Our Volvo EX30 Is an Absolute Tech Nightmare

• Our 2025 Volvo EX30's tech makes living with this car impossible.
• Even using an automatic car wash is a hassle.
• I swear I'm not a technophobe.

This history makes me that much more frustrated with the 2025 Volvo EX30 in our One-Year Road Test fleet. On paper, I should like this little EV, and I'll admit it's nice to drive. The range is fine for an around-town car like this, and it has enough power to make knowledgeable Porsche drivers look the other way at stoplight drag races. The tidy exterior dimensions make it perfect for city living. I love the seats, and the cargo space is better than you'd think for something you can probably three-point turn inside a two-car garage. The problem is the tech.

Austere to a fault

Volvo's interior aesthetic has increasingly leaned toward austerity in recent years, but it goes too far with the EX30. Volvo's war on buttons has reduced clicky things to the point where nearly everything goes through the slow-reacting touchscreen, and the handful of remaining physical controls are weird. For example, the switches to open and close the rear windows are the same as the fronts; there's a button to toggle which set of windows they control. The tech gets in the way of nearly everything you need to do with the EX30, making even a simple car wash a hassle.

I just wanted to wash it

I needed to get the Volvo cleaned up after some recent rain, so I took it to my local automated drive-through car wash. Like many EV makers, Volvo recommends using "car wash mode" to optimize the car's systems for the deluge of soapy water. Unfortunately, Volvo doesn't make it easy. First, tap the car icon at the bottom of the screen, then tap Settings, then Controls, then Car modes, then Car Wash mode, then finally tap Start on the Car Wash mode screen. That folds the mirrors, shuts off the automatic wipers, and suspends safety systems like parking sensors and automatic braking. 

I pulled up onto the conveyor belt and put the car in neutral. The EX30's gear selector stalk is on the right side of the steering wheel. There's an "N" for neutral, but instead of a simple half-click like on a Mercedes-Benz, you have to hold it in that position for a couple of seconds without clicking it into reverse or drive until it indicates neutral. A little weird, but I gave the thumbs-up to the car wash attendant to start the conveyor belt.

But instead of rolling along, the conveyor belt bumped under the Volvo's tires as the EX30 stood its ground like a toddler having a tantrum. It turns out the car's automatic parking brake had engaged at some point, even though it was in Car Wash mode. This was a new one, and of course, there's no physical button to engage or disengage the parking brake. The attendant shut down the whole wash as I searched the car's Help menu, my face hot with embarrassment and anger. Turns out, to shut off the parking brake, you tap the brake pedal. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, and with the car wash attendant staring at me like I had brain damage, the car was finally free rolling and headed to the wash tunnel. It's funny now, but at the time, I fogged the windows with frustrated profanity.

Watch the road, and never blink

Safety is important to Volvo's reputation, and the EX30 features a decent suite of driver aids. Thankfully, turning them on is a simple button on the steering wheel, which is pretty typical for modern cars.

What isn't typical is how Volvo forces nearly all driver's aid adjustments into the touchscreen. If you don't like the aggressive lane keeping assistance or if you want to adjust your following distance when using active cruise control, you have to dig into the touchscreen, taking your eyes off the road. 

That invariably triggers the overly sensitive driver monitor camera. It sits atop the steering column, watching your face to make sure you're looking at the road. And boy, is it ever strict, throwing an alert at the slightest glance away from the road. When you need to fiddle with the touchscreen, you'll get an alert. Even glancing at my watch got an alert. Most absurd, when holding a long turn on a curvy road, the system alerts you to watch the road because the camera is blocked by the steering wheel. I mean, come on. 

More buttons, please

A driver monitor system double-checking your awareness isn't inherently a bad idea. But if it's so sensitive that it goes off when you turn the steering wheel, you're eventually going to ignore it, meaning you're less likely to pay attention when it does its job for real. Compounding the problem is that with so many basic features buried in the screen, you'll have to take your eyes off the road from time to time just to operate the car. 

I'm happy to embrace new technology when it improves our lives, but this Volvo does the opposite. Sure, EX30 owners would eventually learn the car's quirks, but no quirk-comfort will change the silly driver monitor behavior. Tesla's everything-in-the-screen design ethos also bothers me, but at least it's easier to use, with things like Car Wash mode just a couple taps away on a Model 3.

There's a simple solution: Bring back buttons. BMW has a touchscreen-heavy interface but still provides buttons that instantly pull up commonly accessed features, such as changing driver's aid settings. So, Volvo, if you're listening, start with a few extra buttons. Heck, even the Model 3 has separate switches for the rear windows.