Best look yet at Volvo EX30 compact SUV ahead of June 7th reveal

Volvo’s PR department has been drip-dropping its EX30 compact SUV imagery alongside the patent department and website design teams ahead of its June 7th reveal in Milan, Italy. Head below for the latest installment with some interesting interior shots…

As you would expect from the name, the EX30 takes many notable EX90 design elements, including front and rear pixel lighting, and puts them in a smaller package.

The EX30 is a 4-door hatchback but harkens back to the small 3-door C30 hatchbacks of 2006-2013. Interestingly, Volvo made a limited run, compliance C30 EV called the DRIVe from 2011-2013 that was sold to fleets in limited numbers. The specs on that one were a 24 kWh battery and a 93-mile range. The EX30 needs to more than double these numbers.

Volvo EX30 interior

Until today, we’d not seen much of the EX30 interior, but Volvo provided some much-needed relief ahead of the global reveal next week. Below, you can see a tall tablet interface that will, of course, run on the rapidly improving Android Automotive, including Google Assistant, but will also support wireless CarPlay. Also interesting: there is no front-of-driver display, which would put it in the same league as Tesla’s popular Model 3/Y lines and will likely keep prices down.

Finally, we see that the dashboard looks to be made of a spotted recyclable material contributing to its best carbon footprint offering to date.

Perhaps most interesting is the center console design, offering a neat way to provide a sizable basin for purses and laptop bags, along with phone- and cup-holding configurations. Not only does the slide-out drawer facilitate the front passenger’s items, but there is a back slide-out door, as well, for the rear passengers.

Premium sound at a lower cost

Volvo is smartly cutting costs and offering more room while still offering premium quality. Instead of door speakers and window switches, both have moved to the center. The glove box is moved below the center screen for easy access by both driver and passenger. This “broader principle of centralization” has many benefits.

The soundbar in the EX30, the first of its kind, is inspired by home audio design. It brings several speakers together into one soundbar and fills the entire cabin with premium sound. When you choose to combine it with the Harman Kardon high-end sound system, you can listen to your favorite music and podcasts in outstanding audio quality. The soundbar is a great instance of smart design, by clustering speakers together within one component and reducing the amount of wiring and material. At first you might not even notice it, located under the windshield and seamlessly integrated into the cockpit design. But with no need for speakers in the doors, we can give you a lot more storage space. In the same vein, we’ve moved the window switches to the center console, easy to reach for both driver and passenger.

In addition to the EX30 and EX90, Volvo plans to introduce its first all-electric minivan within a year.

Electrek’s take:

With the Chevy Bolt being discontinued and Fiat and Mini not yet offering decent range in their small EVs, the EX30 is going to be one of the only small long-range EVs on offer when it goes on sale. A lot of people, including myself, love small cars regardless of the wider trend towards bigger vehicles.

More interesting is that Volvo seems to be trying to get this vehicle’s price down where it could be a mass-market vehicle. Unfortunately, it will be built in China, meaning it won’t be eligible for federal tax credits in the US. I’d still expect this to start under $40,000, so I think leasing – where the $7500 credit is still applied – might be a popular option.

Oh and the fact that this press release dropped at Midnight PT/3:00am ET probably means that the US isn’t the primary market for this vehicle.