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2025 Volvo EX30 revealed: quick, cute EV at $36K

MILAN — The Volvo EX30 seems like a relatively straightforward EV. But dig a little deeper and you'll find this electric crossover is kind of a big deal. Making its debut in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday, the 2025 EX30 is Volvo's smallest SUV, yet it's also the company's quickest production car ever — by a long shot. Priced from $36,145 including an $1,195 destination charge, the EX30 will be the least expensive model in Volvo's U.S. lineup when it arrives next year. It'll even spawn Volvo's first fully electric Cross Country offering, which we can't wait to see. The EX30's styling cues are pulled straight from the larger EX90 electric SUV, giving it a tough-li'l-guy vibe that's both cute and purposeful. I love the pronounced wheel arches and the two-tone look. You can totally see how, with more ground clearance and some cladding, this EV will easily morph into the EX30 Cross Country that's coming next year. At 166.7 inches long, 72.3 inches wide and 61.1 inches tall, the EX30 is seriously small — about the same size as a Hyundai Kona — giving it a healthy amount of daylight from Volvo's larger, more expensive XC40 Recharge. The upright dimensions will no doubt help with headroom for front and rear passengers, and Volvo says there's 31.9 cubic feet of cargo space, which is good but not great for this class. Step inside the EX30 and the first thing you'll notice is that the SUV's digital real estate is limited to a single central screen, powered by Google software. Absolutely everything looks to be buried in the screen — except for things like the wiper controls, thank goodness — but I'm hopeful that Volvo learned from Tesla's mistakes and keeps the control layout relatively simple. There seems to be a fixed row of climate control icons along the bottom of the vertical display, at least. Five different ambient lighting themes will be offered, which shift in color, "adding a sense of calm," according to Volvo. In typical Scandinavian fashion, the EX30's cabin is super handsome, crafted with sustainable materials that look and feel premium. When it arrives in the U.S., the EX30 will be offered with two powertrain options, both of which rely on a 69-kilowatt-hour cobalt-lithium-manganese-nickel composite battery, 64 kWh of which is usable. The base model, called Single Motor Extended Range, will have a rear-wheel-drive layout and produce 268 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. Volvo expects this version to have a range of 275 miles on the U.S.

2014 Volvo XC60 scooped before launch

A Chinese automotive site has snagged the first spy shots of the updated Volvo XC60, completely uncovered. While the overall profile of the vehicle remains intact, the headlights are heavily revised. Gone are the two-piece units, which featured the separate light strip between the main cluster and the grille. In place now are larger lenses, somewhat reminiscent of those found on the S60 sedan. Also updated is the grille, which gets a little wider to meet the new headlights. The grille receives more chrome, while the lower front fascia has been revised with wider openings. A pair of LED fog lights are pushed way out to the corners.
Out back, the license plate holder gets a bold chrome strip above it, and the recessed exhaust is replaced with chromed, dual exhaust outlets that have been integrated into the bottom of the rear bumper.
Inside, the instrument panel has been revised, with a large, centrally mounted speedo, featuring a digital display in the center. According to reports, this is a similar setup to that of the new V40. As such, it appears that the changes are thoughtful efforts to move the XC60 forward by incorporating the most current Volvo design elements.

IIHS updates overlap test: 2 SUVs get good marks, 9 fare poorly

Vehicles in crashes keep occupants safe by deforming around the cabin in a way that maintains cabin integrity. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's moderate overlap test, introduced in 1995, has been a huge contributor to improved safety for front-row passengers in a crash. IIHS President David Harkey said, "Thanks to automakers’ improvements, drivers in most vehicles are nearly 50% less likely to be killed in a frontal crash today than they were 25 years ago." In the 'unintentional side effects' column, crash safety has gotten worse for passengers in the back seats. When carmakers reengineered the front crash structure to protect the driver, more crash forces got distributed throughout the rear. IIHS research claims rear passengers have a 46% greater risk of fatal injury than front-row passengers, but back-seaters haven't benefited from the same upgrades in safety as the front row. The IIHS updated its moderate overlap test to address the issue, putting 15 vehicles through the new regime. Two earned good ratings — the 2023 Ford Escape and the 2021-2023 Volvo XC40 — one was acceptable, three were marginal and nine were rated poor. Every one of the crossovers sampled got good marks for all passengers in the original test. That test sees 40% of vehicle's width on the driver's side impacting an aluminum honeycomb barrier at 40 miles per hour. The updated test puts a crash dummy representing small woman or 12-year-old child in the seat behind the driver, the dummy's sensors and grease paint measuring the effectiveness of the restraints and the forces a human body would need to endure. To achieve a good rating, the "measurements must not exceed limits indicating excessive risk of injury to the head, neck, chest, abdomen or thigh." An institute engineer said, "In real-world crashes, chest injuries are the most common serious rear-seat injuries for adults." The sensors and video evidence showed back seat dummies in the Escape and XC40 endured minimal risk of injuries from excessive crash forces, from submarining under the seat belt, or from unwanted interaction with the side curtain airbag.   The Toyota RAV4 scored acceptable. The second-row dummy also endured minimal risk of injury to the chest and lower extremities. However, the lap belt slipped upward in a way that could increase abdominal injuries, and after the dummy's head dipped during crash impact, the head came back up between the rear curtain airbag and rear window.