Rear-Wheel-Drive 2026 Volvo EX30 Single Motor Is A Fun, High-Quality EV With Tech That Takes Some Getting Used To

When you think of European car companies, odds are you think of the German giants like Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, or maybe you think of the Brits like Land Rover and Mini, but there's another far more niche European carmaker that often gets overlooked: Volvo. The sole surviving mainstream Swedish car company makes great cars, but they tend to lack the flash and sex appeal of other European manufacturers. Volvo was one of the first automakers to put a big emphasis on electrification, but now that America has decided that emissions standards "don't mean a damn bit of difference for the environment," in the words of President Donald Trump, Volvo's future is a bit uncertain.

Its latest new model, the electric EX30 subcompact crossover, has garnered some harsh criticism from the automotive press (including from some of my fellow Jalops), but after driving the single-motor rear-wheel-drive EX30 that starts at $40,000, I don't think it deserves that criticism.

Full disclosure: Volvo invited me to Santa Monica to test out its 2026 model lineup, fed me, and let me experience several of the brand's heritage cars as well as the new EX30 single motor.

Much of the criticism the EX30 has received from my colleagues in the automotive press was aimed at the dual-motor car, as it was the only powertrain available in 2025. The all-wheel-drive EX30 costs $6,000 more than the single-motor model does, taking the subcompact crossover's price into a more expensive category. The rear-drive EX30 costs just $40,245 including $1,295 destination, and it comes well equipped as standard with a fixed panoramic glass sunroof, a 1,040-watt Harman Kardon stereo, a power tailgate, dual-zone automatic climate control, power front seats with adjustable lumbar for the driver, a four-year subscription to Google Built-in, a heat pump, an NACS adapter, collision avoidance technologies, and more.

The most exciting thing about the EX30 single motor is its powertrain. A 69-kWh battery sends power to the rear-mounted motor, which produces 268 horsepower and 253 lb-ft of torque. That doesn't seem like much, but it feels ample. The diminutive EX30 weighs 3,913 pounds, quite light for an EV, and at 166.6 inches long it's actually just over two inches shorter than a Volkswagen GTI, so it's quite compact. Volvo says it is capable of sprinting to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, which is more than quick enough to satisfy most people (though not as blisteringly quick as the 3.4-second time put down by the dual-motor car), and it's EPA rated for a maximum range of 261 miles on a single charge, 8 miles more than the AWD model. Like its dual-motor cousin, the single-motor EX30 is capable of receiving DC fast-charging charge speeds of 153 kW, which can take it from 10% to 80% in around 28 minutes. It's not breaking any records, but the EX30's stats make it a totally reasonable EV to live with for most people.

I drove a Single Motor Plus model, which only had an option box checked for the Climate Package that adds heated front seats and a heated steering wheel for $500, bringing the total price to $40,745, or about $500 more than a 2026 Volkswagen GTI SE. I keep comparing this Volvo to the GTI because it feels like a hot hatchback from behind the wheel and that's a massive pro. As with all electric vehicles, all of the EX30's 268 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque are accessible the instant you stomp your right foot on the throttle, so despite it weighing around 800 pounds more than a GTI and having 20 fewer torques, the EX30 is quicker, and feels like it. It's a hoot-and-a-half to drive.

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

The nose was responsive and never felt like it was going to push into understeer, and a stab of the throttle made its tail wag a bit, until stability control kicked in and subtly reeled that in. The brake pedal felt natural and the car stopped on a dime, so when I took the EX30 down one of my favorite Malibu canyon roads, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. Despite having three different weight settings the steering is devoid of road feel, but like I said I didn't encounter any understeer, so I didn't feel like I was wanting for more.

One of the best things about hooning an EV is that it's a guilt-free affair; hard stops are actually generating more juice, and you know that you're not spewing carbon emissions even when you're really honking on it. The squircle steering wheel looks dorky and unwieldy, but it didn't feel any different from a regular steering wheel when I was weaving down a canyon road. This is a hell of a fun car for $40,000.

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On more mundane commutes that don't involve canyon carving, the EX30 didn't falter even a bit. On the cracked concrete highways that weave through the Los Angeles basin, the EX30 remained quiet, comfortable, and composed, especially when you consider that this fun-sized subcompact rides on slick-looking 19-inch wheels wrapped in 245/45 Michelin all-season rubber. It comes standard with adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, and traffic jam assist. Unfortunately Volvo's Pilot Assist, which provides lane centering, lane changes, and curve speed adjustments, is not available on single-motor EX30s, so driving remains a hands-on task. The EX30 shined around town, too, its itty bitty exterior dimensions making it a breeze to weave down narrow streets. It's easy to see out of and thus easy to know where it begins and ends, and it comes standard with a reverse camera and front and rear ultrasonic sensors to assist in the really tight squeezes.

At 6-foot-8 I am very tall, but I own a Mini Cooper S so I'm a fan of small cars with deceptively spacious interiors, and the front of the EX30's cabin is just that. It feels open and airy thanks to the panoramic glass roof, low dashboard height, and clever center console and door card designs. I usually lower the driver's seat as much as possible when I drive, but just for laughs I tried raising it as high as it would go, and it squished me into the glass roof, so it will be good for shorter drivers who crave that high-up seating position. From the B-pillar forward, the EX30 has acres of room, and I fell in love with its unique design. The rear seats are tight if you have long-legged folks in the front seats, and there's no center armrest back there so it's not the most accommodating. Luggage space is tight too, with just 11 cubic feet of space behind the second row of seats and 35 cubic feet of space with the back seats folded down. It is a subcompact crossover, after all.

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

Volvo's interiors in recent years have taken a page out of IKEA's book by introducing Swedish minimalism with clean lines and thoughtful details, but they digress from IKEA's practices because above all they are always comfortable. Volvo has some of the best seats in the business, and the EX30 definitely inherited that gene. It was exceedingly easy for me to find a comfortable and supportive position for my lanky frame behind the wheel, and I could have sat there for hours. Volvo also does kickass sound systems, and that's the only phrase I can use to describe the EX30's standard 1040-watt Harman Kardon stereo. There are a couple of special design features that I need to nerd out on for a moment, though.

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

The EX30 has the best interior door handles of any car on sale right now, hands down. They're beautiful solid pieces of metal that look like they belong on a the cabinets of an mid-century modern house in Palm Springs, and in an era of needless overcomplication (yes that is foreshadowing), these simple door handles are supremely satisfying to use, tap on when you're sitting in traffic, and to look at.

I also feel compelled to shout out the door-mounted armrests. Other brands have attempted to produce armrests that look like they're floating, but none have succeeded in looking good and feeling as good as the armrests in the EX30. There is nothing obstructing your hand from clutching the end of the armrest like you would on your grandma's rocking chair, and for whatever reason the ability to do so makes it feel like you're in a seriously comfortable lounge chair and not in a subcompact crossover. Other brands ought to copy this design, because I've never experienced anything quite like it in a car before.

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

The EX30's interior design is exceptional, from top to bottom. I'm usually personally offended when automakers use too much hard, scratchy plastic on their interiors — ahem, General Motors — but Volvo created some of the coolest looking plastics and materials I've ever seen on a car, let alone one at the $40,000 mark. My test car had the Indigo Pixel Knit and Nordico interior, which uses dark blue and black upholstery and accents. The hard black plastics on the underside of the dashboard and on other parts of the interior look almost like a dark engineered stone countertop, and their appearance is genuinely pleasing not just for a hard plastic, but pleasing full stop. The air vents look unlike any air vents I've ever seen in a car, and mercifully they're a total breeze to adjust, unlike the screen-controlled air vents from other brands like Rivian and Tesla. If you're into design, you'll want to get an EX30.

Unfortunately, Volvo's exceptional work designing the EX30's interior is let down by a few hard-to-ignore issues. If you've read other reviews of the EX30 before, you'll know that it only has one large central screen with neither a dedicated driver's display nor a head-up display. This makes things unnecessarily complicated. The interior is also devoid of physical controls, so almost everything you want to do requires you to dig in the touchscreen, from changing your climate settings to adjusting your mirrors to opening your glove box. And the few things that aren't operated through the touchscreen, like the window controls and the steering wheel controls, are also frustrating.

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

The central touchscreen is complicated, but I only had an hour or so with the car to familiarize myself with its user interface, so I don't feel like I can give it a fair assessment. Buyers will likely learn the system and get used to it just like you do when a new iOS update comes out or when you get a new TV, but I'm begging you Volvo, at least include a head-up display so drivers aren't forced to look away from the road just to see their speed, which is displayed in the top-left corner of the screen.

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

The window controls are truly confounding. Volvo took the worst page out of Volkswagen's book by only giving the driver access to two window switches despite having four windows, with a button you press to switch between controlling the front or rear windows, only Volvo made it worse by sticking the switches in the center console. Okay, maybe it's the second-worst page to take out of VW's book after the Dieselgate page, but still, it's outright stupid to only put two window switches and force the driver to use a touch pad located in an incredibly awkward position. No matter how hard I tried, I was not able to successfully roll down the front windows, tap the rear button, and roll down the rear windows without having to take my eyes off the road and look all the way down to the right to make sure the touch pad properly understood my input — and then the car's driver-monitoring system would beep at me for looking away from the road. 

Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik

In fact, I got so tired of fumbling with the asinine button arrangement that I resorted to using the two window switches in front of the arm rest to operate the front windows, and I'd reach around to the backside of the center armrest and use the rear window switches meant for rear seat passengers, because at least I could find those buttons without staring at the floor of the 4,000-pound hunk of flammable chemicals and metal I was driving at 70 mph on public roads. If you can't tell, this annoyed me.

I read reviews of the EX30 before I drove it, so I expected it to be pretty miserable, but I came away from the experience totally tickled. The adorable EX30 is reasonably priced in rear-motor guise, its interior is gorgeous, it's a hoot to drive, it has a bangin' stereo, it feels extremely well-built and solid, it's adorable outside, and it's a Volvo, so it's as safe as a turtle wearing full football pads. 

Yes, the technology is overbearing, and no, it's not going to be a good car for you if you have a family of D1 basketball recruits, but if you're looking for a comfortable, fun-to-drive, and environmentally conscious luxury-leaning small car, the rear-wheel-drive EX30 needs to be on your short list. 2026 Volvo EX30 Single Motors are available for order now, and Volvo says you can expect to see them on dealer lots early next year.