2026 Volvo EX30: Still fun, still zippy, not as cheap
Exactly two years ago, we dubbed the Volvo EX30 one of the two most important new EVs of 2024. Then the world changed.
Fast-forward to the end of 2024. Volvo was able to deliver a few 422 hp EX30 Twin Motor high-performance models that December, but volume sales in the US had to wait for the start of assembly at Volvo’s plant in Ghent, Belgium. EX30s built there avoid the tariffs on Chinese-built cars imported into the US. They now must carry a 15-percent tariff imposed on European imports last August, but that’s manageable compared to the 147-percent rate on EX30s from China.
So it wasn’t until last fall that deliveries of Belgian-built EX30s, including the entry-level Single Motor version and the “soft-road” Cross Country model, started. In November, I got a chance to reacquaint myself with the two new versions of the littlest Volvo at an event held just before media days at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
The verdict? The 2026 Volvo EX30, in pretty much any of its versions, is fun to drive and a perfect two-seat second car. It is not, however, a family vehicle—the rear seat is pretty much unusable for any adult who isn’t a short, skinny contortionist.
Sadly, the EX30’s early claim that it would be a $35,000 Volvo has vanished. The sticker price on the cheapest Single Motor Plus model available for test totaled $40,745. A better-equipped Single Motor Ultra cost $1,700 more. That’s considered “accessible” now that Volvo has been recast as a luxury brand. Both versions carried an EPA range rating of 261 miles. The EX30 Twin Motor Cross Country Ultra I tested came in at a startling $54,995—just under the larger EX40—and it had a lower EPA range too, just 227 miles.
If you need a rear seat usable by anyone over 10, ever, you’ll have to move up to the EX40—which starts at $56,445 (all prices include the mandatory $1,295 destination fee). To be honest, while the smallest Volvo has good points, it doesn’t seem as appealing at $40-55K as it did with a starting price in the $30s. Those world changes can hurt.
Single Motor: “all the EX30 you need“
In electric vehicles that offer variants with one or two motors, the cheaper single-motor version gives higher range, often at the price of lower performance. But the EX30 is just fine—spritely, even—in the base 268-horsepower Single Motor trim. It’s more than punchy in traffic, and even at highway speeds of 80 mph, there’s plenty of acceleration through its single rear motor.
As expected, the EX30’s regenerative braking is weaker with one motor than with two. But it’s easily learnable, once drivers train themselves to remember that it quits at about 7 mph, after which idle creep takes over (this can be turned off). Changing any of the drive settings should only be done at rest, since it requires five separate screen interactions: Tap the Car icon, choose Settings, choose Driving, scroll down to see all options, then choose your preferred setting.
This least expensive Volvo retains all the quirks of the EX30 whose launch I covered in June 2023. Once I’d driven that car in Barcelona that November, I grumbled about the Volkswagen-style electric window switches (just two—you have to use another button to toggle between front and rear window controls) and the fussy key-card placement at the front of the floor console that’s required to power up the car.
The door-mirror controls feel coarse—the switch produced large movements no matter how gently I used it. And there’s no glove box at all, just various bins on the floor and in the doors. If you like to sit high, you’ll be glad of the fixed panoramic glass roof, though no sunshade is built in (Volvo offers one as an accessory). At least the dash vents can be manually adjusted—they don’t require multiple actions on the center screen. Points to Volvo’s safety gurus for that one.
The EX30’s ride is firm even in the Normal suspension setting, which combined with the acceleration makes it inviting to toss around. Overall, to quote my co-driver, the Single Motor version is truly “all the EX30 you need.”
Cross Country: butcher, noisier, less range
With its front and rear skid plates, special wheels and tires, a revised front bumper shield, plastic wheel-arch extensions, a ride height that’s 0.75 inches (19 mm) taller, and a large, very noticeable accessory roof rack, the Twin Motor Cross Country Ultra model I tested looked every bit the part: a subcompact hatchback with off-road attitude.
The cost of that gear came in both range and noise. The Cross Country model with 19-inch tires is rated at just 227 miles of range—compared to the standard Twin Motor’s 253 miles—though opting for the 18-inch wheels will knock that down to a minimal 203 miles. Then there’s the wind that whistled through the roof rack at speeds over 30 mph or so—it was startlingly noisy.
I didn’t have a standard Twin Motor to drive back-to-back with the Cross Country, but the latter felt considerably heavier than the Single Motor we’d tossed around so enthusiastically. With 422 hp, its acceleration was unquestionably faster. My co-driver said that, for around-town or suburban use, it bordered on “too quick,” which isn’t something you often hear about any subcompact. The stronger regen mode allowed more energetic one-pedal driving too.
Still, it didn’t feel quite as lithe—if that adjective can be applied to any EV that tips the scales starting at 2 tons (3,900 pounds). Overall, the EX30 Cross County looks cool but comes with a range penalty I likely wouldn’t pay. It’s also pricier than a conventional Twin Motor, costing $3,250 more than the less-butch version.
Prospects TBD
Two years ago, Mike Cottone—at that time CEO of Volvo Cars in North America—said the EX30 had attracted “way more pre-orders and hand-raisers than we expected.” He expected, he said, that the littlest Volvo would “add new consumers to the brand, [since] 80 percent of them are new to Volvo.” Execs then said they expected the EX30 to become “one of our higher-volume models,” though they declined to specify sales targets.
Volvo sold 5,409 EX30s in the US in 2025, largely in the fourth quarter. That was more than the much pricier EX90 large electric SUV. But, battery-electric vehicles overall represented just 8.5 percent of Volvo’s overall sales of 121,600—plug-in hybrid share plummeted as well. Full-year sales in 2026 will be the crucial test for the EX30. Can it significantly expand Volvo’s US volume? We’ll find out.
After mulling it over, if I had to pick an EX30, I’d go for the Single Motor, perhaps with the nicer Ultra trim. As long, that is, as I knew I never, ever had to put an adult human being in the rear. If you want a subcompact EV, either the Nissan Leaf or the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt will be far better on that score. Sure, they’re hardly Volvos, and nowhere near luxury brands. It all depends on your personal tradeoffs between brand value and functionality. Choice is good, right?
Volvo North America provided airfare, lodging and meals to enable Charged to bring you this first-person drive report.
