Is the Volvo EX30 the best value-for-money EV on the market? And can its impressive features list and moderate price tag help it take the challenge to rivals like Tesla's Model 3, VW's I.D.3 and Opel's Astra Electric?
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00:00Is this the new best value for money EV? The Volvo EX30? We'll find out right now. Welcome
00:10to RAV. The entry-level price for the Volvo EX30 is just around 36,600 Euros. What do
00:31you get? Well, first of all, you get a bunch of assistance systems. Almost anything you
00:36could wish for. Blind spot assist, oncoming traffic mitigation, it will recognize pedestrians,
00:42bicycles, bikers. So in a safety sense, you get everything you need.
01:06What else do you get? A 200 kilowatt rear-wheel-driven car with a 51 kilowatt-hour battery that
01:30will achieve around 350 kilometers of range. If you compare that to, for example, others
01:37in the compact segment, let's say Opel Astra Electric, VW's ID.3 or Tesla Model 3, then
01:44all of these will start at around 41,000, 42,000 Euros. And even though some of these
01:53will have more range than the Volvo, some will also have less range and also way less
01:59power for a price that is way higher than that of the Volvo. So what are the downsides?
02:18What won't you get in the Volvo EX30? One of the things you won't get is an instrument
02:24cluster. So behind the steering wheel, there's nothing. If you want to know how fast you're
02:30driving, the speed limit or any other information, you will find all of that in the central display
02:37in the infotainment system. That takes some getting used to, but usually after a few minutes,
02:42you will have found yourself looking at the right spot instead of searching for your current
02:47speed behind the steering wheel. The general driving impression in the EX30 is absolutely
03:02nice. What you would expect from a Volvo, it is very comfortable. The loudness in the
03:09interior is okay as well. Nothing too loud, but also not too silent.
03:15There's no other way to put it. The interior of the EX30 is clean. There are absolutely
03:44no buttons. Some at the steering wheel, but that's about it. The infotainment system is,
03:50as usual with Volvo or Polestar cars, upright. That's okay. It reminds you of your smartphone
03:57and it's also easily operatable. The touchscreen looks very good. It's quite bright. It's easily
04:08readable, even if there's sunshine on it. It has Google Maps on it, so if you plan to do a longer
04:15trip, the car will automatically find charging spot along your route and then preheat the battery
04:22so it's in an ideal state to get charged. The only thing is, if you plan to charge on your own or if
04:29you don't use the navigation, then the battery won't be preheated and in worst case, it won't
04:35charge as fast as it could. What you also can see is the side doors are clean as well. There's not
04:46even a lever for the windows because this one is right here in the center console. What you also
04:52have in the center console is two cup holders. If you don't need them as cup holders, for example,
04:58if you want to put anything else inside, then you just put that away and you can place whatever item
05:04you want to in that tray. That's pretty nice.
05:08The space in the back is definitely what you would call compact. There is almost no leg room
05:35left. It's okay, you can put it in the middle because there's a little more space or at the
05:40side. The headroom is absolutely okay, also because of that huge panoramic glass roof,
05:48but the seating position is not exactly comfortable because as you can tell,
05:53the floor is quite high due to the battery, of course, and then you will have your legs
06:00bend quite a bit and that is not a position you will want to keep for a long distance trip.
06:05The seats as such are quite comfortable, no questions asked, but the position isn't.
06:19Just as in the front, you have no buttons in the door. Instead, the window levers
06:30are here in the middle where you will also find two USB-C sockets for smartphone charging.
06:49So,
06:57anything you want to adjust in the car is done via the central touch display and that is also
07:02true for the side view mirrors, which by the way look quite nice because they are almost borderless,
07:08but you need to choose the mirror adjustment from the menu in the infotainment system and then you
07:13do it with the buttons at the steering wheel, similar to what Tesla has. It is not intuitive,
07:20but if you do it only one time, since the car has memory function for the different drivers, it is
07:28okay.
07:45Summing up my Volvo EX30 experience, I like driving the car even though I'm not a fan of
07:51SUVs. It is quite nicely motorized. The fact that you don't have an instrument cluster
07:58is forgotten after a few kilometers and the integration of Google Maps in the infotainment
08:04system is also a thing I really appreciate. Things I didn't like were the range that is a little small
08:14and the space in the back, but all in all a very decent car that offers very good value for money.
08:27So
08:53you