A less expensive Volvo EX30 is now on the menu, but it’s still $40K-plus.
If you’ve followed the market for the past few years, “electric car” and “cheap” aren’t words that are typically mentioned in the same sentence. That was a major criticism of the fun-but-flawed Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance I reviewed a couple months ago. For the 2026 model year, though, Volvo has (sort of) addressed the price issue with a less expensive Single Motor version. Here’s the rub: It’s not the $35K-ish SUV the automaker originally promised.
The reason why becomes evident once you wander over to Volvo’s configurator website. There’s no “Core” trim, which is the car Volvo said would cost about $36,145 once it arrived in the U.S., including destination. Clearly, that option is no longer available here, though the automaker could potentially bring it in at some point down the road, much like Tesla plans to imminently launch a cut-price Model Y.
As it stands right now, the least expensive 2026 Volvo EX30 is now the Single Motor Plus, which carries a price tag of $40,245 including destination. For that, you get a rear-wheel drive electric SUV with 268 horsepower on tap, and an EPA-estimated range of 261 miles. That is a slightly better result than the Twin Motor’s 253 miles, though you do lose 154 horsepower in the process. The Single Motor’s 0-60 time also comes in at 5.4 seconds (per Volvo’s official figures), rather than 3.4 seconds. For the all-weather buyers out there, eliminating the front motor obviously means no all-wheel drive, either.
The Single Motor’s inclusion in the lineup chops $6,000 off the EX30’s base price, if you don’t need the beefier AWD powertrain.
The Plus trim is the only available option for the RWD model, including a panoramic roof and adaptive cruise control among its standard equipment. If you want the Ultra’s features like Park Pilot Assist, a 360-degree camera and Volvo’s Pilot Assist semi-autonomous driving system, you’ll have to get the Twin Motor powertrain (bringing the price up to $47,495).
That said, at least there is a cheaper option now, as Volvo was supposed to launch this car last year. The EX30 as a whole was shunted back to a 2025 launch, and now we’ll finally see the Single Motor for 2026. Since it’s built in Belgium, Volvo’s tiny electric SUV was never eligible for the federal EV tax credit in the first place. Since that’s gone anyway, however, $40,245 is your baseline unless the automaker or individual dealers decide to put some cash on the hood.
The EX30 Cross Country — a Twin Motor-only model with more rugged stying cues — is still available and costs $49,445.
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