2025 Volvo EX30 vs. 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Review

2025 Volvo EX30 Ultra ・ Photo by Brady Holt

In Europe, the Volvo EX30 was last year’s No. 3 best-selling vehicle. This electric crossover SUV took the market by storm for bringing a high-end Volvo experience and gas-free efficiency to a relatively low price. That was the plan for the U.S., too. But ever-shifting tariff policies have haunted the EX30. 

The Swedish carmaker Volvo first launched EX30 production in China, home to its Geely parent company. Stiff import duties sent Volvo scrambling to line up an alternative, and it chose a factory in Belgium. Then the United States hit European autos with a big tariff hike of their own. 

So America’s EX30 isn’t cheap – at least not yet. But is it worth the money even at a higher price? For this review, we’ve tested the all-new EX30 and another popular electric crossover, the newly updated 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5. Keep reading as we explore how these two EVs compare in eight categories, then choose our overall winner.  

Pricing and Features

Volvo is a luxury brand, and we just mentioned that tariffs have dinged the EX30’s value prospect for the U.S. market. And yet, the EX30 still has more features for the money than the Ioniq 5. 

The Volvo does have a slightly higher starting price than the Hyundai. For now, the base model is the Plus Twin Motor, which starts at $44,900. The other option is the Ultra, $46,695, which adds a surround-view parking camera and a couple of advanced driver aids like automatic parking. 

These EX30s cost a little more than a base Ioniq 5 ($42,600). But both the Plus and Ultra are nearly loaded luxury models with all-wheel drive, a panoramic sunroof, a Harman Kardon premium stereo, GPS navigation, a power liftgate, a wireless smartphone charger, and the ability to use your phone as a key. All of these add-ons cost extra on the Ioniq 5, with the cheapest AWD model costing $50,050 – still without those other EX30 options. (Volvo originally promised to sell rear-wheel-drive EX30s with fewer amenities costing as little as $35,000, but tariffs keep pushing back those lower-margin options.) 

The Ioniq 5 does have some exclusive features. These include ventilated leatherette upholstery (every EX30 has heated but not cooled fabric upholstery) and blind-spot cameras. Also, if you act before the end of September, the U.S.-built Ioniq 5 qualifies for a $7,500 federal tax credit. But the EX30 otherwise has a lower sticker price than an equivalent Ioniq 5. 

Winner: Volvo EX30

2025 Volvo EX30 Ultra ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Exterior Design

In terms of size, the EX30 is more similar to the subcompact Hyundai Kona Electric than the Ioniq 5 that we’ve used for this comparison. We made this choice for two reasons. One, the Ioniq 5 comes closer to the EX30’s premium experience. And two, our research found that more people are cross-shopping these two. 

The EX30’s tiny size is most apparent in person. At 167 inches long, it’s shorter than a Volkswagen Golf GTI hatchback. This is a cute city-friendly ride – fitting easily into tight spaces and standing out from big, bulky SUVs around it. But it’s overflowing with personality, from its intricately decorated headlights and taillights, to its proportionally huge 19-inch wheels, to our test vehicle’s cheerful Moss Yellow paint. 

The Ioniq 5 is bigger. At 183 inches, it’s about the length of a Toyota RAV4. But it’s also shaped more like a hatchback than a tall, upright SUV. Angular styling details keep it from looking like a Tesla-style transportation pod, but the low roof keeps this crossover aerodynamic. Nifty details like creased body panels and slim headlights and taillights also keep the Ioniq 5 looking interesting.

You’ll choose your styling winner between the smaller, curvier Volvo and bigger, more angular Hyundai.

Winner: Tie 

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Styling and Quality

The EX30 demonstrates that small cars don’t have to feel cheap inside. This little Volvo is beautifully finished, with a simple aesthetic that feels clean and refreshing more than austere. Clever touches include slim vertical climate vents that hug the central touchscreen and sides of the dashboard, along with interior door handles that emerge organically from a strip of trim. Cupholders can slide out from the center console bin, and Volvo keeps the window switches and door locks on the console for a cleaner look. There are no buttons or knobs on the dashboard, either, and no speedometer display behind the steering wheel – just a single central touchscreen. We’ll talk shortly about ease of use, but the EX30’s interior is stylish and premium. 

The Ioniq 5’s cabin is more businesslike. Its upright, blocky dash is put together well, but it has few premium touches. Its screens stretch horizontally from behind the steering wheel to the center of the dashboard, which some people will prefer over the narrow, vertical Volvo touchscreen. But subjective aesthetic preferences aside, the EX30 has the more richly finished cabin. 

Winner: Volvo EX30

2025 Volvo EX30 Ultra ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Infotainment and Controls

Now, about those controls. The Volvo’s sleek minimalism looks cool, but while driving, we wished for simplicity instead. The EX30 squeezes all its functions and displays into its 12.3-inch central touchscreen – from GPS maps, the audio system, and climate controls to the speedometer, range indicator, and clock. The result is that it’s harder to quickly operate the former and to quickly see the latter. You’re either diving through menus or squinting at tiny fonts, or both. 

Our test vehicle also suffered from a couple of glitches. In a minor niggle, the climate system occasionally displayed only Celsius temperatures. In a more major one, the car stopped recognizing its keys and had to be towed to a Volvo dealer for a battery reset. Even troubleshooting this problem was more challenging because the EX30 has no buttons on its keyfob, to say nothing of a physical metal emergency key. 

So even if we didn’t find the Ioniq 5 interior as charming as the EX30’s, we certainly appreciated its conventional control layout. You get a full-sized gauge cluster to keep an eye on your speed and driving range. You get buttons and knobs to make quick adjustments to the audio and climate systems. You get four power-window switches on the driver’s door, one for each window. The keyfob has buttons on it. And while our experience is limited to a week with each vehicle, our Ioniq 5 never needed a tow truck. 

Nor is the Ioniq 5 a stodgy old-school car. Its big screens (12.3 inches for the gauge cluster, 12.3 inches for the central touchscreen) and optional phone-as-a-key capability keep it part of this decade. It just doesn’t ignore the past’s best practices. 

Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Range and Charging

With its standard twin-motor AWD system, the EX30 travels an EPA-estimated 253 miles per charge while averaging the energy equivalent of 109 miles per gallon. We were on track to achieve a little less than that – 245 miles, based on our calculations. 

The Ioniq 5 can go much farther. The base rear-wheel-drive standard-range model goes an EPA-estimated 245 miles, and the high-performance Ioniq 5 N has an EPA-estimated range of just 221 miles. But most of the lineup goes 318 miles with rear-wheel drive and 269 to 290 miles with all-wheel drive (depending on the wheel size). Our Limited AWD with big 20-inch wheels has an EPA-estimated range of 269 miles, but we blew past that. We drove 234 miles and still had a 25 percent charge, with a computer-estimated 81 miles of range remaining. That comes to roughly 320 miles. We also achieved 3.9 miles per kilowatt-hour, which works to 131 MPGe – once again crushing its EPA estimate of 96 MPGe. (Other Ioniq 5 models span from 78 MPGe for the N to about 115 MPGe for the rear-drive models in EPA testing.)

The Ioniq 5 also adds back your range faster than the EX30. It needs just 20 minutes to get from a 10 percent charge to 80 percent using a DC fast-charging station. You can also fill up using a 240-volt car charger, like you’d install in your garage or find in some public charging stations, in 7.5 hours. The Volvo, meanwhile, needs 26 minutes to get from 10 percent to 80 percent – even as that time gets you fewer miles of range than the Hyundai. It takes about 6.5 hours on a 240-volt charger, reflecting the Volvo’s smaller battery. 

Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Acceleration

The EX30 was originally going to hit the U.S. market with two versions. One is the car we tested, the wildly quick twin-motor AWD model. It makes 422 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, and it whips the little Volvo to 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds – faster than most sports cars. Floor the accelerator and this little car scrabbles for traction and rockets itself forward at an incredible speed. It sometimes lurched or surged as we tried to accelerate gently, though. 

Volvo hasn’t yet launched the rear-wheel-drive single-motor EX30 in the U.S. With 268 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque, it will need a still-speedy 5.1 seconds to hit 60 mph. Some drivers would miss the Corvette-chasing thrills of the AWD model, but we suspect this speed would actually feel more natural and manageable in everyday driving. 

The Ioniq 5, meanwhile, typically has 225 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque with rear-wheel drive and 320 hp and 446 lb-ft of torque with all-wheel drive. Figure needing about 7.5 seconds to hit 60 mph with rear-drive and 4.5 seconds with AWD. It’s not scary-fast like the Volvo on full throttle, but this is smooth, quick, and quiet speed. And AWD models are still fast by most automotive standards. (The Ioniq 5 with the standard-range battery is also less powerful, while the elite Ioniq 5 N – costing $66,000 – has 641 hp, 568 lb-ft of torque, and a 0-60 sprint in as little as 3 seconds.) 

For the heart of their lineups, the Ioniq 5 is plenty quick but the EX30 is the speed demon of this matchup. 

Winner: Volvo EX30 

2025 Volvo EX30 Ultra ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Ride and Handling

The Ioniq 5 and EX30 aren’t just quick. They’re also agile and fun to drive on a winding road. As you might expect, the smaller EX30 dives more eagerly through gaps in city traffic. And when you root through the touchscreen, you can adjust its steering firmness – requesting more resistance when you’re hustling around corners or less if you’d like to take things easy. However, while the EX30 is steady and composed on smooth roads, its suspension felt stiff over bumps. 

The Ioniq 5 has a smoother, more comfortable ride. True, you feel it’s bigger than the pint-sized Volvo, and the steering doesn’t respond quite as fast unless you go all-out with the N model. But it’s natural and easy to drive, and it behaves well on a twisty road, too. And if you do go for the N, you’ve bought an all-out track star. 

Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5 

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Passenger and Cargo Space

We’ve mentioned that the EX30 is one of the smallest cars on sale in the U.S. And you feel that from inside the cabin. The driver and front passenger get plenty of space on uncommonly comfortable seats (unless you hate fabric upholstery). But unless the front seats move well forward, rear passengers have their knees pressed into the seatbacks. Volvo quotes just 14.1 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat, which would be less than you’d find behind the third row of a Volvo XC90. In the rear world, the EX30 has an advantage – there’s more space to spread your stuff on the floor, even if you can’t stack as high to the ceiling. But this is a modest space. The rear seat folds down, but you need to remove the head restraints or they’ll smack against the front seatbacks. Volvo quotes a modest total cargo capacity of 32 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. 

The Ioniq 5 is a roomy, functional family car. The front seats aren’t as magical as the EX30’s, though we did appreciate our test car’s ventilated seats on warm days. But the rear seat has genuine adult-friendly stretch-out space. And we have no reason to doubt Hyundai’s quoted cargo specs: 27.2 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 59.3 cubic feet with the rear seat folded down. That’s less room than a gas-powered crossover like the Toyota RAV4 or Hyundai’s own Tucson, but it’s a lot more than the EX30. 

Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt

Final Thoughts

The original promise of the Volvo EX30 was that it would be inexpensive. And at a $35,000 starting price, its appeal versus the Hyundai Ioniq 5 would be a lot broader. 

There’s still a lot to like about the EX30 in its current form. It’s fast, fun, and fancy – all while it still costs less than a comparably equipped Ioniq 5. 

But Hyundai nails the qualities that resonate with more buyers. When you’re looking for leading EV qualities, the Ioniq 5 goes farther and then recharges faster. When you want a practical family car, it has a bigger backseat and more cargo room. And when you just want to get in and drive, it has a smoother ride and much simpler controls. 

The EX30 is an appealing entry in a small niche – a relatively affordable city-sized luxury performance EV. But the Ioniq 5 has broader appeal. It does more things right and fewer things wrong. 

Winner: Hyundai Ioniq 5

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Limited ・ Photo by Brady Holt