Living With It: 2025 Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance [Update]

Car reviews

 Posted September 20, 2025

By: Gareth Dean

It’s not just the powertrain on our long-term Volvo EX30 that’s innovative – the connected features are decidedly handy, too.

[Update 2]

• Time spent: 02/03 months
• Distance covered: 4 446 km
• Average energy consumption: 19.7 kWh/100 km
• We like: Convenience of having your car’s location and health at your fingertips
• We don’t like: Unlined glovebox sends contents skidding when cornering

Vehicle connectivity isn’t the exclusive preserve of the Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance – there are numerous cars currently on the market that allow you to tap into their workings via your smartphone – but it’s a feature of which all too many of us are either uncomfortable or unfamiliar. But hooking the EX30 into your phone does unlock some decidedly useful features.

How do you go about it?

First up, it’s a case of downloading the Volvo EX30 app from your respective Google Play Store/Apple app Store and then registering your EX30 on the app via a simple step-by-step process that involves email verification and scanning a QR code here and there. It doesn’t take long and, once you’re logged in, you can dig into some really useful features.

Your EX30’s health at your fingertips

The app is broken down into five basic sections. The first is a home screen showing a graphic of the car and some of the more commonly requested information. From here you can remotely lock or unlock the car, activate the climate control to heat or cool the cabin ahead of your journey (including a scheduling option) and you can also see the state of your car’s battery and the operating range you have left.

The where…

Next up is the GPS-enabled tracking system. This uses a Google Maps plug-in to show your car’s location at any time. It also has sub-settings that can locate parking and charging stations in your area, as well as a function that (with the associated setting up) can link a charging payment method to your app, saving you the hassle of fishing out a card each time you plug your EX30 in to charge.

…and the what’s going on

The car icon at the middle of the lower screen brings up a number of helpful features that helps you keep tabs on your car’s status. For those using their EX30 for business (or just those curious as to their average energy consumption, and comings and goings) the driving journal provides a detailed history of your car’s travels – which includes a Google Maps timeline of your journey, distance travelled, time travelled and how much energy you used. This can then be separated into private, business and other subsets, so you can trace your spending and mileage. This page also shows an overview of your odometer, average energy consumption, battery health and mechanical status (tyres, lights etc.).

Sharing (your EX30) is caring

This second screen also plays host to a handy feature that allows you to share your car with another person registered on the Volvo app. Say, for example, you want to leave your car somewhere and have a friend meet you, you can send them a code to access and drive your car for a set period. The recipient then uses the permission code and their phone’s NFC to open and drive the car. You can also lock the glovebox using a PIN that you can also share with your friend should you choose to do so. It’s a handy little extra, but we do wish Volvo had fitted some matting or a non-slip surface to the base of the glovebox, as your keys and other less-grippy objects tend to be sent scuffing around when making use of the EX30’s plentiful acceleration.

Otherwise, our long-term Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance continues to acquit itself admirably. Resisting the urge to partake in full-bore acceleration runs has seen the average energy consumption drop from just over 21 kWh/100 km to a more palatable 19.7, and the Pilot Assist (semi-autonomous cruise control using camera and LiDAR) has proved a boon on the numerous motorway trips to Cape Town and back.

[Update 1]

We try out some of the value-added extras Volvo is offering its EV customers to see how they elevate the electric motoring experience.

• Time spent: 01/03 months
• Distance covered: 1 344 km
• Average energy consumption: 20.3 kWh/100 km
• We like: Value-added package takes the sting out of EV running costs for a couple of years
• We don’t like: Although cheaper, that AC charging is decidedly slow

Aside from discussions about operating range, the largest talking point surrounding any EV has to be charging – where it can be done, how much it costs, and how it ties into the ownership proposition. This is especially relevant to South Africa, where the government doesn’t incentivise EV ownership with sweeteners such as tax breaks or purchase assistance schemes. It’s with this in mind that Volvo’s value-added EV package becomes something of a boon.

What does the package involve?

It’s a sort of three-parter that covers charging your car at home and through the public charging network, as well as getting the most out of the feature-rich, Google-based infotainment system. This bouquet of features is offered to the buyers of all new Volvo EV models for 2025.

Chipping in for public charging

Perhaps the most intriguing value-added extra is the inclusion of a GridCars-linked voucher loaded with R12 000 and valid for 24 months. This contactless card can be used at any of the 250 Rubicon and 350 Gridcars AC and DC charging stations throughout South Africa. Public AC charging is slower, taking around 4 hours to top up the battery from a 22 kW facility and costing around R5 per kWh, equating to a 10-80% charge costing around R300.

A similar charge from a more powerful DC charging station can be done in as little as 40 minutes, but you pay around R7 for the convenience, taking the cost up to around R435. The majority of the EX30’s charging has been done at a local 150 kW DC station, with one 18% charge taking place at a 22 kW AC station in Stellenbosch. This means the EX30’s first 1 344 km has cost R1 496.61 – working out to R1.11 per km. Had the charging taken place at a 22 kW AC station, the cost would have been a more palatable R1 086.75, or R0.81 per km. This is comparable with most four-cylinder ICE cars, and will no doubt be the reason that the next value-added extra is of particular interest to buyers.

Taking the sting out of home charging

Those looking to get the best value out of charging their EVs know that home charging solutions, while not the quickest, are the most cost-effective solutions out there. To this end, Volvo’s value package includes a R7 500 installation allowance for a three-phase AC wallbox at the owner’s home. To give some idea of the savings, domestic electricity costs sit at around R3.91 for an average-use household, meaning that a full charge would cost around R240-250. It would, however, take around eight hours.

Data? Done

The EX30’s iCUP infotainment system incorporates numerous online services sitting under the Google umbrella, essentially acting as a sort of instrument panel/tablet/smartphone combination. Like an Android smartphone, it features a pared-down version of Google’s Play Store with apps suited to in-car use. These include Chrome internet browser, Google Maps, music streaming services such as YouTube Music and Spotify, as well as YouTube. The latter is particularly useful when topping up at an EV charging station where a café or shops aren’t nearby – I used mine to watch rugby highlights while the EX30 charged. Like any connected system, it of course uses data. Thankfully, Volvo’s value-added package throws in a Vodacom MiFi router loaded with 10 GB of data per month for three years.

While these value-added features aren’t quite as enticing as the tax breaks and other incentives offered to EV buyers in other global markets, they are undoubtably useful to those taking the step towards electric motoring. In the next update, we’ll take a look at some of the handy connected technologies featured in the Volvo EX30.

[Introduction]

The arrival of the Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance in our long-term fleet brings with it an injection of electrified pace, as well as a wealth of innovative features.

• Time spent: 01/03 months
• Distance covered: 904 km
• Average energy consumption: 22.6 kWh/100 km
• We like: Rocketship straight-line performance; futuristic execution; useful technology
• We don’t like: Resisting the temptation to utilise that performance at the expense of energy consumption; small boot

Given just how much is going on with the Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance that’s just joined our long-term test fleet, it’s little wonder that getting started on the coverage had me in a bit of a kid-in-a-candy store-style quandary. Granted, the fact that our testing saw this range-topping model crack the 0-100 km/h sprint in just 3.69 seconds – a hair quicker than the Porsche 911 Carrera we tested in our 2025 Performance issue – is a noteworthy achievement, but it’s just one of the facets of a car that’s simply brimming with fascinating easter eggs. This is why we’re embarking on a regular series of online updates about the Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance; taking everything from its use of recycled materials and convenient technologies to the interesting ownership proposition served up by Volvo’s value-added extras such as two years of public charging and three years of data for the Google-based infotainment system.

The Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance sits at the head of a three-model lineup, alongside the R835 500 Single Motor, with its claimed 344 km range, and the R968 400 Single Motor Extended Range, which is good for a claimed 476 km. As the name suggests, the Twin Motor features electric motors on the front and rear axles that serve up 315 kW and 543 N.m, along with a claimed operating range of 460 km. This powerplant has so far proven to be both pleasingly smooth and serene in round-town driving, but the availability of that near-instant torque and power has been a double-edged sword. While sweeping past slow-moving traffic with an ease few high-performance cars can match (not to mention the odd sneaky ‘launch’ on deserted roads) is addictive, it has meant the average energy consumption has tracked a considerable way above Volvo’s 15 kWh/100 km claim…some restraint on my part is clearly called for.

While standard specification across the EX30 range is generous, this Ultra model is particularly well-stocked. Alongside niceties such as a panoramic sunroof, 20-inch rims and a Harman Kardon audio system with a dash-spanning speaker array, it also plays host to the likes of Pilot Assist (semi-autonomous cruise control with lane-changing assist) and Digital key plus (an app that allows you to access and start the car using your smartphone), among many others that we’ll cover in more depth later. The only black marks against the Volvo EX30 Ultra Twin Motor Performance so far are a paucity of rear legroom and a diminutive 192-litre boot, although the latter is aided by an underfloor compartment that houses the charging cables and has some oddment space, too.

Keeping the EX30 charged hasn’t been too much of a chore, with around five EV charging stations within a 10 km radius of my workplace in Somerset West, but longer journeys do require some planning with range and availability of charging facilities being important considerations. The most expensive charge was a 16 to 100% top-up at a 150 kW DC station that cost around R465 and took roughly 45 minutes. Volvo’s inclusion of a GridCars charging card loaded with R12 000 for 24 months is a boon in this regard, and is among the value-added extras that we’ll explore in the next update.