On the inside, the EX30 seems a bit mean in its second-row practicality considering the platform it shares with the more spacious Smart #1, but it offers plenty of room up front, and a cleverly conjured premium ambience. Even lower-trim-level versions use unusual but appealing materials across the fascia and doors, and bake in plenty of solid material quality via the few physical controls that do appear.
There are some neat storage solutions, too: a slide-out twin cupholder up front, a shallow covered device tray between the front seats, and a lower centre console area that can be access from both the front and back row, with an insert than can removed, passed around, or cleaned.
Onto that touchscreen. Thanks to ‘over the air’ software updates, it’s a work in progress, says Volvo (aren’t they all?) - and later in 2024, when software v.20 comes along having been informed by lots of lovely customer usability data, it'll be subject to significant imprpvement. And yet, between displaying everything from navigation mapping to your selected audio playlist, a digital speedo, trip computer data, and more besides, it’ll always have a hell of a lot to do. That means it can indeed be distracting to use, because at least some functions you need fairly routinely have to be buried two- and three menus deep.
You get better at navigating its complexity, I found; but never so good that a simple thing like changing the sensitivity of the rain-sensing wipers, for example, can be achieved without activating the car’s default-on driver monitoring system, which bongs if your gaze is off the road for longer than five seconds. Clearly, your gaze shouldn’t need to be diverted for so long - never mind diverted for a second time while you figure out how to turn the blasted monitoring off, and get back to fiddling with the thing you were after in the first place.
But so much, more or less, is about where many new cars are with this kind of technology right now, and probably not something to single out Volvo for particular criticism on; but it's a divisive area. For one tester, the EX30's touchscreen control concept was beyond frustrating, and borderline unusuable. But another suggested, if Volvo had only included a good head-up display, the whole execution might have bugged him a lot less.
There are still some physical secondary controls here, after all. The EX30's left-hand column stalk deals with indicators and wipers; the right stalk is the gearshift, but also toggles on and off Volvo's 'Pilot Assist' semi-autonomous cruise control. Steering wheel buttons control audio, and there's also a multi-function one you can use to disable the car's speed limit buzzer, if you choose to.
Everything else is operated via the central touchscreen: headlights and foglights (two menus away from the home screen); wiper sensitivity; glovebox opening (on the home screen); door mirror adjustment (two menus away); climate control (one push for temperatures, a different push for circulation/demisting); heated seats (on one of these menus, but which one? Exciting!); audio (push once for volume, once again for detailed volumes, and the separate apps menu for source); driver assistance systems (these, at least, are only one step away) and one-pedal driving. You get the idea.
When static, you can learn it. When in motion, it is more distracting than many will prefer, and never really becomes as quick or easy as flicking a physical button would be. No greater offender, perhaps, than plenty of rival systems we could mention; but not a great look for a brand as safety-focussed as Volvo.
Most manufacturers are sensing the temperature on this trend and starting to back out it: Volkswagen has admitted being stung by criticism of its systems and is widely improving them for top-level usability, Skoda has promised rotary controllers, Renault some years ago said that retaining physical controls for climate control was a “mature” decision.
