Volvo EX30 first drive: this tiny, inexpensive electric SUV is also Volvo’s quickest car, ever
There’s a lot of dichotomy in that title. But for some reason, it all makes sense when driving the Volvo EX30. After delaying the much bigger EX90 indefinitely, Volvo’s first EV designed from the ground up really shines in so many areas, and of course has one big glaring downside…
Let’s get those eye-watering specs out of the way first.
- Horsepower: 268 RWD/422 AWD
- Torque: 253ftlbs RWD/ 400ftlbs AWD
- Top speed: 112mph
- Battery: 69kWh
- Range: 265/275 miles
- Towing: 2000lbs/2500lbs
- Dimensions: Height: 61.2in, Width: 72.3in, Length: 166.7in
- Base price: $34,950FWD/$44,900 AWD
- Some more interior dimensions
For those in the US, the size of the Volvo EX30 is about halfway between a Chevy Bolt EV and the 6-inch longer EUV. While Chevy initially tried to call the Bolt a “Micro-SUV”, I think the EX30 with its 7-inch ground clearance and much larger wheels better fits that description. Taking it off-road later cemented that role.
Interior
Maybe the most impressive aspect of the EX30 is the interior design. Clearly Scandinavian-inspired, there’s not a single item that hasn’t been thought over for simplicity or efficiency and so many smart decisions were made here. Volvo took the window buttons and speakers out of the door to simplify. Instead, all of this lies in the center of the vehicle.
The roomy and convenient glovebox is also in the center which leaves a nice open, airy space for the passenger. (By the way, the front trunk or ‘frunk’ isn’t much bigger than a glovebox and will likely be used as a space to store valuables and perhaps charging cables)
The armrests on the door feel like they are floating, while below there is tons of room for storage. The door handles are made of a solid metal material that feels high quality. The seats are firm but comfortable but not in a ‘La-z-boy’ type of smushy way.
The center console is no different. Drawers and cupholders are well-designed and seem to come out of nowhere. USB-C and wireless chargers are both easy to access.
The center stack is running on Google’s Automotive OS but it will still take Carplay or Android projection from your phones. The software wasn’t quite complete at testing but it was similar to Volvo and Polestar’s other offerings albeit with a display that felt a little smaller and cheaper.
Exterior
Volvo, I think, also hit it out of the park with the look shape of the EX30. It looks a lot like its bigger XC40 cousin but also a little more modern and sculpted with more futuristic lights and aero wheels.
We drove a white AWD version and a Gray RWD version but the light blue and moss yellow varieties will turn more heads. I think Volvo could really have some fun with more colorful options here, perhaps taking a cue from apple’s iPads and iMacs for fun inspiration.
The charging port in the driver’s side rear has those little stringed covers that you see in cars that are designed by people who have never had to charge a car. I’d rip those off on day one.
The Drive
Given all the hype around the EX30, I was worried that the drive would feel cheap or sedated or…boring.
Nope! it is so fun to drive and maybe more importantly, it gets out of your way when you just want to get from point A to point B.
The car was also pretty good at sipping electrons, though we didn’t do any scientific testing since we were also trying to push it to its limits off-road and on. Overall, I think that the 265-275 mile range is certainly achievable and perhaps more with some miserly driving.
Volvo says you can charge from 10% to 80% or add almost 200 miles in 26 minutes at the right chargers which the above was not.
Charging is typical with about 150kW CCS combo but Volvo will switch to Tesla’s NACS charger as early as mid-cycle 2024 and will provide adapters for all vehicles in both directions.
Also, we’re happy to report that the EX30 does fine off the road, as we took some scenic detours through some forests and wineries. We found some mud, some hills, and just some beautiful mountain dirt roads to drive on. The EX30 felt right at home here. The 7-inch drive clearance and solid suspension were certainly helpful in crossing ditches and those relatively big tires did well on tight turns. That said, the turning radius felt like that of a bigger vehicle.
One note that though all Volvos are governed at under 118 miles per hour, our AWD EX30 version started getting a little shaky at about 95 miles per hour. Other than that, it drove incredibly solid for a low-priced car.
Also, I do want to report that the lower-end rear-wheel drive version felt really fast and was perhaps more fun to drive than the more powerful AWD variety. If you don’t live where it snows a lot I’d recommend the RWD version or at least test-driving it and perhaps save yourself $10K
Overall Pros:
- Amazing price/performance
- Size is short but still roomy and nimble
- Efficient and beautiful inside and out
- Great sound system, lots of storage space
Cons:
- Built in China, though Volvo says they are spinning up an EU assembly line. No US manufacturing announced but Volvo says it would take 18 months to do so.
- The center screen is small and sometimes hard to read while driving
- Rear space is small without a center armrest, rear windows hard to roll down from front
Electrek’s Take
I love almost everything about this car and I fully expect to replace my Chevy Bolt with it in a few years. It drives excellently both fast and off-road, it is the perfect size and it is beautiful inside and out. I have some gripes outlined above (rear armrest, center screen, etc) but nothing physical that would deter me from recommending this car.
My biggest beef is that Volvo isn’t building this locally for the US market and is instead outsourcing it to its sister company Geely in China. That also means it might get hit with a 27% tariff coming in and of course, wouldn’t qualify for the $7500 Federal tax credit unless leased. Volvo was cagey about whether they were on the hook for the 27% US tariff on Chinese-made cars or if they would in fact make a profit on these vehicles sold in the US. That means they might prioritize other markets and only trickle these into the US.
As it stands, this would be the first mass-market Chinese vehicle sold in the US and perhaps a Trojan horse with its beautiful Scandinavian Volvo-clad covering. Smaller selling Chinese vehicles like the Polestar 2 are already sold in the US.
That would be a real shame because this is a truly special car. I don’t understand why they don’t spool up their South Carolina factory to make these as soon as possible (18 months according to Volvo). Even if they can’t make them as cheaply as in China, with all of the incentives it feels like a no-brainer.
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GreenPower Motor Company says it’s received three orders for 11 of its BEAST electric Type D school buses for western state school districts in Arizona, California, and Oregon.
GreenPower hasn’t made the sort of headline-grabbing promises or big-money commitments that companies like Nikola and Lion Electric have, but while those companies are floundering GPM seems to be plugging away, taking orders where it can and actually delivering buses to schools. Late last year, the company scored 11 more orders for its flagship BEAST electric school bus.
As far as these latest orders go, the breakdown is:
- seven to Los Banos Unified School District in Los Banos, California
- two for the Hood River County School District in Hood River, Oregon
- two for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Casa Grande, Arizona
Those two BEAST electric school buses for Arizona will join another 90-passenger BEAST that was delivered to Phoenix Elementary School District #1, which operates 15 schools in the center of Phoenix, late last year.
“As school districts continue to make the change from NOx emitting diesel school buses to a cleaner, healthier means of transporting students, school district transportation departments are pursuing the gold standard of the industry – the GreenPower all-electric, purpose-built (BEAST) school buses,” said Paul Start, GreenPower’s Vice President of Sales, School Bus Group. “(The) GreenPower school bus order pipeline and production schedule are both at record levels with sales projections for (2025) set to eclipse the 2024 calendar year.”
GreenPower moved into an 80,000-square-foot production facility in South Charleston, West Virigina in August 2022, and delivered its first buses to that state the following year.
Electrek’s Take
Since the first horseless carriage companies started operating 100 years ago (give or take), at least 1,900 different companies have been formed in the US, producing over 3,000 brands of American automobiles. By the mid 1980s, that had distilled down to “the big 3.”
All of which is to say: don’t let the recent round of bankruptcies fool you – startups in the car and truck industry is business as usual, but some of these companies will stick around. If you’re wondering which ones, look to the ones that are making units, not promises.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GreenPower Motors.
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While some recent high-profile bankruptcies have cast doubt on the EV startup space recently, medium-duty electric truck maker Harbinger got a shot of credibility this week with a massive $100 million Series B funding round co-led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for fledgling EV brands like Lion Electric and Canoo, but box van builder Harbinger is bucking the trend, fueling its latest funding round with an order book of 4,690 vehicles that’s valued at nearly $500 million. Some of the company’s more notable customers including Bimbo Bakeries (which owns brands like Sara Lee, Thomas’, and Entenmann’s) and THOR Industries (Airstream, Jayco, Thor), which is also one of the investors in the Series B.
Other prominent investors include Tiger Global, the Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, and ArcTern Ventures.
As for what makes Harbinger such an attractive investment prospect, Dipender Saluja, Managing Partner of Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund explains that, “Harbinger has demonstrated a remarkable ability to reach significant milestones far quicker than other EV companies … the market has been impressed by their ability to develop large portions of the vehicle in-house to drive down unit costs, while remaining capital efficient.”
The company plans to use the funds to ramp up to higher-volume production capacity and deliver on existing orders, as well as build-out of the company’s sales, customer support, and service operations.
“Harbinger is entering a rapid growth phase where we are focused on scaling production of our customer-ready platform,” said John Harris, co-founder and CEO. “These funds catalyze significant revenue generation. We’ve developed a vehicle for a segment that is ripe for electrification, and there is a strong product/market fit that will help fuel our upward trajectory through 2025 and beyond.”
The company has raised $200 million since its inception in 2021.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Harbinger.
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There is no state more associated with cars and car culture than Michigan – and the state that’s home to the Motor City has just taken a huge step into the future with the deployment of its first-ever all electric police vehicle.
The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E patrol vehicle is assigned to the Michigan State Police State Security Operations Section, and will be to be used by armed, uniformed members of the MSP specializing in general law enforcement and security services at state-owned facilities in the Lansing, MI area.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to research, in real time, how a battery electric vehicle performs on patrol,” says Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. “Our state properties security officers patrol a substantially smaller number of miles per day than our troopers and motor carrier officers, within city limits and at lower speeds, coupled with the availability of charging infrastructure in downtown Lansing, making this the ideal environment to test the capabilities of a police-package battery electric vehicle.”
The MSP’s Precision Driving Unit is nationally renowned for its annual Police Vehicle Evaluation, which our own Scooter Doll participated in last year, driving the then-new Chevy Blazer EV Police Pursuit Vehicles in a game of “cops and robbers.”
In those tests, the EVs have impressed – but the MSP has been hesitant to commit to a BEV until now. “We began testing battery electric vehicles in 2022, but up until now hybrids were the only alternative fuel vehicle in our fleet,” said Lt. Nicholas Darlington, commander of the Precision Driving Unit. “Adding this battery electric vehicle to our patrol fleet will allow us to study the vehicle’s performance long-term to determine if there is a potential for cost savings and broader applicability within our fleet.”
Michigan joins other states like Wisconsin and California in deploying electric patrol cars and saving big money on fuel and maintenance, with many more out there and many more to come.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Michigan State Police.
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