Looks completely Volvo and completely up-to-date/Wala system!, Volvo
Price (base/test vehicle):
NIS 190,000/221,000
Competitors:
Smart 1, Zikr X, Jeep Avenger, DS3
We liked:
design, space in front, performance and behavior
We didn't like:
operation, space in the back and in the trunk, price
score:
8/10
On March 29, 2010, the headlines heralded an extraordinary deal.
Ford, which needed cash to survive the global economic crisis at the time, sells the Swedish Volvo to the Chinese Geely for $1.8 billion.
Many eyebrows have been raised, many obituaries have already been written about the old manufacturer that is now passing to shrewd owners who will take over its technology and send its employees to pack furniture parts at IKEA.
Volvo ended that year with the production of 373 thousand cars, which represented an 11% increase over the previous year.
Fast forward to Volvo's results in 2023: sales of 709,000 cars, up 15%.
One in eight of them were electric.
The old factories in Sweden and Belgium were joined by production plants in the USA and China.
Apparently Shelly Schopf, founder of Geely and chairman of Volvo, who also owns 10% of Mercedes, nevertheless knew what he was doing.
Now Volvo's goal is to produce 1.2 million cars a year in 2025, and switch to producing only electric cars as early as 2030.
The car I'm driving today around Barcelona should add a significant portion of the missing capacity.
For the first time in years, the Swedes have an entry-level model that will be sold in Israel for less than NIS 200,000, and another electric crossover.
Volvo is still a small manufacturer, but Geely gave it access to its new platform, allowing it to meet the development costs of a significant new model.
The downside: on the same platform there are already two more direct competitors, Smart 1 and Zeker X, which are produced alongside the EX30 on the same production line in Xiangjicco, China.
The last time Volvo shared a production line and a platform, in the 1990s in the Netherlands, it ended with its S40 and the pale Mitsubishi Charizma.
Is the EX30 a real Volvo or a Chinese car with a Swedish badge?
The blackened roof adds a lot, but is not offered in the discounted model with the tempting price/Walla system!, Audi Etzion
Design:
This is the first Volvo car that is designed in advance as an electric vehicle only.
The dimensions are compact, smaller than the Tesla Model Y and Hyundai Ioniq 5, as well as the competing Smart and Zikr: 4.23 meters long, 1.84 meters wide, 1.55 meters high and a 2.65 meter wheelbase.
On the other hand, it's very convenient when you have to park parallel to the sidewalk, and find parking at all.
Being an electric car, the EX30 lost the traditional Volvo grill and gained a sealed and more aerodynamic one.
The handles fold into the doors and the back door opens by pressing a button on the top, for the same reasons.
Although it was not manufactured in Gothenburg, it is easy to recognize a small Volvo, and with the roof released in the test vehicles, which is not offered in the basic equipment level, this is a definitely handsome car, with a nice play on the lighting of the LED headlights, which are built in the form of a hammer of the Norse god Thor, when in low beam and high beam, more squares are lit than the basic lighting.
at an exclusive discount
The Israeli company that invented hair removers does it again
In collaboration with Epilady
Scandinavian and clean driver environment.
The quality of the materials is not always high/Walla system!, Udi Etzion
Driver's environment: the design is very clean, handsome and Swedish, also an emphasis on the use of recycled materials - 17% of the plastic and 25% of the steel in the vehicle were already part of another vehicle in the past, less than the number of Abba's comebacks.
There are plenty of storage compartments, including a glove compartment that has moved between the driver and passenger and is accessible to both, and another two-level compartment below it.
And still the man who was responsible for the human engineering of this car I would condemn to repeat the Albanian songs in Eurovision.
There is no separate screen for the driver, everything is concentrated in a 12.3-inch display in the center of the vehicle.
Its upper part is used as a dashboard, the rest for navigation and operation of the vehicle's systems, skipping between a row of dense screens.
And although there is a shortcut screen, and other quick shortcuts for the climate control, even to turn on lights you have to switch between two screens, press 3 different points and confirm a button on the steering wheel.
The central screen is too busy: a dashboard at the top, and a map and operation screens below it/Walla! system, Audi Etzion
The window operation buttons are also concentrated between the driver and the passenger, with only two.
Want to open a window for the child in the back?
Pressing a third button shifts the two buttons to operate the rear windows.
Want to run straight?
There is a pulley at the end of the signal rod.
Lucky that Volvo left a physical option to divert the ventilation openings, and they don't send us to the screen for that either.
Volvo is aware of this criticism.
A senior official of the company who was present at the launch told Walla Car that the company is already working on increasing the fonts on the screen, and that in the facelift, an overhead display of data on the windshield will be added to the driver's environment.
The rear seat is less spacious than in the Smart, and without an outlet for air conditioning/Wala!, Audi Etzion system
Maybe on that occasion it would be worthwhile to add an air conditioner outlet to the back seat.
Increasing the space in it will require more than a face lift - the EX30 is the smallest of the three twin crossovers, and this is reflected in the knee space of a compact car.
Headroom is good.
The trunk has a volume of only 318 liters, and there is another small one (7 liters) for the charging cable, in front.
And this is really a violation of IKEA's business model.
Only 318 liters in the trunk.
A tiny compartment with a volume of 15 liters under the "hood" does not improve the situation/Wala system!, Audi Etzion
Equipment:
the basic CORE model, which costs NIS 190,000, comes with light 18-inch rims, the 12.3-inch screen and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay coupling, stereo with sound projector, keyless or card-based entry and drive, rear parking sensors, reverse cameras , rain sensor climate control and fog lights.
The PLUS (from NIS 222,000 with rear-wheel drive, 243,000 with dual-wheel drive) adds a Harman Kardon stereo with a subwoofer, USB-c sockets in the back and not just in the front, wireless charging for mobile phones and electric trunk opening and light 19-inch rims.
The ULTRA (from NIS 243,000 in rear-wheel drive, 253,000 in double) upgrades to an electric driver's seat and heated front seats.
Safety:
All versions come with 11 airbags, lane departure correction, distance warning, automatic braking, warning of a vehicle in a "dead zone", adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic detection including braking and more.
The adaptive cruise control functions well, including keeping the lane.
The performance is excellent, and on a crazy level with the dual drive/Wala! system, Audi Etzion
Engine and performance:
there is a choice between two drive systems, rear with a combined engine and 272 hp, and dual, with two engines and 428 hp.
The EX30 is not large, but together with the batteries it weighs from 1.8 tons, which is not light, which is not noticeable during acceleration.
Even the base model drops 6 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and the dual-drive model settles for a paltry 3.6 seconds, making it the fastest Volvo ever.
We've driven both, and like any good electric, acceleration is sports car-level and effortless, when you can choose a sport mode that makes them even more agile. You can overtake almost anywhere that is allowed, and you will almost always be first at the traffic lights, unless there is another powerful electric driver next to you. The 428 hp version already provides the performance of supercars, in a tenth the price
Nothing you need, but everything you ever wanted.
Just to keep drivers and new drivers away, this is a dangerous level of performance on a public road, certainly for the inexperienced.
A range of about 400 km in practice/Walla! system, Audi Etzion
Range and battery:
There is a choice between two batteries.
The basic model comes with a 51 kWh battery and a range of only 344 km.
The rest upgrade to a 69 kWh battery, which extends the range to 480 km in the 272 hp version and to 460 km with the pair of engines and 428 hp. In practice, with a consumption of about 20 kW per -100 km in the test drives, you can expect a little less than 300 km with the small battery and less than 400 km with the large battery.
Fast charging is possible at a reasonable rate of up to 153 kW (only 134 in the base model) and slow at 11 kW in the base models and 22 kW in the ULTRA trim level.
Comfort and behavior:
the reduced dimensions help with good maneuverability in the city and even more so on the road, although the launch route did not include driving on really curvy roads.
The electric Volvo turns quickly, with a slight body tilt to the side.
The ride comfort is also relatively good.
Only yellow mustard once again the white-silver-gray sequence in the offer/system Walla!, Udi Etzion
Bottom line:
The EX30 is more than just another electric.
It illustrates that a small company like Volvo can survive even in the 21st century (unlike the late Saab), and utilize the resources of the concern that bought it to expand the product portfolio. Currently the price is production in China, but from 2025 it will also be produced in Belgium, and in light of the exemption from 7 percent customs duty for cars from Europe, it is likely that the import to Israel will go to the factory in Ghent.
The car itself is handsome and well-equipped, and is mainly suitable for couples, young and old, and less for family use. A handsome car, Swedish in nature, quick, and fun to drive. On the other hand, its price, which seemed cheap at first, is already less Tempting relative to the twin competitors, and also to the prices in Europe, certainly in light of the limited range of the basic version. Volvo has already announced that it will launch the basic CORE version with the large battery as well, let's hope that this version also arrives in Israel before the necessary human engineering improvements, and at competitive pricing.
In the electric market Increasingly, Volvo managed to launch one with character, not a matter of course. Given the slow response of the German luxury manufacturers to the (relatively) cheap crossover challenge, its commercial success is guaranteed.
The writer was a guest of Volvo in Spain
On the technical side: Volvo EX30
Engine: electric:
272 hp, 35 kg.
Gearbox:
automatic direct transmission.
Rear wheel drive
Battery: 69 kWh
Fast charging rate:
153 kW
Dimensions:
Length (meters):
4.23
Width (meters):
1.84
Height (meters
): 1.55
Wheelbase (meters):
2.65
Trunk (liters):
318
Weight ( kg):
1,830
Performance (manufacturer):
0-100 km/h:
5.3 seconds
Maximum speed:
180 km/h
Combined range:
480 km
Test drive range:
400 km
Safety:
European crash test:
not yet tested
Active safety:
autonomous emergency braking in forward and reverse travel, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, warning of a vehicle in a dead zone, warning of opening a door on an unoccupied road, automatic high beam
Warranty:
3 years or 100 thousand km for the vehicle, 8 years or 160 A thousand kilometers on the battery
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electric car