The compact EX30 was supposed to be Volvo's mainstream EV in the U.S. Then came the tariffs, which hiked up its price, and the policy shifts. In March, the Swedish brand pulled the stylish little EV from its U.S. lineup. But Americans won't be without an entry-level Volvo EV for long. A replacement is already on the way, and it'll cost about as much as the EX30 did.
“We're going to have a new car coming, that will fulfill not exactly the same price point, but very similar,” Luis Rezende, president of Volvo Cars America told reporters on Monday.
We don't have much in the way of details yet. Rezende said the new car is coming next year and noted that it will be larger than the EX30. "It's going to be an EV that will deliver a lot of good things in a bigger space, but will also be fun to drive, I can promise you,” he said.
The company initially targeted $35,000 for the EX30 in the U.S. But it ended up costing over $45,000 at launch. The cheaper single motor trim arrived later at $40,000.
It's possible the new vehicle is a next-generation EX40 based on the newly launched EX60’s SPA3 architecture. The EX40 currently rides on a reengineered version of a combustion engine platform, and is also about $16,000 more expensive in the U.S. than the base EX30.
Anders Bell, the chief engineering and technology officer at Volvo Cars made clear how much flexibility the SPA3 platform offers. It is engineered to scale across every segment from B (subcompact) to F (luxury).
With combustion engines, automakers typically need three platforms to serve all segments due to the sheer complexity of gas cars, Bell said. But removing the combustion engine allows Volvo to “achieve completely new levels of modularity and scalability,” he said. So think of shared battery types, a common software suite, and the same electrical architecture. “Essentially we can scale on SPA3 uncompromised from [segments] B to F,” Bell said.
The EX60 made its U.S. debut Monday, with order books now open and deliveries expected to begin late summer. It's already the most high-tech car Volvo has ever made, and the pricing is solid. If the company can bring that same technical foundation down to a smaller, more accessible package, Volvo's next entry-level EV could turn out to be far more compelling than the model it's replacing.
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
