With the very strong appeal of Chinese electric cars - based on cost of purchase alone - it's perhaps no surprise that the Chinese-owned Volvo company has gone on the price offensive with a new compact SUV.
The Volvo EX 30 is the company’s smallest SUV yet. Even smaller Volvo cars usually come with a price premium but that won’t be the case with this car. After soon-to-be-reduced grants are factored in, the EX 30 comes in at €38,596, which price brings it broadly in line with offerings from other Chinese competitors such as BYD.
There are two versions of the car - "Plus" with a 51 kWh battery version that Volvo claims can deliver up to 344 kilometres of range and "Ultra", a 69 kWh version capable of up to 480 km. (Bear in mind these are preliminary claims and such claims don’t usually stand up very well in real world driving conditions.)
This second version with the bigger battery capacity has a price of €44,502. Both cars use a 272 horse power motor.
The "Plus" version gets a 12.3" Google-based infotainment screen, dual zone air conditioning and a Harmon Karden entertainment system. The "Ultra" has the same, plus a 360 degree parking aid, a panoramic roof and 20" wheels.
There’s also the usual full suite of safety measures, as you expect from Volvo, and this time they have designed a safety system to let a driver or passenger know when it is unsafe to open the door - when a cyclist is approaching, for example.
Chinese companies have now begun a price war with European manufacturers and thus far they are winning that war in terms of battery efficiency and standard equipment. Now there is talk of Volvo offering an even more attractively priced version of the EX30 next year. Watch this space.
