Michael SatterfieldA stylish Swedish city car that nails the design brief but fumbles the basics
You don’t expect a compact electric SUV to feel this well-tailored. The 2025 Volvo EX30 makes its first impression like a tailored suit from Savile Row, crisp lines, understated confidence, and just enough personality to stand out without showing off. If design were the only metric, this little Swede would be a class leader.
The exterior is sharp and modern. From the clean shoulder line to the signature Thor’s Hammer headlights, the Volvo EX30 wears its badge with pride. The two-tone paint options and large wheels give it a presence well beyond its footprint. It’s a car that looks expensive, even if, relatively speaking, it isn’t.
Volvo EX30 Interior Design Perfection
Inside, Volvo doubles down on its signature Scandinavian minimalism. Sustainable materials, textured fabrics, and clever lighting themes make the cabin feel like a boutique hotel lounge. The single-screen setup and lack of physical buttons give it a futuristic vibe, though not always in a good way. More on that in a bit.
The seats are comfortable, visibility is solid, and the ride quality leans soft. It’s quiet too — one of those EVs where wind and road noise are kept to a hush even on the highway. But anyone looking for spirited driving will walk away a bit disappointed. The Volvo EX30 may share a lineage with Polestar, but it doesn’t drive like a cousin. It’s not bad by any means, just… uninspiring. Steering is numb, and acceleration feels brisk in a clinical sort of way. Think practical over playful.
What it lacks in engagement, it makes up for in personality. One of the EX30’s most charming touches is found in the trunk: a molded graphic showing what fits inside depending on how you configure the seats. Need to haul a stroller, camping gear, or a stack of moving boxes? The diagram spells it out like an airline baggage guide. It’s fun, helpful, and exactly the sort of small delight more carmakers should include.
Now to the part that doesn’t spark joy.
For a company that prides itself on thoughtful design, Volvo made one truly baffling choice: the key fob. Or more precisely, the lack of functionality on it. The Volvo EX30’s fob has no buttons. Not even one. It’s a smooth, featureless brick that assumes the car will unlock itself as you approach. But that only works if you’re at the driver’s door.
Want to open the passenger door for your wife? Walk around to the driver’s side, wait for the car to sense you, then walk back. Want to load something into the rear without triggering the whole charade? Better have long arms or a short temper. Yes, there’s a phone app that can unlock the doors, but who wants to dig into their pocket, wake up their phone, open an app, and wait for Bluetooth just to let someone in?
This isn’t a minor quirk. It’s an ergonomic misstep that adds friction to daily use, especially if you regularly drive with passengers. There’s something deeply ironic about a car this refined making you look clumsy every time someone else tries to get in.
Volvo will likely defend this as progress, a push toward digital minimalism. But the reality is that traditional keys with buttons exist for a reason. They work. They’re fast. They’re intuitive. In trying to reinvent the user experience, Volvo overlooked one of the most basic human interactions with a vehicle: opening the door for someone else.
Volvo, also in the name of safety, has created a car that is a bit of a nag. Look at the center screen to see the speedometer or battery life, your music is muted, and a warning chime with a message ordering you to pay attention is sounded. It does this if you look out the window too long, have dark sunglasses on, or sing along to a song a little too enthusiastically. It also suggests you take a break and pull over if you happen to yawn on an early morning, with a warning that you appear tired. It sucks the joy out of driving, when every few minuets it is turning off your music and scolding you.
Also while the glass roof is a really cool look, not having a sun shade means the interior during a Texas summer heats up to a point that it can take blocks to get the car to cool back down with the AC at full blast. I am sure that in Northern Europe, this is less of a problem, but for those of us in the South and Southwest, it is a real problem.
So where does that leave us?
The 2025 Volvo EX30 is a beautiful, comfortable, environmentally conscious EV that nails the look and feel of a modern premium compact. It’s full of charm, wrapped in sustainable materials, and priced to be accessible. But in its pursuit of innovation, it stumbles on the simple stuff. And for a car built around thoughtful design, that’s a flaw hard to ignore.
If you’re looking for a stylish city runabout and don’t mind walking a few extra steps, the EX30 delivers. Just don’t expect it to make every part of life easier, especially if you’re the kind of person who still opens the door for others.
