Volvo EX30 battery charging recall

Chunckyfood

I need help to reject my Volvo EX30 which I have on PCP finance with VCFSUK. I bought the car new in Mary 2024 and have had serious technical issues since Nov 24 which were all highlighted to the finance company the local dealer. This car was released to market far too early before it was tested and it was clear early on there were deep rooted technical/software issues. There have been multiple times when the car has gone into black out whilst driving and also locked us out of the vehicle miles from home. We are still experiencing technical issues and have photos to prove the errors but in December 2025 Volvo also issued a battery recall advising EX30 owners not to charge the cars beyond 70% due to serious risk of fire, also advising cars not to be left unattended whilst charging ( the risk is very serious). Now we are in May and we are currently awaiting a response from the motor ombudsman but not holding our breath but we really need some help and advice to get the car rejected through the finance company, it is clear this car is not what we thought we were purchasing!

sheenas

Rejecting the car is one route. With the Finance companies agreement you can sell the car into the trade without buying another car. Basically webuyanycar or carwow are two example of companies that will buy your car. Any money over the settlement values goes to you.

born_again

Might be better if you can afford to buy a new car & sell your current car to them as P/X.

Arunmor

Who is going to buy a car that is subject to recall that is affected by a global safety recall due to a high-voltage battery cell defect that risks overheating and fire and from what the OP is saying a host of other issues?

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81995929#Comment_81995929

Some dealer may make a offer. Volvo might be best one, as if they are not interested. It is a poor reflection on the brand.

If you don't ask, you'll never know 👍

Goudy

I've been following this issue for a few months as I know someone with a similar car/problem.

It turns out there are iffy battery cells within the battery pack of earlier cars and everyone knows it.

Geely who own Volvo tried to sue the battery maker (Sunwoda), but the cells were actually supplied via a subsidiary company owned by Geely themselves. Plus the battery plant it's self is a joint venture between the two, so lots of finger pointing has been going on when it comes to which parts were used and who designed the batteries.

This has lead to a bit of a stale mate in parts supply, so the fix hasn't been straight forward, but Volvo/Geely have been very poor in communicating with owners which never helps.

From what I understand, dealer technicians have now been trained to swap out effected batteries and new batteries are on there way.

Trouble now is batteries are on a slow boat from China as lithium doesn't fly and there are over 10,000 cars in the UK that are waiting just like you.

mavenmim

I could have written this OP.

I've been trying to reject the vehicle under the finance terms since I found out this was possible in May. The minimum settlement is £21k, but there is good legal precedent that this is the baseline and would involve a car that functioned as described for the full 3 years. I've not even had a single month without problems, and it has had similar issues to the OP.

The battery recall has cost me about £200/month in extra charging away from home, and made the car not fulfil the only condition I had when I bought it - being able to do 250 miles in one charge. It is now functionally limited to about 115 miles between charges. On top of that it has had a series of electrical and software problems, including cutting all acceleration on the outside lane of the M1, and the reversing camera has been faulty since February (independent inspector VCFS sent said it was an inherent fault and on them to fix, but they've done nothing).

I've written 14 complaints to VCFS, several to the dealership, several to Volvo and everyone passes the buck to someone else. The battery recall has been in place for 9 months and they've done nothing to compensate me or resolve the problem. Communication has been dire.

I'm about an inch short of just dumping it on the forecourt of the dealer from which I bought it. Which is a shame, as it is nearly a really good car - if the service didn't suck and the software glitches were ironed out and the range was as advertised I wouldn't be complaining at all, as it is a comfortable drive with pleasant styling.

born_again

You re aware the WLTP is not a manufacture claimed range & Volvo have a disclaimer about this on their website.

QrizB

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82157984#Comment_82157984

Being told you can only use 70% of your battery without a risk of the car catching fire isn't what Volvo are referring to, though.

https://insideevs.com/news/788072/volvo-recall-ex30-fire-risk/

"Yes WLTP range is over 250 miles but for the test we used the top 30% of the battery that the customer will be told not to use" isn't really going to cut it.

paul_c123

Its nothing to do with WLTP figures, its all to do with a battery defect which presents a fire risk if the car is charged more than 70%. The result is, that a valid claim under CRA2015 is easy because the car is not as described.

Have you raised the issue with Volvo Cars Financial Service? They have 8 weeks to respond, then it can be escalated to the FOS. Avenues which others have been successful on are significant reduction of monthly fee, or unwinding the contract completely. Do you have the £200 public charging credit, as an interim settlement?

The franchise dealers can't do much, there's a huge backlog and they simply don't have enough batteries, or staff, to fit them.

born_again

When ford had a issue with PHEV battery, it took them 2 years to sort. They did compensate owners. Although it took time to sort that out.