The EX30 is the goodness of Volvo condensed in an SUV

What would Volvo in human form look like? Nick Connor, Head of APeC, Volvo Cars, thinks it would be someone empathetic, caring, sensible, and modest. 

Little did the business executive who's three years into his current leadership appointment, know these are the very same qualities that struck us about him. 

In a moderately-sized meeting room stripped of the pizzazz of the Motor Show from the day before, SgCarMart sat down with Connor for an honest-to-goodness chat about Volvo's upcoming addition to their local lineup: The EX30.

Not a fad

The EX30 was not designed to be trendy. Or rather, to be a fad isn't the reason the EX30 was birthed. This might be unconvincing at first glance. 

The soft curves that shape Volvo's smallest ever SUV stealthily takes on an assertive demeanour when styled in sleek Scandinavian minimalism. Coated in a splash of Cloud Blue, the EX30 is almost a guaranteed head-turner.

But don't let its appearance fool you. Connor urges the sceptic in us to step inside the car to find out for ourselves.

Just by replacing speakers on the door with a sound bar behind the front of the dash, the EX30 is living proof of Volvo's long-standing belief in being part of the solution. This tweak frees up space, reduces cost and simplifies the car's production.

"Every little aspect of the EX30 has been thought through with a sustainability and simplicity viewpoint," said Connor, with a conviction that's reminiscent of a proud parent.

Indeed, Volvo is one brand that doesn't try to impress only with what's fancy. What it does do is stand unwaveringly by the philosophies it subscribes to - and imbue its products with the same passion.  

One such example is sustainability, which forms the identity of the EX30. Look at the recycled and renewable materials used on its interior, where they have come from, and it becomes immediately clear that Volvo has planned out every single sustainable element that permeates EX30's design language. 

This certainly did not occur by coincidence. This is the result of the brand getting better at what it believes in, refined by decades of research and practice. 

Never passé

By what has Volvo been anchored all these years?

To answer this question, Connor took a walk down memory lane with us to 1976 when Volvo launched its first electric car (or Elbil in Swedish). Referring to it as an "orange box on wheels", he is pleased that the Elbil - despite being a mere concept - showed how sustainability wasn't a bandwagon that Volvo got on recently to be fashionable. 

More importantly, the concept car, which is displayed at the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg, has continually defined Volvo's relationship with electric cars. 

As the brand's third all-electric model to be sold in Singapore, the EX30 assumes an important responsibility to carry on this tradition. In fact, it could well be one of the brand's biggest turning points. 

Not a derail

The EX30 might sound like the awkward adopted child in the Volvo family - but not if you've heard of the EX90, which has debuted only in China for now. According to Connor, we can expect to see the 'EX' designating Volvo's subsequent releases of electric SUVs. 

The EX30 might also appear to deviate from the brand's existing lineup because of its finite capacity and powertrain. To Mr. Connor, however, it is more a matter of customer preference: "Do you want the small Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), do you want the slightly bigger BEV? Do you want the coupe style of the C40?"

Regardless of the choice made, Volvo is confident that BEVs will last at least as long as, or even longer, than Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars. "All of our evidence suggests that batteries are going to last a lot longer than many people think."

To the surprise of many, the brand's investment in battery recycling and repair centres has yielded very little battery degradation over time. Where it happens, it tends to be just one or two cells of the field. 

Volvo says it is able to perform localised replacements and repairs on the cells that have gone faulty, with the technology it has developed. This keeps the cost of maintaining BEVs low even after having traversed hundreds of thousands of miles. This is something the EX30 will stand to benefit from. 

While the EX30 could be an odd fit in other markets, it definitely seems built for Singapore. Boasting a WLTP-rated range of up to 475km on a single charge, the EX30 should meet the day-to-day requirements of Singaporeans: It's well-sized to take four people around the island and offers sufficient range to sit in traffic or cover a drive up to Kuala Lumpur. 

As Connor puts it, "The EX90 is Volvo on a big scale, and the EX30 is the concentrated version of that." Think americano and espresso, and you should get the idea. 

Never before

Connor is fully cognisant of the fact that not every Volvo customer buys into the brand's belief in sustainability. "I think our job is to offer the best products we can, in a sustainable way that is in line with our values, and then the customer decides whether that meets their requirements or not. Some feel very passionately about it, and we have perfect alignment, that's great. But if we don't, that's also okay," he said, thoughtfully. 

The EX30 may have been engineered with a pre-family audience in mind and a focus on going green, but its prowess will persuade even those who do not believe in its objectives. "You make the argument with the product," he tells us.

What Volvo has tried to do with the EX30 is design it in such a clever way that one will not feel they are missing anything. What you will do is look at it and realise how smart a solution it is. For sure, the EX30 trumps the Elbil style-wise; but in Volvo's dictionary, sustainability is never passé.

With the EX30, sustainability is clearly at the forefront. But in typical Volvo fashion, it's modest, sensible and caring - true to what the brand stands for, time after time.

This article was first published in sgCarMart.

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