At 6-foot-8 I am very tall, but I own a Mini Cooper S so I’m a fan of small cars with deceptively spacious interiors, and the front of the EX30’s cabin is just that. It feels open and airy thanks to the panoramic glass roof, low dashboard height, and clever center console and door card designs. I usually lower the driver’s seat as much as possible when I drive, but just for laughs I tried raising it as high as it would go, and it squished me into the glass roof, so it will be good for shorter drivers who crave that high-up seating position. From the B-pillar forward, the EX30 has acres of room, and I fell in love with its unique design. The rear seats are tight if you have long-legged folks in the front seats, and there’s no center armrest back there so it’s not the most accommodating. Luggage space is tight too, with just 11 cubic feet of space behind the second row of seats and 35 cubic feet of space with the back seats folded down. It is a subcompact crossover, after all.
Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik
Volvo’s interiors in recent years have taken a page out of IKEA’s book by introducing Swedish minimalism with clean lines and thoughtful details, but they digress from IKEA’s practices because above all they are always comfortable. Volvo has some of the best seats in the business, and the EX30 definitely inherited that gene. It was exceedingly easy for me to find a comfortable and supportive position for my lanky frame behind the wheel, and I could have sat there for hours. Volvo also does kickass sound systems, and that’s the only phrase I can use to describe the EX30’s standard 1040-watt Harman Kardon stereo. There are a couple of special design features that I need to nerd out on for a moment, though.
Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik
The EX30 has the best interior door handles of any car on sale right now, hands down. They’re beautiful solid pieces of metal that look like they belong on a the cabinets of an mid-century modern house in Palm Springs, and in an era of needless overcomplication (yes that is foreshadowing), these simple door handles are supremely satisfying to use, tap on when you’re sitting in traffic, and to look at.
I also feel compelled to shout out the door-mounted armrests. Other brands have attempted to produce armrests that look like they’re floating, but none have succeeded in looking good and feeling as good as the armrests in the EX30. There is nothing obstructing your hand from clutching the end of the armrest like you would on your grandma’s rocking chair, and for whatever reason the ability to do so makes it feel like you’re in a seriously comfortable lounge chair and not in a subcompact crossover. Other brands ought to copy this design, because I’ve never experienced anything quite like it in a car before.
Logan K. Carter/ Jalopnik
The EX30’s interior design is exceptional, from top to bottom. I’m usually personally offended when automakers use too much hard, scratchy plastic on their interiors — ahem, General Motors — but Volvo created some of the coolest looking plastics and materials I’ve ever seen on a car, let alone one at the $40,000 mark. My test car had the Indigo Pixel Knit and Nordico interior, which uses dark blue and black upholstery and accents. The hard black plastics on the underside of the dashboard and on other parts of the interior look almost like a dark engineered stone countertop, and their appearance is genuinely pleasing not just for a hard plastic, but pleasing full stop. The air vents look unlike any air vents I’ve ever seen in a car, and mercifully they’re a total breeze to adjust, unlike the screen-controlled air vents from other brands like Rivian and Tesla. If you’re into design, you’ll want to get an EX30.
