Three times SEA2
The Chinese car giant Geely was already very busy in Europe with Volvo, Polestar and Lynk & Co, among others, but is now going full steam ahead. The Volvo EX30, Zeekr X and Smart #1 share the same platform and all show great promise, but how do the three actually relate? An overview.
Geely is perhaps the smartest among the Chinese automakers. Instead of bringing a completely new car brand to Europe with great difficulty, with all the associated image-technical challenges, the company simply bought up the vast majority of Volvo shares in 2010. Volvos are still largely developed in Sweden and are therefore still the cars that many Europeans can appreciate for their design, but behind the scenes Geely pulls the strings.
Meanwhile, Geely is pushing ahead and more brands have been launched, partly thanks to the same Swedish developers. For example, it supplies Polestar EVs and we know Lynk & Co, which offers a fine plug-in hybrid with the 01 under extremely favorable conditions. Together with Mercedes – neatly 50-50 – Geely invested heavily in Smart, which reinvented itself with the #1. And then there is Zeekr, a new brand that is launching two completely new, futuristic-looking EVs on the European market with the X and the 001. In the meantime, perhaps the biggest hit comes from Volvo itself: the Volvo EX30 is a compact electric crossover that will be offered from about 37 grand and that many people are logically eagerly awaiting.
The Volvo EX30 is based on Geely’s so-called SEA2 platform. SEA stands for Sustainable Experience Architecture, the 2 indicates a certain format class. We also find the same basis under the Zeekr X and the Smart #1, which automatically share a lot of technology with the new Volvo. Surprisingly, it is not the car from the new unknown brand or the car from Smart, but the Volvo that is the cheapest of these three cars. However, there is also a side note, because that low price belongs to a version with a relatively small battery that is not (yet) available with the Zeekr and the Smart. Moreover, the Volvo appears to be the smallest. What are the other differences? We could tell you all about that, but the table below makes it more insightful than we can do in writing. Just say it: which of these three cars do you consider most promising?
| Volvo EX30 | Zeek X | Smart #1 | |
| Dimensions | 4.23×1.84×1.56m | 4.44×1.84×1.57m | 4.27×1.82×1.64m |
| Wheelbase | 2.65m | 2.75m | 2.75m |
| Luggage room v/a | 318 litres | 362 litres | 273-411 liters (sliding bench) |
| Number of electric motors | Single Engine: 1 | Long Range RWD: 1 | Pro+ & Premium: 1 |
| Twin Engine: 2 | Privilege AWD: 2 | Pulse & Brabus: 2 | |
| max. assets | Single Engine: 272 hp | Long Range RWD: 272 hp | Pro+ & Premium: 272 hp |
| Twin Motor Performance: 428 hp | Privilege AWD: 428 hp | Pulse & Brabus: 428 hp | |
| max. couple | Single Motor: 343 Nm | Long Range RWD: 343 Nm | Pro+ & Premium: 343 Nm |
| Twin Motor Performance: 543 Nm | Privilege AWD: 543 Nm | Pulse & Brabus: 543 Nm | |
| Top speed | 180km/h | 180km/h | 180km/h |
| 0-100km/h | Single Motor: 5.7 sec | Long Range RWD: 5.6 sec | Pro+ & Premium: 6.7s |
| Single Motor Extended Range: 5.4 sec | Privilege AWD: 3.8s | Pulse: 4.5s | |
| Twin Motor Performance: 3.6s | Brabus: 3.9s | ||
| Battery capacity (gross) | Single Motor: 51kWh (LFP) | 69 kWh | 66 kWh |
| Other versions: 69 kWh | |||
| Loading options | Single Motor: 11kW AC/134kW DC | 22kW AC/150kW DC | 22kW AC/150kW DC |
| Other versions: 22 kW AC/153 kW DC | |||
| Range (WLTP) | Single Motor: 344 km | Long Range RWD: 440km | Pro+ & Premium: 440km |
| Single Motor Extended Range: 480 km | Privilege AWD: 400km | Pulse & Brabus: 400 km | |
| Twin Motor Performance: 460 km | |||
| From price | €36,795 | €45,990 | €42,395 |
| (Large battery: €41,495) | |||
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl