Volvo is setting its sights on younger buyers with a new small electric SUV, set to be revealed, and in production, by the end of the year.
Currently estimated to be called the Volvo EX30 due to its likely position under the XC40 and C40 in terms of size, the small SUV will be revealed in June, according to Volvo Cars CEO and president Jim Rowan.
Rowan told media during a recent visit to Australia that not only will it be revealed, but it will also join the already-announced EX90 in production before the end of 2023.
“We kind of teased that with you guys back in November as well, so we'll release a small SUV and I think June 15, or … sometime in the middle of June, that will really start. Both of those cars (‘EX30’ and EX90) will be in production by the end of this year.”
Aside from the approximate size of the SUV, there’s not much Volvo has confirmed about the EX30, even its name, but given the other small cars Volvo has in its stable, it’s not a stretch to assume it could use the Compact Modular Architecture that not only underpins the C40 Recharge electric SUV, but also the Polestar 2 electric car.
It’s also possible the model could instead use a smaller version of the SPA2 EV platform from the EX90, though it's certain to be produced in China where Volvo has three plants through its parent company Geely.
Given the C40 is 4425mm long and 1863mm wide, we can assume the EX30 will be smaller, especially if it’s to appeal to the demographic outlined by Rowan.
“The age demographic that we have available was a little bit older than we would like,” Rowan previously said to journalists.
“We'd like to get some more young people into the brand, let's say, and that will be a really nice price point I think for an entry.
“Very safe, decent range, good size still, but small enough for it. We're going to talk to a completely different demographic for the first time and that younger demographic will probably be the ones who shop more online.”
While the XC40 is a larger small SUV that competed with the BMW iX1 and Mercedes-Benz EQA, the new XC30 could be closer in size to the relatively compact Lexus UX300e.
Currently, the electric offerings for Volvo kick off in the mid-$70k region, with the XC40 Recharge starting from $73,990 before on-roads and the C40 from $75,990.
This means we can expect a smaller entry-level electric SUV to begin from somewhere closer to $60,000.
In terms of specification, a smaller battery pack and less power than the likes of the C40 is possible, which means potentially less than a 62kWh battery and 170kW of power, and a sub-434km driving range.
It’s not quite enough to limit the small SUV to the confines of the city, but it rules it out for very long road-trips in the current charging infrastructure climate.
Once Volvo offers only electric cars, which it plans to by 2030, expect the smaller models in its range to become quite popular.
Currently, the small XC40 is the brand’s most popular (5119 sales in 2022, almost half its total 10,715), and even the C40 sold 491 units after its late-2022 debut as a relatively premium small electric SUV.
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