Volvo EX30 thread

[soupdragon1]

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/cars/ex30-electric/

https://youtu.be/ULWyrYv_H_Y







0 to 60 in 3.4 seconds in dual motor guise, for just under £41k.

Base model a quick 5.5 seconds to 60 and it's under £34k

Nice work Volvo. It's their fastest vehicle in history.

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Mikebentley said:

Well done Geely

Well done China

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ajap1979 said:

I really like it, but even after watching a few YouTube videos, I’m still struggling to get my head around how big, or indeed small it is. It’s looking like a strong candidate to replace my Polestar 2 in a few years though.

Its pretty close in size (nose to tail) to the VW ID3. I've one of those and interior space is about the same size as a Passat, apparently. However, this Volvo will need to have space for 2 motors (and possibly larger motors due to the higher HP?) so again, its hard to understand the cabin space and boot space and how its packaged overall. The ID3 has a fairly short nose for example.

This car is to sit below the the XC40 and the C40 Recharge offerings. I think when all is said and done, its in the 'compact' category perhaps?

It looks like they've made the wheelbase as long as is physically possible, so maybe interior wise, it might be a bit better than 'compact'. Dunno.

Edited by soupdragon1 on Friday 9th June 09:12

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TheDeuce said:

I think Volve have (somehow) just got this one bang on. They've finally sorted out the previously dull and honestly quite tacky feeling interior of the previous cars.. And it's a small SUV but still an SUV, box ticked. It's fast, it's affordable, it comes from a storied marque people trust - even if it is now kinda Chinese, as if the average Volvo buyer will look that deeply into the ownership side of things.

They're obviously going to shift a huge number of these cars - it's the right product at the right time at the right price with the right brand. Job jobbed I reckon.

Yeah. That would be my summary too.

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dxg said:

I'm not a fan of the doors.

No electrics *at all* other than the window motor. No switches. No speaker.

https://youtu.be/igRDY0u_4hE?t=214

The value engineers have had a field day...

If you ask yourself 'would I pay extra to have the window switch on my right hand, rather than left hand, plus lose the soundbar speakers at chest height and put it on the door at ankle height' I would imagine most people wouldn't tick the box and pay for those features.

Its intuitive to have the window switch on the door of course, but personally, I think the soundbar idea is better than the traditional bottom of the door position.

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Electrek did an interview with Volvo on the EX30 and asked them about it being so fast at 3.4 seconds to 60 mph. Volvo rep basically said they got it by accident, and its not important. He said they were more pleased about getting from 100 to zero in 58 meters. He summarised by saying that in day to day driving, good acceleration between 40 and 80mph is what you really want, along with short stopping distances. Those are the important numbers, not how fast you get it 60 mph.

Thats a hell of a humble brag? 'Yeah, we can make one of the fastest cars around without even trying.'

I wonder how fast it would be if they actually tried

https://electrek.co/2023/06/15/volvo-ex30s-incredi...

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Frimley111R said:

They clearly took a leaf out of Tesla's book to cut costs by reducing things in the cabin but how no-one spotted the stick VW received for not having physical HAVC button is beyond me. Shame as it looks nice.

I've lived with ID3 best part of a year now, latest software and the interface, I might be a little generous, but 7/10 feels about right. Not really bad, but it's not great either.

No backlight on the heating or volume control underneath the screen is just bad design. There are volume buttons on the wheel and I use the touchscreen for heating controls as it's just better that way anyway, so imo, would be better to have no option there under the screen rather than the stupid option they put there which is useless in the dark.

BMW idrive is just better for example. This halfway house VW did is poorly thought out but overall usability day to day isn't so bad. It's just that it's not satisfyingly good, and ease of use shouldn't be too much to ask for these days?

I would absolutely have reservations about this Volvo looking at the bad review, but I wouldn't let it put me off either. If it's Google backed software, perhaps there is hope that it will improve.

I don't use lights on any of my cars these days, with the exception of full beam and indicators so lights aren't a big deal for me. However if I can't do these 2 hugely important things (full beam and indicators) via stalks behind the wheel, then it's a non starter for me. In 30 years of driving, I can't remember needing to use front fog lights so I'll not get too hung up about that aspect.

Accessing a screen to put on the rear fog lights to help drivers behind you is important though. Especially considering that you are already struggling with poor visibility due to fog, and a manufacturer that makes you go into a touchscreen while you are trying to drive in fog just needs a good slap around the chops. I can accept a direct on/off button on the screen, that would be fine, but having to dig into a menu for a rear fog light should be outlawed IMO.

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JQ said:

SDK said:

dino_jr said:

Before writing off the car based on reviews, a test drive is still a good idea. The screen may be actually OK to use for some people ...

I agree with this - I’ve watched a lot of car reviews which I’ve also driven myself and the things they complain about have been non-issues.
Often then need to ‘pad’ out a video, or they have a category to talk about ‘worst things’, which is impossible to know when they are only driving the car for a couple of hours.

A lot of the time, once you get used to it it's fine. My wife's had a car with everything controlled via a touch screen since 2014, it also has a central speedo display. It's really not an issue once you've had it a few weeks and I don't get frustrated with it, however, we've had hire cars with the same, that you may only have for a few days, and like the car testers, it's quite irritating as it takes time for things to become intuitive.

Watched a few videos over the weekend. The carwow one was good. Matt Watson describing that moving the wing mirrors is a real faff but on the otherhand, if you set them for each driver profile, they'll automatically go to your preferred position when you get in the car. So there will a few bits like that where you can set it up.

Climate control is a big one for me on day to day use. If thats fairly intuitive, its not so bad. Would much prefer buttons of course but its a value proposition so some things just had to go. I honestly don't mind the door speakers getting removed as from a music point of view, the closer the speakers are to ear height, the better, so a soundbar across the front seems better to me, rather than a compromise. I haven't heard it though, but from a physics point of view, it makes sense to me. Window buttons in the middle is no big deal to me, something you would get used to.
;
But climate control, volume control and radio/media ease of use are the absolute 'must get right' options for me.

With all that said, wow, what a car this could be. From a driving point of view, its not just mission accomplished, it seems that they've knocked it out of the park for being a good car to drive. That has certainly pricked my ears up and put it back on the cars I might like to buy at some point.

Was giving my son a lift in my ID3 on Sunday morning. Nobody about on the roads, in through urban streets, roundabouts etc and the point and squirt dynamics make for incredibly quick and efficient progress. I wasn't driving like a lunatic or anything but moving swiftly from 5mph, up to 30, down to 10, nip out of a junction, up to 40mph, round a mini roundabout type stuff and would likely be in the teens MPG in a hot hatch but with regen braking, probably getting 100mpg equivalent. That's where EV's come into their own and where the ID3 excels. This EX30 is everything I like about the ID3 but better in nearly every department. An interesting car and I can't wait to get it out for a test drive.

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Steve57 said:

No test drives until 12th at the earliest due to volvo allowing press cars out ( possibly what was seen). were booked for 15th for our drive and hopefully wifeys is due June.

Yeah, I'm booked in for the 14th Feb. Not sure how the missus will feel about me coming home from work late on valentines day!

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Yeah, important to see it in the flesh. Not the biggest boot but adequate for day to day stuff. Family of 5 with suitcases for a 2 week holiday is probably out of the question but for a car with a small footprint, it's well packaged and will be great around town, easy to park etc.

Plenty of room for rear passengers too. I like it a lot.