Volvo CEO: Electric cars enhance Cross Country appeal

MILAN — Appealing as the new Volvo EX30 is in standard guise, it’s the upcoming Cross Country version that’s got my interest piqued. Volvo hasn’t introduced a new Cross Country model since the V60 was revealed in 2018, and the company has never applied this treatment to one of its SUVs (though may we never forget the 2015 S60 Cross Country sedan).

"I really like the idea of having the Cross Country as part of the brand," Volvo Cars CEO, Jim Rowan, said in an interview Wednesday. Rowan declined to comment on Volvo's plans to expand the Cross Country lineup further, but did talk about why a car with an outdoorsy vibe totally makes sense as an EV.

"When you have a fully electric car ... you open that tailgate, you stick a tent on the back of it [and] you use the HVAC system to heat or cool the car," Rowan said. "You can run a small fridge off of it, you can charge an electric bike off of it. You can do a whole bunch of stuff that you could never do because you've now got this massive electric power source that you never had."

Of course, that's all dependent on your ability to charge your car at or near your desired remote getaway spot. EV chargers are still a rarity at many national parks, though that's quickly changing.