As the official reveal of the Volvo EX30 draws closer to its scheduled date on June 7, the Swedish carmaker is trying to sweeten the wait by sprinkling some additional details about the smallest EV in its lineup.
According to the brand’s sustainability manager, Anders Nyth, the new EX30 will offer two battery variants from launch: a 51-kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) pack and a 69-kWh nickel-cobalt-manganese (NMC) variant, with the bigger option enabling a maximum driving range of 298 miles (480 kilometers), as reported by the British publication Autocar.
Presumably, the claimed maximum range will bear the WLTP-rated tag, so we expect the EPA range estimate to be a bit shorter, as is usually the case. Nevertheless, for what is effectively a city car – the EX30 will slot under the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge – the claimed range should be adequate for most daily scenarios.
Gallery: Volvo EX30 Photos
“Of course, the driveline impacts the efficiency of the car, so there's a rear-wheel version and an all-wheel-drive version,” Nyth added. “The rear-wheel-drive, NCM-battery [car] is kind of the long-range version.”
Additionally, Volvo has said that the upcoming small EV will be its most environmentally friendly vehicle to date, with the lowest carbon footprint of any Volvo model to date and 25 percent lower than the existing XC40/C40 Recharge over 124,000 miles (200,000 kilometers) of driving.
To achieve this, the Geely-owned carmaker will use more recycled materials than ever before, with around a quarter of the aluminum and roughly 17 percent of the steel used in the building of the car being recycled. Additionally, about 17 percent of all plastics in the car are recycled and the vehicle itself has been “designed to be recycled to a high degree” at the end of its life, said Anders Nyth.
Moreover, there’s less scrap metal that results when body parts are stamped in the factory, with the manufacturing facility itself being powered by high levels of climate-neutral energy, including 100 percent climate-neutral electricity, according to Volvo.
The Volvo EX30 EV will make its global debut on June 7, when it will become available to order or pre-order in selected markets. The small crossover will also be offered through a monthly subscription program which is said to appeal to young Gen Z buyers that were born between the late 1990s and early 2000s.