2024 Volvo EX30 electric city SUV breaks cover in patent images
The smallest Volvo SUV ever built – and the company’s second dedicated electric car – has made an early debut in patent images overseas.
The 2024 Volvo EX30 small electric SUV has appeared online in new patent images, ahead of its unveiling in the coming months, and Australian showroom arrival due by the end of this year.
Patent images reposted on Spanish internet forum Cochespias show the new EX30 – a pint-sized electric SUV set to be cheaper and smaller than today’s XC40 Recharge – will borrow heavily from the design of its Volvo showroom mates.
Previewed by a teaser image late last year, the EX30’s front and rear fascias are directly inspired by the full-size EX90 SUV – the electric counterpart to the petrol XC90 seven-seater – with ‘Thor’s Hammer’ headlights and two-piece LED tail-lights.
The side profile and doors are similar to the XC40, but the EX30’s roof appears to slope down more than its bigger sibling.
Interior spy photos have shown a look reminiscent of the Volvo EX90, with a large portrait touchscreen, wool blend seat upholstery and a column-mounted gear selector.
There is also set to be a floating centre console with a control panel for windows and door locks. But spy photos show there will be only two window switches – with a ‘Rear’ button that swaps the controls to raise or lower the rear windows, rather than the front.
Underpinning the EX30 is expected to be the electric-car-specific Sustainable Experience Architecture developed by Volvo’s parent company, Chinese car giant Geely.
Other models on the architecture – including the Smart #1 city SUV, and sister company Polestar’s new Polestar 4 mid-size SUV – are powered by single or dual electric motors, with rear motors offering up to 200kW, and twin-motor combined outputs of up to 400kW.
The Chinese-built EX30 is expected to use lithium iron phosphate battery technology – as used in entry-level Tesla vehicles – which is not as energy dense and can’t charge as quickly as lithium-ion battery tech, but is cheaper to build.
Volvo CEO Jim Rowan has said the company aims to use the new battery technology to achieve ‘price parity’ between petrol and electric vehicles by 2025 or 2026, by lowering battery prices to less than $US100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) – down from a low of $US130/kWh today.
The 2024 Volvo EX30 electric SUV is due to be unveiled in the coming months ahead of first Australian showroom arrivals by the end of 2023.
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