All-new small electric SUV assumes a spot beneath the XC40 in Volvo’s range On sale Early 2024 Price from £33,795
Steve Huntingford steve.huntingford@haymarket.com
IN THE BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?, celebrities trace their family trees, often with surprising results. And, similarly, when you take a closer look at some cars, you find they’re related to models you wouldn’t have expected.
Take the new Volvo EX30. When it goes on sale early next year, this small SUV will be the brand’s most affordable electric car yet. But it’s not an only child; instead, it’s the sister model to the recently launched Smart #1, with the two cars based on the same underpinnings.
How come? Well, although Volvos are still designed in Sweden (with most of them manufactured there as well), the brand is now owned by Chinese firm Geely. And Volvo isn’t the only European brand in Geely’s stable; it also has a stake in Smart and was responsible for the engineering of the #1.
Fortunately, being related to that car is no bad thing. On the contrary, the #1 is so good that it earned our maximum five-star rating, with fast charging, a spacious interior and strong performance among its list of attributes.
Like its sister, the EX30 can be specified with a single 268bhp motor that powers the rear wheels, or with two motors for a total of 422bhp and four-wheel drive. However, while both are available with the same 64kWh (usable) battery that you get in the #1, the lower-powered EX30 can also be ordered with a 49kWh battery, bringing the price down.
Of course, it also brings the range down, but this version can still officially cover 214 miles between charges. If that’s not enough, the 64kWh rear-wheel-drive model gives you 298 miles, and even the crazy-fast four-wheel-drive range-topper manages 286 miles.
Crazy fast? Well, yes; its 0-62mph time of 3.6sec is quicker than a Porsche 911 Carrera S can manage. In fact, even the 49kWh and 64kWh rear-wheel-drive versions of the EX30 take only 5.7sec and 5.3sec respectively, embarrassing most hot hatches.
As for charging speeds, the 49kWh battery can take on electricity at a rate of up to 134kW, bringing it from 10-80% capacity in 26 minutes. And the 64kWh battery requires just two minutes more if you can find a charger that supports its 153kW maximum rate. Charging from home via a 7kW wallbox will take rather longer: between 9.5 and 11.5 hours.
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