Volvo plans to use Chinese tech to lower production costs for electric cars as part of its price-cutting plan
Published by The team in News the 09/05/2023 at 19:55
Volvo is gradually following in the footsteps of its subsidiary Polestar by developing a range of fully electric cars. The Volvo XC40 was the Swedish brand's first zero-emission model, followed by the C40. More recently, Gothenburg's electric flagship, the Volvo EX90 , has also hit the roads.
The next vehicle to join this electric family will be a B-segment city SUV, named Volvo EX30 . His presentation is scheduled for June 7.
DNA shared with Smart and Zeekr
Even before its presentation, the appearance of Volvo's new SUV was already known, because the brand had released a teaser timidly showing its exterior design. Additionally, his patent images were recently leaked and published by Cochespias.
This all-new SUV is set to fill a void in Volvo's lineup left several years ago by the demise of the Volvo C30. Since compact cars are not as popular as they used to be, Volvo decided to focus on SUVs, which have become in high demand lately.
The EX30 will be positioned below the XC40 Electric Recharge and will be based on Geely's Sustainable Experience Architecture-Entry ( SEA ) platform for compact vehicles, meaning it will be quite similar in size to its cousin, the Smart #1, and will probably be about 4.30 meters long.
Geely's Zeekr X , another electric SUV, uses the same platform as the Chinese Smart #1 model. The latter has twin propellers that produce up to 272bhp, meaning the Volvo EX30 could potentially use this same engine, although that would make it more powerful than its big brother, the Volvo XC40, which only has a single 231 hp engine in its basic version.
If Volvo shares the same engines as the Smart #1, it could also offer a more powerful version with the 428 hp of the Smart #1 Brabus. In both cases, the vehicle would be equipped with a 66 kWh lithium-ion battery (62 kWh net) which offers a range of 420 km for the 272 hp version and 400 km for the 428 hp version.
Volvo has claimed that it will be priced competitively, and the Smart #1 meets this condition by being offered for sale from 42,100 euros, and from 49,600 euros for the 428 horsepower Brabus version. In comparison, the Zeekr X is sold from the equivalent of 25,000 euros in China.
The selling price of the Volvo XC40 Electric Recharge is 48,275 euros, which means that the Volvo EX30 should be cheaper. However, we will have to wait to confirm this hypothesis.
