This week we had another rugged Volvo at our disposal. Meant for the outdoors and off roading, the Volvo EX30 Cross Country even came with a factory roof rack. Although, sadly I would not be utilizing it for such, as this week kept me in the city and putting the fully electric battery to the test instead.
Luck should have it that my usual charging station at the gym was not working and I was unable to top up the vehicle daily, so I found myself waiting until the end of the week to fully charge it in one go. In doing so, i was pleasantly surprised by how that even after a week of activities and three trips to Richmond I was still left with 30% battery life and 104km to spare.
It was terribly slow charging at a level two charger with only 2% after 50 minutes. However at the super charger 45 minutes gave me 54%.
What sets the EX30 apart is how minimal its design is. The fob is a light weight rectangle. No hidden key, no buttons to push, it just instinctively knows. No need to unlock or lock, approaching and walking away with said fob is all you need. Similarly, there is no need to push to start, the car is on and ready to drive as soon as you enter.
The interior’s mix of materials added to the modern feel. A variety of textures from what felt like a Styrofoam to hollow plastics and soft fake leathers. The infinity mirrors felt like its edges were pooling off of its sides available for both the rearview and side mirrors. I found its look sleek, but I was not a fan of the narrow armrest that can only be described as boney.
All the 2026 Volvo EX30 Cross Country‘s controls are contained on the iPad infotainment system, located to the right of the driving wheel. This included the dash as well. Therefore where I was use to looking past my wheel to note speed and speed limit, drive mode, fuel range, etc I was forced to recalibrate and look to the top left corner of the iPad instead. This was done small and discretely and it became a hassle to look for, as I found myself more often than not over the speed limit because it was literally out of sight, out of mind. Although I did enjoy the drive more as a result. The less is more view made my drive more scenic. I was unencumbered by speed limits that spanned across the glass, or any flashing spatial indicators.
Adjusting the side mirrors and opening the glove compartment was also done through the iPad and took some searching for. The former is normally located on the side of the car door for easy reference was now hidden. Although in hindsight this does make sense considering that you need not adjust the settings often and the one time was enough for me. It did make storing items in the glove compartment more complicated. Whereas pulling a latch with your finger use to be enough, it now required two taps of the screen to do. This felt unnecessary high tech, much like the window controls discretely hidden at the end of the arm rest. With a push button for each side and matte controls for the locking and switching them to control the rear instead. The back seat passengers too had to look to the back of the arm rest to adjust their windows.
Seeing the need early on, I took the time to toggle through the rest of the controls. It all took some getting aquatinted with, with the need to scroll through all the options. Although in doing so I discovered an unexpected and my favourite feature of the 2026 Volvo EX30.
I liked the ambiance feature. It furthered the peace that the blank canvas of the dash gave. Especially as the cabin is already fairly well contained, and not a lot of sound gets through the car’s walls. With the ambiance button, you had the ability to literally set the scene with themes like “Northern Light”, “Nordic Twilight”, “Midsummer”, “Archipelago”, and “Forest Bath”. Not only do you get a moving visual like that of a computer screen saver, but you have the option of turning on a sound track to it as well.
A green forest at dawn with deep violins and the chirping of birds in the distance, a golden sun set into still reflective waters gently hitting the shore to echoes, and a field of spring flowers dancing to the sounds of leaves rustling and bees buzzing. I just needed a smell function to be able to pull me deeper into this illusion of my design. This mode was especially nice to have when you didn’t know what you wanted to listen to. Like when a podcast or music seemed like too much.
Minor details that caught my attention was the side door bin not being compartmentalized and having items I stored there roll around. And then the hidden bin at the very back end of under arm rest, being hard to access. The arm rest also didn’t lift up to reveal a hidden compartment, instead you pushed to release cupholders at its end. You have the option of one or two, where each cup holder held your item tight with rubber prongs.
The turn signals didn’t have any pushback so outside of the tick and ticks you couldn’t be sure that you really activated it. Similarly the release of them felt just as flimsy.
This model has a moonroof, which was nice but no ability to shut it, should the weather prove too hot and you want to escape the sun. Although this model does have a cargo rack secured on top and this did block out some of the heat with its black rods.
In short, another well crafted vehicle by Volvo with so much more to discover, and help you to better appreciate your drive.
