Volvo Cars is recalling more than 40,000 EX30 SUVs due to a potential battery fire risk, a month after the company first warned owners of the fully electric model about an overheating issue.
The Geely-backed, Swedish-headquartered automaker began production of the smaller SUV in late 2023, with the first customer deliveries taking place that November.
According to global data shared by Volvo, 98,065 EX30s were sold in 2024, and an additional 75,169 units were delivered last year.
Considering these figures, the recall is expected to affect about 23.4% of the total EX30s sold in the past two years — which indicates that nearly one in each five EX30s on the road could have the defect.
The recall was announced in a statement sent to Reuters on Monday.
Fire Safety Risks
Last month, Volvo told owners to limit battery charging to 70% due to overheating risks that could potentially cause fires.
It additionally told users to “park outside and away from structures”, while it developed a permanent fix to the issue.
This Monday, the automaker confirmed to Reuters that it will proceed with a recall notice to owners of the vehicles, saying it will replace the batteries free of charge.
“ We are now contacting the owners of all affected cars to advise them of next steps,” Volvo told the media outlet.
The recall affects 40,323 units of both single and dual-motor variants.
The company initially estimated that a total of 33,777 vehicles manufactured between late 2024 and late 2025 were affected by the issue.
Of these, 10,440 found in the UK, 2,815 in Australia, 40 in the US, and 143 in Singapore.
Seven units were reported to have caught fire, but no injuries had been reported thus far, Volvo stated last month.
As of press time, the recall notice filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has yet to be updated with the new information; it is unclear whether the number of vehicles affected will increase.
Costs of Battery Replacement
Reuters calculated that the new EX30 battery packs could cost about $195 million, without considering logistics and repair costs.
Responding to these calculations, Volvo said they were “speculative in nature,” adding that it was in talks with the supplier.
The batteries were made by a Geely-backed joint venture, Shandong-Geely-Sunwoda Power Battery Co.
Battery manufacturer Sunwoda recently settled on a lawsuit filed by Geely last December, after the automaker alleged the company provided it with defective battery cells between 2021 and 2023.
Geely was seeking 2.31 billion yuan ($334 million) in compensation. The two companies have agreed to settle the dispute by sharing the losses through replacement of the battery packs.
Volvo Financials
Volvo disclosed earlier this month that the company swung to a net loss during the fourth quarter of 2025, as quarterly revenue halved year over year.
CEO Håkan Samuelsson, who replaced Jim Rowan last year, attributed the results to EU-US import tariffs, the removal of US EV incentives, and pricing pressure across the industry.
In April 2025, Volvo revealed a SEK 18 billion (by then, $1.9 billion) cost and cash action plan, which included cutting 3,000 positions and deepening the automaker’s ties to its parent company Geely.
Late last year, CFO Fredrik Hansson said the planned efficiency measures were expected to improve margins by 2–3 percentage points, although he did not specify a timeline.
A key part of the cost-saving programme involves Volvo using the same software as Geely, as well as sourcing hardware from the Chinese group’s suppliers.
For 2026, Volvo Cars aims to return to full-year volume growth and generate free cash flow “clearly better” than in 2025, when full-year free cash flow amounted to SEK 2.4 billion ($265 million).
