Electric Calm.Mountain Wild.
Some journeys don’t begin with a key twist or an engine roar.They begin with a pause. Kochi does that to you. The air is heavy, palms sway without urgency, and even the traffic feels mildly philosophical. It’s a city that doesn’t ask where you’re going – it asks how fast you plan to get there. And for this episode of Viral Excapés, the answer was simple: not fast at all. Because when Volvo hands you the all-electric EX30, the idea isn’t to rush. It’s to glide.
Rolling out of Kochi, the first thing you notice is the silence. Not the awkward kind – the good kind. The kind where conversations don’t compete with engine noise and playlists don’t need to overpower anything. EVs don’t shout for attention; they whisper confidence. Gaurav, aka Tech Guruji, summed it up perfectly somewhere between a toll booth and a coffee stop: “Electricity goes inside – happiness comes outside.” Science. Pure science.
As the city gives way to greener stretches, the road begins to coil, gently at first, then with intent. This is where the EX30 shows its personality. Compact, alert, and surprisingly playful. Instant torque means you don’t plan overtakes – you just think about them. The steering feels light but precise, the car darts into bends like it’s enjoying the exercise, and suddenly you realise this isn’t just an EV built for cities. It’s an EV that likes corners. And Kerala has plenty of those. For a purist who loves driving, this combination – the EX30 and a road full of curves – is borderline lethal. And just when the pace picks up, Volvo’s trademark safety net steps in – a cocoon of cameras and ultrasonic sensors constantly scanning the road, traffic and surroundings, quietly making sure enthusiasm never turns into excess.
The climb towards Munnar isn’t about speed. It’s about rhythm. One bend leads to another, waterfalls appear like unplanned VFX shots, and every few kilometres someone says, “Stop the car, this view is mad.” The EX30 doesn’t interrupt that flow. It adapts. Regenerative braking works quietly in the background, traction stays sorted even when the road gets damp, and the car feels composed without ever feeling clinical. In fact, we had this wild idea to stage a race. Gaurav and I took the EX30, while Isha and Ekta went zip-lining for a 1.5 km run. The men won. Naturally.
What followed was a heated credit debate. Gaurav claimed it was his navigation skills. I bragged about my driving finesse. The truth? The EX30 did about 85 percent of the work – thanks to its handling, acceleration, and braking. Inside, the vibe shifts completely. Scandinavian minimalism meets Kerala calm. Clean lines. No clutter. Materials that don’t scream luxury but quietly justify it. Recycled denim, PET bottles, aluminium – it’s part of the cabin’s personality. In fact, the EX30 is the most sustainable Volvo car ever made! Ekta called it “meditation-room-meets-luxury,” which roughly translates to: I could shoot reels here all day and still feel emotionally balanced.
Somewhere near a waterfall stop – shoes wet, outfits questioned, phones instantly out – it hit us. The EX30 fits this landscape not because it’s powerful, but because it’s respectful. No noise. No drama. Just presence. Volvo’s idea of luxury here isn’t excess; it’s restraint. As we moved deeper into Munnar, tea estates began rolling into the horizon like green waves frozen in time. Mist floated past at its own pace. Conversations slowed down. Network dropped. And suddenly, nobody cared. As the road unwound, the Harman Kardon immersive soundbar delivered a rich, balanced soundstage – proof that in the EX30, luxury is something you hear as much as you see.
“No notifications – mental fast charging,” Guruji declared, accidentally becoming a poet. Isha Rekki immediately noted the date and time of this rare one-liner. Now let’s talk about range anxiety – or rather, the lack of it. That conversation never really happened. Because on trips like this, planning becomes part of the pleasure. With an impressive 480km WLTP-certified range, sensible charging stops and a route that encourages pauses anyway, the EX30 feels perfectly judged. You stop not because you must, but because the place asks you to.
Kundala Dam was one such stop. Calm water, soft light, and the kind of silence that makes even overthinkers relax. Park the EX30 there and it doesn’t dominate the scene. It belongs to it. Compact enough to stay humble, modern enough to feel relevant. By sunset, parked near a viewpoint overlooking endless tea gardens, cups of chai in hand, it all came together. Munnar isn’t loud. It doesn’t try to impress you. It simply exists, confidently – much like the EX30.
This car isn’t about flexing specs, even though they’re solid. It’s about fitting into moments – misty mornings, winding roads, long pauses, laughter inside a quiet cabin, and the feeling that you’ve arrived without being drained. The Volvo EX30 doesn’t try to be the hero of the story. It lets the journey be one. And yes, we did have its elder brother, the Volvo XC90, trailing along the entire way. But despite the luxury of a seven-seat cocoon, we kept bargaining to stay inside the EX30.
The XC90, clearly, deserves another escape of its own.