2025 Volvo EX30 first drive review: the most affordable luxury car

When this car was unveiled in a small ceremony by Volvo, somehow my mind immediately went to the Volvo V40. You might recall that car when it passed by on the road and you turned your head to get a second look. That is exactly the vibe that EX30 gives off. It’s quirky, futuristic and it’s a Volvo. Granted, the base of this Volvo actually comes from the Chinese manufacturer Geely with their Sustainable Experience Architecture (SEA), but Volvo has done enough to give it the Swedish charm that we have come to expect of them. And that Geely platform might actually be helping it become a better EV than Volvo could have managed on their own. While we will go into how the car feels in the following paragraphs, it’s prudent to first point out that this car is opening up a new segment in India. The EX30 will now become the entry level luxury car for Volvo, and for the luxury segment. This should be interesting. Currently, the cars that will come closest to its expected price (₹40-₹45 lakh) are the BMW iX1 LWB and the BYD Sealion 7.

2025 Volvo EX30 exterior design

The car unveiled globally was a striking yellow, but Volvo has decided not to sell that colour here. They believe it won't appeal to their customer base – a shame, your writer feels, but they know their market best. Instead, we're driving this Cloud Blue, a light and airy shade that offers a nice contrast to the car's 'Stormtrooper' aesthetic. The pixelated DRLs combined with the absence of a grille lend the EX30 a distinctly futuristic feel, yet the classic Volvo flat face and badge offer a comforting sense of familiarity. From the side, its coupe-SUV stance becomes apparent, giving it a character that's both practical and stylish. And thank goodness for those 19-inch wheels, which really help it stand out and give it the road presence that's so important to Indian buyers. The rear design is typically Volvo, but with a bit more flair in the LED light signature. All in all, it looks oh-so-stylish!

2025 Volvo EX30 interior space, design and tech

Peep inside and minimalism takes over. There is no denying that it looks very cool and upmarket, even if there is very little – just the 12.3-inch vertical screen and air vents. Much of the interior is made from recycled materials, which is a sensible way forward. But it’s not sophisticated like the bigger Volvos, rather it’s characterful. Things you will regularly touch feels like quality stuff, especially the seats and steering wheel. But start exploring a bit more and you will find scratchy plastics on the lower dashboard and door trim areas. But these shouldn’t be a dealbreaker for most. What will put question marks in the minds of its prospects though is the uncovered panoramic roof. It is tinted, but as I found out through the day, it isn’t enough to stop the heat and light of the harsh Rajasthan sun. With no hair to protect my scalp, it went a bit red. I am told Volvo will sell an after-market accessory to act as a blind, so all should be good, probably.

Space in the front is good with adjustability on the seats and steering wheel to find your best driving position. The centre armrest adds to the comfortable driving position though it does not open upwards to reveal storage spaces. Instead cupholders slide out of the front of this armrest, which looks and feels really cool. You'll discover a host of clever storage spots throughout the cabin, including unusually large door pockets made possible by the absence of door-mounted speakers. The glovebox is also repositioned to the centre of the dashboard, a novel but practical choice, though its operation is less so—it can only be opened via a touch button on the central screen. This brings us to the most significant design choice: nearly everything is controlled via the screen. Drive modes, ESC, safety aids, lights, even ORVM adjustment is somewhere in the menus on the screen. There are a few buttons on the steering wheel and a hazard light button (along with SOS) on the roof. The window switches are not on the doors, but on the centre armrest. With only two switches, you press a ‘rear’ button to operate the rear windows from the front. This is done to ensure that all wires flow through the centre of the car. This is done in the interest of saving production costs (a Chinese giving). Now, if you're still wondering about the speakers, the answer is a brilliant one. The front doors are speaker-free because of a soundbar next to the windshield that spans the width of the dashboard, pillar to pillar, housing seven of the nine speakers from the 1040W Harman Kardon audio system. The remaining two are on the rear doors, with a subwoofer in the back. The sound quality is excellent. This is all complemented by the user-friendly Google-based infotainment system, which now includes Apple CarPlay. The only feature you will miss is ventilated seats.

While the front of the car has a lot going on and has good space, the rear sitters will not find things so pleasant. They have a larger area of the panoramic roof to contend with and the sitting position is akin to lightly squatting. Being a born EV, it was disappointing to see how high up my knees were, and with such little space to move the legs forward, you sort of feel stuck there. The fixed headrests of the front seats also make forward visibility an issue, making this conclusively not the place to be. The only saving grace in the rear is the headroom, but I can’t imagine anyone tall wanting to spend their time at the back.

The boot space is small too. It is a 318-litre boot space which includes an additional 61-litre available beneath the boot floor, which you can access quite easily. What we do not have clarity on yet is the placing of a spare tyre. Our car didn’t have one. I can only imagine it would be placed under the boot floor in this additional space. That means the boot space then available is about 260-litres. The frunk isn’t very helpful either, with mere 7-litres – enough to carry its own charging cable. So far, the feelings are mixed about this Volvo. But business is about to pick up.

2025 Volvo EX30 driving and battery

Operating this squared circle of a steering wheel imparts an alien-craft feeling and brings a smile to your face. That is until you realise you forgot to adjust your mirrors before setting off and have to now find the right menu on the screen and then adjust it using the buttons on the steering. It is a bit strange that Volvo, the purveyors of safety, accepted having to take your eyes off the road and onto the screen to operate most of the controls. But once you do get all that sorted, business really does pick up. The 69kWh battery pack with a single motor in this car makes 269bhp and 343Nm, giving it the ability to sprint to 100 in 5.3 seconds – making it the quickest Volvo in India. The claimed WLTP range of this car is 480km. What’s really impressive is the time it takes from 40-60kmph. It is 1 second. The thrust is just immediate and that car long way ahead on the road comes towards you much faster than you expect. It is also extremely refined. Being an EV it is quiet, very little road and wind noise filters through, and the ride is extremely good. There is no crashing or thudding through the cabin when you hit a pothole or a breaker, and the ride is very smooth – probably the best of any EV up to its category. The alien-craft steering is an absolute joy to use as well. It gets three levels of weightiness settings and found myself using Soft in the city and Firm at high speeds. Regardless of the setting you choose, the steering is very precise, direct and is effortless.

Within the city, the EX30’s dimensions (4.2m length, 1.8m width) feel just perfect. Navigating through Jaipur’s small lanes was a breeze even with traffic and animals coming at you from all directions. The one pedal driving mode is easy to grasp and makes driving in traffic that much easier. The compact size made parking very easy too. And the comfort continued when we headed to the highway. Braking is as impressive as the acceleration and sudden direction changes keep the car unfazed and always in control. Because we are not testing this car at our usual locations around Pune, we could not find a place to properly send it in the corners to get a sense of its dynamic abilities. Overall, it is comfort focussed with sportiness available to tap into. I really like the way it drives.

Of course the inventors of seatbelt have filled it to the brim with active and passive safety features. It scored 5-star in the Euro NCAP last year and has a 360-degree camera, ADAS functions and even an Infra-red driver monitoring system which alerts you if you take your eyes off the road for over 3 seconds. But when driving in the city, I found myself turning off many of the driving aids because these systems are just not primed for the unpredictability of Indian roads. On at least two separate occasions the car hard braked and stopped dead on its tracks when it sensed a rogue biker ahead – that hard stop was more scary than the bike itself. That said, being in one of these is probably the safest place on the road.

2025 Volvo EX30 Verdict

Everywhere we took this car, passers-by simply kept their eyes glued to it till they could no longer see it. It does attract attention and curiosity, and you are unlikely to lose this car in a parking lot. Inside, you are cocooned from all your surroundings (except the sun) and enveloped in a nice environment. While the seats are comfortable, they are not as comfortable as the BMW iX1 or even some of the mass market EVs. Also, there is the keycard which locks or unlocks the car with a touch on the sensor on the B-pillar and needs to be placed on the wireless charger for the car to power up – it's not truly keyless in entry and go. Luckily, your phone can also double up as a key. And stuffing all the functions in the infotainment system can be annoying. And I am using the word keeping in mind that Volvo wants to target a much broader audience than it has done till now – people who are used to having physical controls. Some things could have been simpler. And yes, the rear space is less, but this car doesn’t mean to appease large families. Rather it will find its place with young couples and solopreneurs who have developed a taste for the finer things.

Despite all its quirks, I am willing to put this down as an overall well-made package. The car will be assembled in India which keeps the hopes up for a around ₹40 lakh price. That will make it the cheapest luxury car you can buy in India. Time will tell if people decide to get used to the way it functions as a trade-off to its refinement, speed, premium quality, overall driveability and head-turning looks. Volvo is being ambitious with this car and so they should – it's brilliant.