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The Swedish company is going after younger customers with its next EV. But it will have a lot of competition.
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Volvo’s new, next-generation electric vehicle, the luxuriously appointed, three-row EX90 SUV, isn’t even out yet, but the Swedish company is already talking about the follow-up. The Volvo EX30 will be a small SUV that will have its global debut on June 7th. US reservations will also open up on that date.
The EX30 name had been floating around for a few weeks now, but knowing that the EV will be getting a proper debut relatively soon is sure to excite fans of Swedish design and the company’s commitment to leveraging technology to enhance the vehicle’s safety.
Interestingly, Volvo is going all in on the size of the vehicle. “Thinking small is one of our biggest ideas,” the company says in its press release. And indeed, the vehicle is likely to slot in underneath Volvo’s 40 series of EVs, including the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge.
But it will still retain its SUV shape, which means it will probably ride higher than the C40 Recharge. Volvo is going after younger car buyers with this EV, the types of customers who have yet to move out to the suburbs to start a family. Expect something sporty, with an emphasis on adventure seeking, but compact enough to parallel park on a city street.
Volvo’s CEO said as much last year when the company first teased its upcoming slate of EVs. “Take a smaller SUV, which is more for city driving, maybe for first-time buyers,” Jim Rowan explained, according to Top Gear. “Gen Z — 18-, 19-year-olds — is our next market. We don’t talk to Gen Z right now, the brand has never really spoken to that younger demographic. We are absolutely heading in that direction.”
Still, the EX30 is likely to have a lot of competition when it comes out. In addition to the compact, two-row electric SUVs currently dominating the market — Tesla Model Y, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6 — there is also a slew of new models coming out that Volvo will need to contend with, including the Chevy Equinox and Blazer EVs, Polestar 3, and Honda Prologue.