Volvo is switching gears again, this time to accelerate deliveries of its much-anticipated EX30 subcompact electric SUV so that it reaches the U.S. before the end of 2024.
The Swedish automaker last summer had postponed the U.S. launch of the EX30 to 2025, citing “changes in the global automotive landscape”. The move followed the Biden administration’s 100% import tariff on electric vehicles made in China.
While production of the EX30 is currently taking place in Zhangjakou, China, Volvo is shifting it to its factory in Ghent, Belgium.
U.S. deliveries were originally scheduled for this summer. Volvo says it now seeks to fulfill orders from customers who had placed deposits on the EX30 eversince it was unveiled in Milan in June 2023.
“While it has become one of the best-selling electric vehicles in Europe, customers in the U.S. have been patiently waiting for it to arrive,” Volvo said in a statement.
Volvo says it’s prioritizing deliveries of the most requested model: the EX30 Twin Motor Performance, with a starting suggested retail price of $44,900. The Single Motor variant is still scheduled to reach the U.S. later in 2025.
Besides adding all-wheel drive, the Twin Motor Performance is the “quickest accelerating Volvo ever,” Volvo says. And with charging capacity of up to 153 KW, the EX30’s battery can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 25 minutes.
While the EX30 was dubbed by Digital Trends as potentially “the best-looking’ budget EV to date, it appears that the budget part of the equation might eventually be in question: Until last summer, the EX30 was expected to sell at $34,950. Volvo does mention that “at present”, the EX30 is eligible for the Biden administration’s popular $7,500 tax incentive on the purchase or lease of an electric vehicle.
But EV automakers, not to mention drivers, are now facing uncertainty as to what will happen to that incentive: The incoming Trump administration has toyed with the idea of ending it altogether in 2025.
