Volvo EX30 Wins CleanTechnica Automobile of the 12 months in Europe


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It’s time to announce the winners of 2024 CleanTechnica Automobile of the 12 months voting. After developing with 4 finalists for 2024 CleanTechnica Automobile of the 12 months in Europe, we opened up voting to readers to decide on the winner. Listed here are the outcomes:

  1. Volvo EX30 — 43%
  2. Volkswagen ID.7 — 25%
  3. BYD Seal — 18%
  4. Kia EV9 — 14%

So, the clear winner is the Volvo EX30! Congratulations to Volvo.

The EX30 was the third greatest promoting electrical automobile in Europe in January–November 2024, solely behind the Tesla Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3, earlier CleanTechnica Automobile of the 12 months winners of their debut seasons. In November, the Skoda Enyaq and Volkswagen ID.4 had been additionally larger than the EX30, whereas proper behind the EX30 was the Volkswagen ID.7 in sixth place. As you may see, the ID.7 got here in second within the CleanTechnica Automobile of the 12 months voting in Europe. That mentioned, it wasn’t shut, because the #2 ID.7 and #3 BYD Seal mixed had the identical vote share because the EX30.

Volvo EX30 Plus inside illumination.

The Volvo EX30 comes with as much as 296 miles (476 km) of rated vary on a full cost, 28-minute quick charging from 10–80%, and acceleration to 62 mph in 3.6 seconds in probably the most highly effective package deal. Nevertheless, the bottom vary, for a automobile that begins at £32,850 within the UK, is 209 miles. You’ve three principal choices:

  • A price range choice, the EX30 Core, which affords the decrease finish of what’s thought-about sufficient vary for regular use (proper round how a lot vary my 2019 Tesla Mannequin 3 has, which I’m very proud of). This begins on the base worth of £32,850 and has a single motor (RWD) by default.
  • The EX30 Plus for barely extra, £34,400, will get you a couple of additional options (atmosphere lighting themes, energy liftgate, inside illumination, and heated entrance seats and steering wheel).
  • The EX30 Extremely is definitely nonetheless a single-motor choice by default, nevertheless it comes with prolonged vary (295 miles/475 km) by default as nicely. It additionally features a panoramic roof, Park Pilot Help, and a 360° digital camera with 3D view.

You possibly can add extra vary to the primary two trims, for a worth — £4,200 on the EX30 Core or £4,700 on the EX30 Plus. You possibly can add a second motor for extra efficiency and AWD on the second two trims (an additional £7,200 on the EX30 Plus and an additional £2,500 on the EX30 Extremely). One good factor is completely different paint colours or inside colours don’t value additional — you get your full selection of shade and design with out having to pay extra.

Naturally, all of these costs will range a bit from nation to nation.

Total, with the EX30, you’re getting a really succesful, nicely designed, elegant, trendy automobile, however one which doesn’t go overboard and thus comes at a somewhat reasonably priced worth. In fact, you get the extremely regarded Volvo badge and a superb 5-star security ranking from Euro NCAP.

For extra perception into the automobile, you may learn our preliminary evaluate of the Volvo EX30 in Barcelona, Spain, from late 2023, or you may learn this proprietor evaluate from Australia. When summarizing the EX30, CleanTechnica‘s Kyle Subject initially wrote: “The Volvo EX30 takes Volvo’s legacy of constructing a number of the most secure automobiles on this planet, electrifies it, and wraps all of it up in Volvo’s smallest SUV package deal ever. On the similar time, the EX30 is the quickest SUV Volvo has ever constructed with a staggering 0 to 60 time of three.4 seconds within the twin motor efficiency construct.” Right here’s somewhat extra from Kyle’s evaluate:

“With all that energy being utilized to the wheels, you’d count on the Volvo EX30 be ripping tires aside, breaking traction at each alternative, however that simply wasn’t the case. Alongside the take a look at drive, we abused the automobile each on straightaways and across the tight mountain curves of the Barcelona shoreline. On-road and off into the rocky grime roads weaving by way of Spain’s wine nation. Regardless of how tight the flip, how a lot we stomped on the accelerator or pounded on the brakes to wash velocity, we weren’t capable of break traction in regular driving.

“Primarily based on that, we assumed the automobile had some masterful implementation of digital torque vectoring that leveraged the responsiveness of its electrical drivetrain together with millisecond-level computations to maximise traction. We had been improper.

“After a protracted day of driving, I talked to Egbert Bakker, Volvo’s head of car dynamics, who smiled and shared that the EX30 didn’t have a torque vectoring system. There’s zero front-to-back throttling of energy from the entrance to rear motor or side-to-side with any digital differential applied sciences. As a substitute, Volvo does because it has at all times completed, utilizing the brakes at every nook of the automobile to successfully regulate the quantity of energy being utilized if traction comes into query.

“This somewhat commonplace digital traction management system is complemented by a contemporary multi-link suspension system. On the rear of the automobile, the EX30 encompasses a 5-link suspension system with 4 hyperlinks being stamped and the fifth being a double wishbone solid suspension hyperlink the place the suspension has to dip underneath the physique. Up entrance, a extra conventional decrease management arm retains issues supported from the underside with a beefy coilover system damping the entire bumps and bruises that the street would in any other case apply to your rear finish.”

The optimistic first impressions left on Kyle clearly weren’t a blip, and weren’t too influenced by the gorgeous Barcelona surroundings. The Volvo EX30 is a wonderfully put collectively automobile and has been holding its personal — or really way more — on the patron market since its arrival, significantly in Europe. Its superior tech mixed with refined however elegant design makes it the proper buy for a lot of patrons. No doubt, the EX30 was a deserving winner of our 2024 CleanTechnica Automobile of the 12 months—Europe award.

Keep tuned for the US winner.



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