW.

Base Price: $56,470 Canadian including freight.

Price As-Tested: $61,870 Canadian including freight.

Why Does The Volvo EX30 Exist?

Back in 2023, Volvo had a brilliant plan: Leverage the fact that it’s owned by Geely to send a premium subcompact electric crossover to North America for under $37,000 by going minimalist but high-style. It was an interesting plan, but it almost immediately got absolutely torpedoed by substantial tariffs on Chinese EVs. Since then, Volvo’s pivoted to production in Belgium, has finally started sending dual-motor models to America, and this single-motor model should be coming soon.

How Does It Look?

Walking up to the Volvo EX30, you can’t help but be struck by how it’s properly tiny, truly deserving of its subcompact status. It’s only a tenth of an inch longer than a Jeep Renegade and roughly the same size as the previous generation Hyundai Kona Electric. Want a less niche comparison? This thing’s 5.3 inches shorter than a Toyota Corolla hatchback.

However, despite the diminutive length of the EX30, nothing about its styling seems dinky. From the signature T-shaped headlights to the mature, conservative surfacing, it’s as handsome as a navy blazer, and it most certainly doesn’t look cheap. There’s real detail to the taillights, heft to the door handles, and sharpness to the creases, all of which suggest that this is a real luxury car.

What About The Interior?

Looking beyond the exterior, you start to get a sense that the EX30 is pared-back to the extreme. It starts with the Ken Doll of keys, a completely smooth shiny black Tic Tac box with no buttons on it whatsoever. Use its proximity ping to unlock the door, slide behind the wheel, and you’re met with some chairs and a single screen and that’s it.

Granted, there is a funkiness to some of the materials. My test car’s navy blue upholstery is a welcome break from a sea of black, and the use of translucent trim on the air vents, pops of confetti on the upper interior trims, and a unique chipboard finish on the lower sections of the door cards feels quite Frutiger Aero. In contrast, there’s something mid-century modern about the gorgeous metallic interior door handles, which look and feel fit for something twice the EX30’s price. I also like how the glovebox is in the middle of the dashboard, so it won’t mash your passenger’s knees.

As for comfort, you get a lovely thin-rimmed steering wheel wrapped in exceptionally soft material, the driving position’s quite alright, and the front seats are Volvo-lite, meaning they’re perfect for the EX30’s mission. Unfortunately, the rear seat squab sits so close to the floor that riding in the back is reminiscent of popping a squat. Actually, it’s about as spartan back there as an outdoor latrine since there are no cup holders or armrest, a move that seems a bit egregious for the price tag.

How Does It Drive?

Despite the single-motor EX30 not being the quick one, don’t be caught sleeping on it. After all, it makes more power than a base Mustang Mach-E and weighs 3,859 pounds, which means even the entry model moves out. Figure zero-to-60 mph in less than six seconds, and seamless electric torque means every on-ramp’s an excuse to summon up a squirt of power. Equally important is the brake pedal calibration, which just feels right. There’s a mastery to the blending of regenerative and friction braking, making the transition virtually imperceptible while still offering a firm, confident pedal.

Speaking of firm stuff, the ride of the EX30 around town fits with its compact, nimble footprint, in that you definitely notice the larger bumps but they’re dispatched with quickly. The upside is five-micron filtering of tar snakes and other minor road imperfections, and a general sense of “hold on bro, I’ve got this.” Granted, the steering is hilariously overboosted around town even in its firmest setting, to the point where you can twirl the wheel with two fingertips and minimal effort, so you won’t find much confidence there. It makes drive-thrus and parking lots hilariously easy, especially combined with the Oreo-sized turning circle, but you do wish for a bit more feedback.

Well if you want better steering, why not drive a bit faster? The ride that’s a bit firm around town settles down brilliantly on the freeway, and the steering weights up enough for utter confidence at left lane speeds. There still isn’t much feedback, but it’s amazing how something shorter than a Corolla hatchback locks in so nicely on faster roads.

Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?

Outside of Apple Carplay, Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, and a robust driver assistance suite, the Volvo EX30 is more about electronic crap you don’t want rather than stuff you do. The glovebox release and, more concerningly, the hazard warning light switch are in the touchscreen. In fact, every bloody thing from the speedometer to the mirror controls are in the touchscreen, so if you need to adjust everything, the driver monitoring system is going to holler at you as if your most neurotic parent was riding shotgun. If user interface decisions mean I can’t turn off my heated seat and keep my eyes on the road, whose fucking fault is that?

But wait, there’s more. Volvo took a good look at the Volkswagen ID.4 and decided to swipe its window controls, but then reduced them even further by putting two window switches and a capacitive touch pad for rear window control on the center console. The power seat controls are also non-traditional, with a cube to move things about and a button to cycle through what you want to move. You also don’t get a volume knob or a pause button, there’s no button to turn the car off, and it only goes to sleep when you lock it. This means you always get exit music, which is fine if you’re listening to “Blue Monday” but atrocious if you’re listening to “The Whisper Song.”

Speaking of tunes, my optioned-up tester came with a Harman/Kardon sound system that sounds like absolute garbage until you turn off Harman’s abominable Quantum Logic Surround processing and realize that sound quality’s actually remarkably crisp, but rear fill is lacking. If you’re into sound quality rather than staging, the EX30’s optional Harman/Kardon system is one of the best options in this price bracket, you just have to tell the digital signal processing that you know better than it does.

Three Things To Know About The Volvo EX30 Single Motor

1. Its door bins and console tray are sized for MacBooks and a canvas bag, respectively.
2. The whole car is weirdly annoying to use.
3. The electronics are gonna give you exit music.

Does It Fulfil Its Purpose?

This is a tricky one. The Volvo EX30 may or may not fulfil its purpose, mostly because we’re still waiting on U.S. pricing for the single-motor model. We still don’t know where final U.S. pricing will land. Up in Canada, the EX30 single-motor stickers for $56,470 Canadian, and this loaded-up single-motor trim stickers for $61,870 Canadian. At current conversion rates, that works out to $39,512 for the base model, or about three grand more than the initial touted price. If Volvo can hold the line, the base EX30 may be more competitive, but now that a Mustang Mach-E starts right in that price bracket? It’s tough.

At the same time, the EX30 single-motor’s minimalism feels like a conspiracy by big small to sell more less. It’s a joyful EV to drive most of the time, it looks tremendous, and it’s remarkably comfortable for front seat occupants, but its electronics are infuriating to use. Even once you learn where everything is, the digital controls are still in the way, resulting in a complicated car that’s a little bit more frustrating than joyful, even for someone who gets used to tech quickly. Should a new car be annoying? I don’t think it should.

What’s The Punctum Of The Volvo EX30 Single Motor?

Volvo’s funky entry-level electric crossover is, unfortunately, a little bit too minimalist for its own good.

Top graphic credit: Thomas Hundal

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