As I mentioned in last week’s profile of a not-terrible General Motors electric vehicle, the world of EVs is going to get a few reality checks in the United States this fall as diminishing state and federal incentives drastically cut into their appeal.

In a parallel universe, my advice for big American car companies would have been to let the Chinese build their EVs — as they are doing successfully, and inexpensively — and import those vehicles, saving billions in development costs, until battery technology improves. Such has not been their strategy.

Meanwhile, the Chinese-owned, Swedish-based Volvo unfortunately gets a double whammy in 2025 with its new EX30 compact EV, this week’s featured vehicle. The early model I drove, not unlike the early builds of the Polestar 3, is entirely made in China, though production of the EX30 began in Belgium in April. 

Sadly, a Chinese-owned, European-made car is still the living embodiment of current, still unresolved tariff battles — though maybe they’ll eventually retool the factory in South Carolina to make the EX30 as well as the Polestar.

If all of that’s not enough to make your head spin, the tiny, blisteringly fast EX30 SUV certainly will, as it’s unbelievably the fastest-accelerating vehicle Volvo has ever produced, and made me consistently lightheaded as I drove it to its physical limits. Or, every time I looked at its giddy, Big Bird/tennis ball-styled Moss Yellow paint job.

That is because this very compact EV is currently only available in its highest-output configuration, a two-motor, 422-horsepower setup that officially allows the little all-wheel-drive vehicle to do 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, but probably even real-world faster than that. (This one, the Ultra grade, was $48,395, including destination charges.)

Consider that the 495-hp eighth-generation Corvette Stingray, minus performance package upgrades, is in that tenths-of-a-second ballpark, and it’s kind of mind-blower. Especially as this is a 4,200-pound, 167-inch urban commuter car with a full back seat and almost 58 cubic feet of storage under its rear hatch, if you drop the denim-upholstered rear seats.

The EX30 essentially functions as what would be a Polestar 0.75 in their numeric lineup, in that it is entirely controlled by one central touchscreen and so delightfully futuristic-modern that it makes everything else but the Korean and Rivian/Lucid EVs look old fashioned.

It took me a while to mentally recompute that I was not actually in a 2000s Smart Car — I think the color had that psychological — and the reality that you’d almost be able to get full-sized adults in the rear seat for an hour or two.

Given that the total range is also only 253 miles max in this current high-power model (and just 228 miles at the 90% state of charge I got it to at a low-watt ChargePoint station), you’re not going to be hauling your in-laws to Vegas in the EX30. But you could certainly make them violently carsick while exploring the unbridled power. 

Charming and expressive outside with animated LED lighting, the EX30’s interior character is truly otherworldly, from its oblong-shaped steering wheel to the total lack of driver’s-side instrumentation. You need to glance sideways to actually see how fast you’re going, as that and any other information, as well as all of the controls, are contained on the vertically oriented 12.3-inch touchscreen. 

Some are easy to access on the fly, but a higher-performance AWD setting or even fan controls are of course a two-or-three screen process, so the safety vs. convenience factor becomes negligible. The side mirrors and even the central glove box are also screen controlled.

Cabin design is equally curious, including a pop-to-slide cupholder that spits out of the center armrest – which itself also holds two window controls, and needs to be switched to roll down the rear windows. Slap your own hand if you think that’s a good idea.

The net effect is a cool-looking, wickedly speedy, unfortunately low-range vehicle that’s not inexpensive, but will gain more usable range in a less mountain-friendly front-wheel-drive, single-motor version, somewhere down the line. 

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.