Volvo moves one market niche smaller to bring in younger, climate-conscious buyers
Volvo is aiming for a change of gear on its path towards electrification with this week’s road test subject. The Volvo EX30 is a small car that, it’s hoped, can have a big impact on Gothenburg’s sales mix. Its maker is already aiming for half of its global sales to be of all-electric models by 2025, and to be selling BEVs exclusively by 2030. In order to hit those marks, however, Volvo needs affordable electric models like this – but, moreover, it needs people to buy them in greater numbers than they are currently. You wonder, in fact, if and when brands like Volvo might start rolling back on – or, at least, tempering slightly – ambitious electrification claims like these. The penetration of EVs, in many western markets including the UK, is stuck at between 15% and 25%, and not for the want of an increasing number of more affordable all-electric options. So the commercial challenge facing this car looks significant. For the next couple of thousand words, however, we will concern ourselves with whether the Volvo EX30 is the kind of electric car that deserves to drive adoption, and ultimately to succeed, in the first place. It is the first of a new breed of Volvos for more reasons than one: not just because it is the smallest in decades (since the Volvo-DAF 300 series of the 1970s, in fact), nor because it is the first Volvo designed exclusively for electric power (not counting the XC40-derived C40 crossover-coupé), but also because it’s based on an all-new platform developed fully in the firm’s current, Geely-controlled corporate era.Buyers of this car will be Volvo’s very youngest, claims the company, and three out of four will never have considered a Volvo before.Range at a glanceVERSIONPOWERSINGLE MOTOR PLUS268bhpSINGLE MOTOR EXTENDED RANGE PLUS268bhpTWIN MOTOR PERFORMANCE PLUS423bhp The EX30 model range runs from a little under £34k to a little over £44k, before options. The car can be had with a 51kWh or 69kWh drive battery, and either one primary rearmounted drive motor or one per axle. Volvo offers two de facto model trim levels, Plus and Ultra. On a mid-level single-motor car, the former comes with 11kW AC charging, 19in alloy wheels and manual seat adjustment. Stumping up for the latter gets you 22kW three-phase charging potential, 20in wheels, a panoramic glass roof and electric seat adjustment.
