Gio and I drive the Electric Volvo EX30 Through Barossa Valley

Since I was a boy, Volvo gave me happy face.. The cars simply screamed “Safe, secure, comfortable,” but they looked extremely conservative. As the decades passed, the boxiness became sleeker-n- chicer, and the EX30 is the most delicious yet.

Volvo is now distancing itself from performance offshoot, Polestar, and after splitting the nameplate off as an entity unto itself, will soon cease funding it. Volvo in turn, is owned by Geely. Geely started in 1986, entered the auto market in 1997, and acquired Volvo from Ford in 2010. Since then Volvo has flourished, free of interference from Detroit.

Volvo’s fleet has been given the waving over of a magic wand. The brand no longer sells diesel cars, switching to petrol/electric hybrid and pure electric models instead. There is now a tantalising promise of being pure electric in 2026, something most established brands can’t possibly hope match.

That segues neatly to the neat, sweet, and petite, EX30.

While the single motor has “Plus and Ultra”, the dual motor only comes in “Ultra” trim. We drove both a single and a dual motor model and a preference was as clear as mud. Like other Volvos, its eco credentials are tracked by blockchain technology which allows accurate assessment of its environmental impact from cradle to grave.

Decisions, decisions!

ABOVE: 2024 Volvo EX30

Looks:

What a little peach the EX30 is. An onlooker won’t note much difference between the rear-wheel-drive and AWD models. Volvo Car Australia has wisely opted only for the extended range battery even though a shorter range battery is cheaper.

The EX30 is 30mm shorter than the sexy C30 3-door hatch, and while the latter was reminiscent of The Saint’s P1800ES Shooting Brake, the EX30 brings all of Volvo’s past together with the best of Volvo’s future.

Unlike the gorgeous C40 that share’s its platform with the XC40 and Polestar 2, with ICE models amongst the offerings, the EX30 is built on Geely’s SEA2 platform. The SEA2 electric-only platform is shared with the Geely/Mercedes Smart #1 and Zeekr X, and allows designers to exhibit a flashy bit of daring free of the need of oily bits.

The compact hatch-meets-SUV is city sized and chunky, yet sleek and modern. It would have been nice to see it as a 3-door shooting brake because the back seats will see very little action.

Volvo has not tried to make EX30 mimic an ICE car by shoving a silly grille-like adornment on the front. Instead, the segmented Thor’s Hammer DTRL’s continue the ICE model design, but the signature oblique slash and Volvo badge rest on a solid panel.

The cute rump has a lower and upper lighting array that extend across the hatch and up the rear pillars.

The profile is a master class in how to the chunkiness inherent when concealing a thick battery under a floor can add to handsome design. The battery compartment is blackened, making the cabin seem sleek and chic. Now that I come to think about it, there is a touch of Range Rover Evoke about EX30, which includes a little curve in the bonnet opening over the front wheel.

The Interior

The cargo hold has a nifty floor that abuts the bottom edge of the hatch opening, but can be lowered to accommodate big boy toys. Total are 318L-904L which include the nifty 2 level floor.

Rear seats are snug and if a taller driver inserts himself up front, anyone sitting behind will need to be of Lilliputian proportions. There is a 71L box under the bonnet for cables and other rarely-used flotsam.

The rear floor is near flat should there be anyone therein.

The front seats are a triumph. Apart from the cabin sporting the cute little Swedish flag, the fabrics and surfaces are partially reclaimed from old plastic. The look matches mid-century modern, 21^st century chic, and an acknowledgment of environmental concerns.

The dash is dominated by the portrait style 12.3” tablet that forms the centre stack. Below it is a tiny centre glove box operated by a centre screen button. beneath that is a centre console with a slanted Qi charger so that the phone can be seen and not forgotten. The console has a large bottom tray with a second tray under a set of flaps.

There is no centre bin to speak of. Instead, the dual-use cup holders slide out from under an armrest that also contains front window buttons. There is a switch that makes them rear window controls. With 3 buttons in all, we are only 1 button short of a button for each window. Why not just add an extra window button and be done with?

Harman Kardon sound comes from a bar across the bottom of the windscreen, but despite decent sound, I prefer its speakers to be spread about the cabin. I used my regular test playlist and the system struggled when it came to replicating beefy bass and tinkling tops at the same time.

The controls are beautifully designed and built.

The right stalk contains the “gears” and park, and the left stalk is indicators, wipers and lights. Funnily enough, it’s not at all confusing even though it is asking a lot of a single unit with multiple functions.

The Steering wheel controls other function, but the multipurpose buttons take quite a bit of getting used to. For example, the side mirrors are activated by a centre screen menu which then changes the right-hand steering wheel switches to mirror controls, otherwise they are audio buttons. Why not just have a toggle on the door like normal people?

The centre screen is uber-important because there are no other driver displays. For those of you who, like me, find that a bit of a bummer, our misgivings will be vindicated later.

The Drive:

I was driver-paired with Gen Z Gio, a keen kid with a delightful sense of the dramatic. While we mostly chatted about boys and booze, we did compare notes on the car in-between gasps of gossip.

The RWD base model had oodles of oomph, but this is where the chickens of a single screen come home to roost. We frequently found that exploring menu options interfered with driver data. Although there isn’t a drive mode selector per se, the vehicle menu allows the user to dial up a frisker experience. Steering can also be made feather-light, just the way I like it. Gio prefers a firmer feel but as almost all steering is electric, road feel is as good as the programmer of the computer allows. Road feel is now a completely artificial construct.

Our test route from Adelaide Airport through to the beautiful Barossa was fraught with potential failure. The user induced incidents came when trying to fettle menus while following the inbuilt Google Map directions. Oh yeah, like other Volvo/Polestar cars, the system uses a Google Automotive operating system, not to be confused with Android Auto, but we haven’t the time to go into that now.

Like other single screen systems (see Tesla), speed and driver aid data is along the top. The middle section is for menus, options and maps, and the lower bit relates to climate. There is also an expanded climate option menu within the centre section which can’t be seen if your journeys require complex instructions. Only one function at a time please.

We both loved the friskiness of the rear-wheel’s 200kw/343Nm motor. Volvo were not afraid to show us the best and worst of EX30’s cans and can’ts. The road surfaces varied from billiard table to Cher (pre-face-fill). Tight corners we dispatched with reasonable alacrity, but to date, I haven’t yet found an EV that handles exactly like an ICE equivalent. Suspension is MacPherson Strut front and multi-link rear, and carries the weighty EX30 with aplomb, but you can feel the battery trying to pull the car off centre..

Does that matter? No, not to me and not to Gio. There will be piston-headed knobs who will want to throw EX30 into a corner at warp 9.99 despite the fact that almost no one drives that way, and they will bitch about the weight of 1850kg. The dual motor is 110kg heftier, quite a lot for a pocket rocket.

The Dual motor’s 316kw/543Nm output is good for a sprint to 100 of a tidy 3.6 seconds, slightly ahead of the 5.3 second base model test and is more than enough to be going on with.

We didn’t fiddle much with the Google interface, but you can attach the system to your own Google account. You can add apps and sign into other accounts so that the car and its screen become an extension of your cyber personality, for better or for worse. We’ll leave that right there.

The Adelaide hills are renowned for being picturesque while granting access bucolic Barossa. The sprints were joyfully brisk and no matter how appalling the road was, EX30 ironed the worst of it into comfortable cruising. Even at speed, the cabin was fairly quiet too, though some say the handling wasn’t as good as they had hoped, but I found EX30 to be first class in all respects.

Specifications HERE:

Single Motor: As Tested Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended, Ultra XXXXX

Dual Motor:As Tested Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Extended Ultra XXXXX

Driver and Safety Aids:

Volvo always was ahead of the pack when it came to safety, but others have caught up. Unlike the others, Volvo’s aids never interfered with the pleasure of the drive. Despite a full suit of gadgets, the only time she got pushy was when was when trying to assist Gio in fettling the menus. Taking your eyes off the road, even for a moment, is förbjuden.

The smart phone app allows control of the EX30, and acts as a digital key, and there are card keys as well.

Charging:

According to the Volvo website, range for the Dual Motor Performance Extended Range is 520km (540km for the single motor extended range). Charging up to 150kw will get the 69kWh battery up full in 26 minutes at an Ultra-Rapid DC public charger, and 8 hours at home.

Final Comments:

Gio loved the looks and feel, bless his little Gen Z heart. I like the looks, but, felt somewhat more circumspect about the single-screen affair. All cars with a centre-only readout need an HUD at least.

The cabin design is utterly delicious, and the drive, sublime.

The mix of a mid-century-modern gents club cabin and sexy exterior design make the baby Volvo as desirable as the iconic P1800ES. Despite the lack of driver dials, I loved every moment, I just needed more time to acclimatise to the new controls.

Pricing

Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Plus – $59,990.00

Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Ultra – $66,290.00

Volvo EX30 Twin Performance Ultra – $71,290.00