Driven: 2026 Volvo EX30 Cross Country

In the midst of rising fuel prices, the plug-in hybrid, hybrid and all-electric revolution in Australia has gained a much-increased momentum in recent months as a matter of necessity.

Understandably, car buyers are seeking out ways to reduce – or avoid altogether – being financially punished at the bowser.

One option to consider is the EX30 Cross Country is a new-ish adventure-focussed top-shelf variant in Volvo’s small electric SUV line-up.

This five-seat compact cross-over has a dual-motor electric set-up, all-wheel drive, raised suspension, more ground clearance than a regular EX30 and an exterior that more than hints at its off-road aspirations. 

How much potential does this Cross Country have as a daily driver and an all-wheel drive adventure machine?

How much does the Volvo EX30 Cross Country cost?

The Volvo EX30 Cross Country is top of the range in the three-variant EX30 range and it has a manufacturer suggested list price of $69,990*. It’s the best variant in the range if you’re keen to travel beyond the bitumen. For reference sake, at time of writing, the 2026 Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range Plus is $59,990 (excluding on-road costs) and the Extended Range Ultra is $66,290 (excluding on-road costs). (* Price correct at time of writing.)

What features do you get in the Volvo EX30 Cross Country?

Standard features include a 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and over-the-air software updates), wireless charging, AWD, three driving modes, a Harman Kardon stereo with front sound-bar, 360-degree camera, semi-autonomous parking assist, and 19-inch alloy wheels.

It has LED headlights and tail-lights, a digital key (Bluetooth phone unlocking), heated steering wheel, power tailgate and a fixed panoramic glass roof (but no sliding cover so your head does get roasted unless you’re wearing a hat inside the car).

For off-roading it has a Performance drive mode (which optimises all-wheel drive), Hill Descent Control, and front and rear skid plates.

Exterior paint choices include Cloud Blue, Crystal White, Onyx Black, Vapour Grey and Sand Dune.

This Cross Country is 4233mm long (with a 2650mm wheelbase), 1850mm wide, and 1567mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 1910kg.

It’s a slick-looking compact SUV with lots of hints at its off-road aspirations, including raised suspension so it perches higher off the deck than its regular EX30 stablemates (190mm of ground clearance). It has dark-coloured front and rear body panelling, dark wheel-arch extensions (built to cop any loose gravel or dirt while all-wheel driving on well-maintained bush tracks), and if you get on the ground to check, front and rear skid-plates.

Quirky touches include an impression on the front bumper section of a topographical map depicting the highest mountain range in Sweden (as well as the apparent co-ordinates to that location), and interesting doodles under the lid of the front boot – what I like to call the “froot”, whereas if you have US leanings, you might call it the frunk (front trunk).

The Cross Country has a fixed-in-place panoramic glass roof that has no sliding cover built into the ceiling and I’m not a big fan of having my noggin exposed to the sun all of the time.

The driver does not get a traditional digital driver’s display but the centrally located, vertically mounted 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system offers wireless Apple CarPlay as well as pretty much every control and gauge you could wish for and, as driver, you quickly get used to checking that screen for your current speed etc. It also offers a way to open the glove box (that sits below the screen) and quick ways to switch off driver-assist aids, such as Lane Departure Warning and the Driver Alert System, which could otherwise be a bit annoying. Unfortunately, you have to switch off those systems every time you get back in the car.

The screen is where you’re also able to cycle through drive modes, vehicle settings and the like.

The front seats are power-adjustable set-ups and they are heated but not ventilated.

There is plenty of durable plastic inside the cabin as well as a denim-like material (or “tailored wool blend” seat upholstery, according to Volvo) and soft-touch surfaces. 

In terms of space, well, as befitting a compact SUV, there’s not a lot of it.

The aforementioned glove box is small, there’s no centre console (only sliding cup holders above, and a narrow receptacle below with a wireless charging pad), the door pockets are narrow and shallow, and second-row passengers don’t fare too well either.

It’s squeezy back there and there’s few amenities: no fold-down arm-rest with cup-holders, no directional air vents and that aforementioned panoramic glass roof doesn’t have a sliding cover so those in the front and back cop the full brunt of the summer sun. I can vouch for the ouch too because I had this Cross Country during NSW's record-high summer temps and suffered a roasting. That’s about the only circumstance – no sunroof cover and extreme heat – in which it’s okay for someone to wear a hat while driving.

In terms of storage, with both rows in use, there’s a listed 318L of cargo volume in the rear cargo area and 1000L when the second row is stowed away. The rear cargo area has a light and bag hooks and there’s a charging cable and tyre-repair kit* in the shallow underfloor storage space. (* It’s well worth noting at this point that this vehicle – despite being marketed as an all-wheel drive vehicle with adventure potential – doesn’t have any spare tyre onboard.)

At the front of the Cross Country, there is seven litres of cargo volume in the froot (front boot).

What is the Volvo EX30 Cross Country like to drive?

The EX30 Cross Country has a twin-motor electric set-up, producing a combined 315kW and 543Nm. It has a single-speed transmission and a 69kWh battery.

This compact, all-electric SUV has a ton of power and torque from the get-go and it is fast: it can do 0 to 100km/h in a claimed 3.7 seconds.

Drive modes include Standard, Performance (taps into all-wheel drive and is the preferred mode for light off-roading), and Range (defaults to rear-wheel drive to get most out of battery).

It does not have any off-road driving modes – like Sand, Mud or Snow – but it does have Hill Descent Control. 

It has a listed driving range of 417km (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicles Test Procedure) on a full charge.

This all-electric SUV has a ton of power and torque from the get-go. It’s impressive on almost all surfaces.

It has listed kerb weight of 1910kg and a turning circle of 11m, and this is a highly manoeuvrable vehicle.

The driving position is at best low and sporty, and there’s adequate visibility, even though it is pinched in places, especially looking back towards the rear of the vehicle.

This is a smooth and refined compact SUV, and it really is nice to drive on road and off.

The Cross Country does punch well above its weight in terms of power and torque and throttle response is great – it even errs on the side of a little bit too energetic – but steering is precise, the transmission is slick and the brakes have plenty of sharp bite. 

You’re able to dial through driving characteristics on the main screen if you need to change things, if you need to cycle through the drive modes – Standard, Range and Performance. Performance is a key mode when you hit the dirt because that fully engages all-wheel drive. It optimises that all-wheel drive system and gives you that sure-footedness on looser surfaces. Range is aimed at optimising the vehicle’s energy efficiency, and Standard is not too bad for general day-to-day driving conditions.

When you do get off road, it handles minor corrugations well. It also deals with deeper, more severe potholes reasonably well. It’s pleasantly surprising that it stays so settled and composed while you're going through some lumpy and bumpy stuff. 

The Cross Country is not an off-road animal as such. It can handle things when the road surface becomes a little bit trickier – when the situation becomes a little bit more traction-compromised than you may normally face. But with limited ground clearance – even if it’s 19mm higher off the ground than the regular EX30 (for a total of 190mm) – the Cross Country is not a rock-crawling beast. 

It doesn't have any off-road driving modes. It does have hill-descent control, but that's really for mild inclines, mild downhills where it has to hold a safer speed than it may otherwise achieve. 

In terms of dimensions, it's not that well set up for off-roading – you don't want to take this anywhere near four-wheel-drive only terrain. But having said that, it is more than capable of handling light to moderate off-road conditions – mild corrugations, some deeper potholes here and there, loose gravel, loose stones, those sorts of things – it can cope with quite well. In fact, there's no reason why you can't drive this vehicle on well-maintained tracks in dry conditions to your favourite campsite in a national park. And even if the road or track surface is a bit slippery, this is an all-wheel-drive system engineered to cope with those sorts of conditions. 

The suspension set-up – Macpherson strut front and  Multi-link rear – is well suited to on-road driving. And while the Cross Country does tend to feel a little bit firm in places, it remains composed and settled when things become lumpier and bumpier, say, for instance on dirt tracks and gravel roads. 

Its raised suspension (compared to the regular EX30) is on the firm side of things and it does become a jittery – but not too much – when the track becomes more corrugated and less well-maintained, but otherwise it is generally well settled, well composed and ride and handling is nicely controlled.

This Volvo’s towing capacity is 1600kg. 

Its all-season tyres – Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance SUV (235/50R19) – are on 19-inch rims and that’s not a package well suited to off-roading of any kind, really. There’s always the option of swapping them for some all terrain tyres on an 18-inch rim and that combination will instantly make this Cross Country even better for mild to moderate off-roading. 

Official energy consumption is listed as 19.1kWh/100km.

On this test, I recorded 18.4kWh/100km.

The EX30 Cross Country has a 69kWh battery and, according to Volvo, can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in as little as 30 minutes on a fast 175kW DC charger.

It took me about 18 hours to get it from 20 to 80 percent on a household socket (16 amp/3.6kW).

Official driving range is “up to 417km (WLTP)”.

The Volvo EX30 Cross Country has the maximum five-star ANCAP rating from testing in 2024.

It scored 35.27 out of 40 (88%) for Adult Occupant Protection, 42.03 out of 49 (85%) for Child Occupant Protection, 50.36 out of 63 (79%) for Vulnerable Road User Protection, and 14.48 out of 18 (80%) for Safety Assist (includes AEB, driver monitoring and lane support system).

As standard, it has seven airbags and a comprehensive suite of driver-assist tech including AEB (with Pedestrian, Vehicle, Large Animals and Cyclist Detection), Lane Departure Warning (intrusive in operation, but easy to switch off), Driver Alert System (also over-reactive but easy to switch off), Adaptive Cruise Control, Hill Descent Control, a 360-degree camera (with a 3D view), and a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System.

The Volvo EX30 Cross Country is covered by a five-year/unlimited km warranty, and an eight-year/160,000km warranty applies to the battery set-up.

Five years of roadside assistance is available at no cost.

A five-year/150,000km servicing plan applies and is free. Servicing appointments are set for every 24 months/30,000km, whichever occurs soonest.    

Volvo Group Australia has more than 40 dealerships as well as numerous Volvo-approved workshops across the country.

Is the Volvo EX30 Cross Country any good?

There’s a lot to like about the Volvo EX30 Cross Country. It’s an impressive AWD EV: nice to drive, comfortable and offers the extra driver confidence that an AWD system brings.

It also looks good, has a decent stack of features onboard and has plenty of appeal for owners, especially in terms of servicing costs.

As an EV tourer, it has a reasonable driving range and offers enough in terms of AWD flexibility to appeal those people who may like the idea of an all-electric adventure machine.

But it is small, has limited off-road capability, and pricing is high for what it offers.