► Baby battery crossover due in next year
► New small electric SUV, likely badged EX30
► Onslaught of Volvo EVs continues unabated
An additional crossover likely called the Volvo EX30 is waiting in the wings to stretch the Swedes’ electric car range down into the mainstream. As well being more urban-focused, the baby crossover is designed to appeal to Generation Z.
Volvo’s EX90 – the full-size SUV that replaces the XC90 – might have been the big talking point of the past 12 months, but the Geely-owned brand has already begun to tease its new small electric SUV.
An image Volvo briefly flashed up as it unveiled the EX90 suggests the small electric crossover is coming in the next year, and fits with Volvo’s pledge of a new car every year for the foreseeable future. The smaller EV follows the car maker’s new design mantra, but shrink-wrapped to stretch the range into the more compact crossover arena.
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That logic would dictate that the EX30 could replace the current XC40 first shown in 2017, in the same staggered way that the EX90 will replace the XC90 (which in some markets will continue as a non-EV, but with an EX-inspired new look).
It will most likely share the Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA) platform with the Smart #1 or Zeekr X, also part of the Geely family. Expect a footprint around 4.3m long – placing it slap bang against the new Hyundai Kona, Mini Countryman and upcoming Renault 4 EV.
And if there’s an EX90 and an EX30, an EX60 can’t be far behind…
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Volvo EX30: what we know
Volvo has been experimenting with smaller electric cars with its XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge models, but the EX30 promises to be a big leap forwards. The new small crossover, designed to compete with the Ford Puma, Vauxhall Mokka e and Peugeot e-2008, is expected it to have just one e-motor for front-wheel drive – unlike the XC40 and C40. The battery size is estimated at 68kWh, if it reuses the pack from the Smart, pointing to a 250-mile electric range.
Previous Volvo boss Håkan Samuelsson told CAR magazine back in 2021: ‘We’ll need fewer saloon and estate variants in future. We’ll still have them, but probably not as many, with more SUV models instead. We need to expand even more there, and we’re planning something smaller even than the 40 Series.’
This is why we expect the name to be EX30, not EX40. Whatever it’s called, expect the baby SUV to carry across much of the Volvo technical infrastructure, including its Google-based Android OS infotainment. The interior will major on sustainable materials.
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The Swedes have been focused on the Care by Volvo subscription service in the past couple of years, which will apply to every new EV. Like the C40, there’ll be demos to test at a dealer, but you’ll order your car online, regardless of whether you’re buying or subscribing.
New boss Jim Rowan is adamant that subscription packages – maybe for radically shorter periods, letting young customers flex and choose to run a car for a quarter – will bring in a new demographic. He believes that Generation Z will rent a car site unseen if the deal has the flexibility they crave.
Stay tuned for more details on the new Volvo EX30 as we get them.
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