Volvo EX30 launched in Malaysia, priced from RM188,888

For over a year, the people at Volvo Car Malaysia (VCM) have been waiting for the launch of the EX30, anticipating its great potential and looking forward to it being a major contributor to sales numbers. It’s an important model for the brand in Malaysia which has made a commitment to go fully electric by the end of this decade (although it has revised the ‘100%’ to something a bit less).

As the first brand to locally assemble a fully electric model (the XC40) just 4 years ago, VCM is making EVs a bit more accessible with the EX30 which is priced from RM188,888. It helps, of course, that there is no duty imposed, thanks to the government incentive for fully electric vehicles. And as it is assembled in Malaysia, VCM will enjoy the duty-exemption beyond the end of 2025 (along with other incentives for local assemblers).

The first batch of EX30s sold are actually completely built-up (CBU) imports from China. To avoid the hassle of having two different prices, VCM is selling the CBU units at the same price as the locally-assembled ones which will also be exported to neighbouring countries.

Smallest Volvo
The EX30 is also the smallest Volvo model in a long time; its length of 4223 mm is marginally shorter than the short-lived C30 of the late 2000s (which was 4252 mm). But the compactness doesn’t mean that the inside is cramped as being an EV, the structural considerations are different from those of traditional vehicles with combustion engines.

It also benefits from having the Sustainable Experience Architecture or SEA which has been developed for use by brands in the Geely Group and also available as open-source architecture for other automakers to adopt. So far, it has also been used by smart, which is a joint venture between Geely and Mercedes-Benz.

The SEA used for the EX30 is one of five available to suit a wide range of vehicle types, including commercial vehicles up to 5.5 tonnes. It provides a platform for EVs that can be configured optimally for powertrains mounted at the front, rear or front and rear (for all-wheel drive).

Two powertrain choices
For the EX30, there are two variants with rear-mounted motors and one with motors on both axles. The single-motor variants are the Plus and Ultra with outputs of 200 kW (272 ps)/343 Nm, while the twin-motor variant known as the Ultra Twin Performance has 315 kW (428 ps)/543 Nm. We’ve said it many times before that with an electric motor, maximum torque is available from the moment you move off so there is strong acceleration.

In fact, for the EX30 Ultra Twin Performance, the claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of 3.6 seconds makes it the quickest production Volvo model to date. The single-motor variants are also as zippy, doing the same run in a claimed 5.3 seconds.

Common battery for all variants
While some markets offer LFP (lithium iron phosphate) and NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) battery packs with different capacities, VCM has decided to install the same type for all three variants. This is the top-spec 69 kWh NMC type which can give up to 476 kms for the single-motor variants and up to 450 kms for the twin motor variant.

If you plan to keep the EX30 for many years (as many Volvo owners have), you can have peace of mind that the battery pack (which is priced considerably more than a small 12V battery) is covered by a separate warranty of 8 years or maximum of 160,000 kms. The rest of the vehicle has a standard 5-year/unlimited mileage warranty.

Recharging the battery pack can be done with AC supply from a wallbox which will fill a fully empty battery in around 8 hours, so that’s essentially an overnight thing. A shorter time of around 28 minutes (from 10% to 80%) is possible with a fast-charger with at least 174 KW DC supply. This faster charging is usually recommended for times when you are travelling long distances and just need a top-up along the way. Generally, for long-term battery health, a slower charging rate is better.

Not only a pioneer in safety
Volvo has long been regarded as a leader in automotive safety, pioneering many innovations. It’s something which the company’s founders made a priority right from the start. Today, the company also gives priority to sustainability and environmental compatibility. This is actually not something new to Volvo either and back in the 1970s, it developed the lambda sensor system to maximise the cleansing effectiveness of the catalytic converter.

Where sustainability is concerned, Volvo was already looking at recyclable materials 30 years ago. The ECC (Environmental Concept Car) presented in 1992 (which was the basis of the S80 design) showed how the automaker would be using materials that selected on the basis of their low environmental impact during production, along with a high degree of recyclability.

Lowest carbon footprint
With the EX30 having zero emissions because it is an EV, the focus was therefore on tackling emissions across the entire production and lifecycle of the car as well as considerate use of recycled or renewable materials throughout. As a result, the EX30 is said to have the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo model to date – less than 30 tonnes generated over 200,000 kms of driving. This means that EX30 owners will be doing the environment a big favour.

Less steel and aluminium is used to make an EX30, and more of it is also recycled content. Around a quarter of all aluminium used in building the SUV is recycled, as is approximately 17% of all steel used, further reducing the environmental impact from those materials. Also, around 17% of all plastics in the vehicle, from interior components to exterior bumpers, are recycled – the highest percentage in any Volvo car to date.

The pursuit of environmental compatibility and sustainability doesn’t mean that the premium nature is lost. For the EX30s assembled in Malaysia, there’s a sporty Indigo interior featuring upcycled denim textiles, upholstery made from 100% recycled polyester and Nordico with recycled PET content, while plastic materials are made with 30% recycled content.

Safe Space Technology
Returning to safety, the EX30 comes with Volvo’s full Safe Space Technology suite which encompasses all of the brand’s active safety systems as well a other advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The long-established features and systems are now enhanced with intelligence, while radars, ultrasonic sensors and cameras constantly scan the environment around the vehicle.

These sensors are more advanced and can identify more vulnerable road-users so there is greater effectiveness of pro-active systems like autonomous emergency braking and steering avoidance. For example, the automatic steering avoidance can react detect bikers travelling next to the lane and in the same direction.

The upgraded Pilot Assist also adjusts the optimum distance from large vehicles on the highway while the vehicle will brake automatically if there is a risk of collision with traffic crossing in front or at intersections, or even while reversing.

The sensors towards the rear are also used to detect cyclists or other road-users approaching from the rear. Should there be such a situation when an occupant is getting out, there will be a visual and audio alert so that the occupant (hopefully) stops opening the door and avoids it being hit by the cyclist.

The EX30 is also the first to include a new generation of Volvo’s Park Pilot Assist feature that can handle parallel, curved, perpendicular and diagonal fishbone parking spaces. Park Pilot Assist can automatically identify available parking spaces and manage the accelerator, brakes and steering to manoeuvre the car. It can be scary at first (leaving the car to do everything) but once you get used to it, the convenience is something that will be appreciated.

‘It’s a Volvo’
Even at a glance, the EX30’s design will bring to mind ‘Volvo’. Besides the two-tone colour scheme with a black roof, there are styling elements from the other EV models which began with the XC40 introduced in 2017 (it was then the smallest Volvo). However, the EX30 also has its own identity which takes into account its smaller proportions.

Particularly eye-catching are the front and rear lights, the work of industrial designer Ali Berzah Can who was commissioned to design them with the Volvo team. And while many immediately see the signature ‘Thor’s Hammer’ formed by the little cubes, there is also something else in the design that not everyone may be aware of.

Volvo’s Vice-President of Exterior Design, T. Jon Mayer, chose the iconic helmet of Star Wars’ Boba Fett, the bounty hunter, to shape the frontal appearance. The profile of the front fenders mirror the sides of the helmet and the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ image (which has been used for every Volvo since the 2014 XC90) relates to the distinctive visor of the helmet.

The rear view is a departure from the usual Volvo style which has often had distinctive vertical tail light units (going way back to the days of the 1970s 145 stationwagon). For the EX30, this is no longer the case, and there are two separate clusters. The upper one is a vertical strip while the lower one flanks a visual connection across the rear door.

Typically Scandinavian environment
The EX30’s cabin is typically Volvo which means typically Scandinavian with a clean, minimalist layout. Just as the shift to front-wheel drive gave interior designers more space to use, EVs allow for even more space to be give to the passengers since all the large components like the driveshaft and combustion engine are eliminated. Furthermore, many systems are electronic, so there’s space-saving as well as weight reduction (although the battery pack adds significant weight).

There are 5 interior ambient light themes inspired by Swedish nature for every mood, featuring calming, shifting shades projected on the interior panels. For extra immersion, owners can pair each lighting theme with an ambient soundscape. A fixed panoramic sunroof is standard for the Ultra and Ultra Twin Performance versions.

And for sound, the EX30 is Volvo’s first model to introduce Harman Kardon Premium Surround Sound within a single soundbar unit embedded in the dashboard. Inspired by home audio design, the soundbar frees up valuable space in the front doors while reducing weight and material resources without compromising high-fidelity, driver-focused audio.

It features 9 strategically located high-performance speakers, including a subwoofer in the boot, powered by a 1040W amplifier and system-enhanced by cutting-edge technologies. Of note is the Vehicle Noise Compensation, an advanced feature that ensures the best audio quality at all times and all speeds. This is particularly valuable for an EV which has lower noise levels.

At this time, the EX30 is the only sub-compact SUV with Google built-in, now enhanced with wireless Apple AirPlay for seamless connectivity. It also comes with a dedicated phone app that can be used to lock and unlock the car, set charging levels, and manage settings remotely.

At the rear, the volume for luggage is 318 litres when the back seats are in use, up to 718 litres with the second-row split seats fully folded. There’s also another 61 litres in a compartment in the floor.

In what many people may still refer to as the ‘engine compartment’ under the bonnet, there is a lidded compartment with 7 litres of volume. The industry has given it the name of ‘frunk’ which is a combination of ‘front’ and ‘trunk’, the latter more commonly used by Americans to refer to the boot compartment.

Click here for full specifications and features of EX30