Volvo's EX90 is a large seven-seat luxury EV crossover that redefines its brand's future. Jonathan Crouch takes a look...

Ten Second Review

The EX90 is a large full-battery EV Crossover that takes Volvo into a new era. As the company puts it, 'it's a statement for where we are - and where we're going', combining the brand's own engineering advances with 'the best technology from the world's best technologists'. This SUV is also one of the few large super-luxury EVs to be able to seat seven. It's an ambitious statement of intent from the Sino-Swedish brand.

Background

What does the future really look like for large luxury cars? Various brands have told us, but none of them are approaching that future quite like Volvo, the company proudly styling itself as 'a pioneer in the protection of people and planet'. A claim embodied most clearly in this, it's very first EV to sit on a dedicated electric platform, the EX90. Ultimately, this will be the replacement for the XC90 large SUV model line that saved Volvo at the turn-of-the-century, though that combustion model will continue for several years yet. The future for flagship Volvos though, lies with EVs produced off the parent Geely Group's advanced SPA2 architecture, a platform already used by the EX90's close cousin, the Polestar 3, which shares the same drive system and much else. The EX90 differs from that car though, by its provision of three seating rows. And in its standard (rather than optional) inclusion of the so-called 'Lidar' package of sensors and cameras that Volvo claims will deliver a whole new era of safety and pave the way to a safer solution for fully autonomous driving. The car will be built at the company's US plant in Charleston - and eventually at Chengdu in China too, with both plants rated carbon neutral.

Driving Experience

The powertrain on offer here is of the Twin Motor All-Wheel Drive sort, with a choice of two output levels. Standard models offer 402bhp, while 'Performance' variants up that to 510bhp. In both cases, power comes from a 111kWh battery, which delivers a range of 364 miles in the base model and 360 miles in the 'Performance' version. Lower-powered variants will follow and as with all Volvos, top speed is limited to 112mph. The 62mph from rest sprint takes 5.9s in the base Twin Motor model, improved to 4.9s by the 'Performance' version. All of this we've seen before in the Polestar 3. The EX90 though, gets a standard feature that is only optional on that car, the 'Lidar sensor'. That gives you a combination of powerful silicon chips, sensors and Volvo-developed perception software so powerful that the brand refers to it as 'a digital seatbelt'. And promises it'll reduce accidents involving death and serious injury by 20%. The Lidar sensor also provides everything necessary for this Volvo to drive itself fully autonomously, as soon as worldwide legislation permits it. We've heard that before of course, but Volvo wasn't sure that earlier autonomous drive systems could match its exacting safety standards. So it's developed its own autonomous drive set-up, with a completely new level of hardware, software and processing power; including Nvidia processors and Qualcomm CPUs combining to process up to 280 trillion operations per second. Forget performance figures: these are the kinds of stats that are really going to matter in luxury cars going forward. This one nails them more directly than any rival has done to date.

Design and Build

As you might expect, the EX90 takes established Volvo EV styling cues and applies them to a car that's significantly larger and more sophisticated. Much is borrowed from the 'Concept Recharge' study that the brand showed in 2021, with elements of Range Rover in the upright rear lights. At 5,037mm long, the EX90's not far off the size of one of those, a fraction longer, wider and lower than the current XC90. A prominent 'Lidar sensor' sits on the leading edge of the roof, looking like an off-duty taxi light but actually housing a bewildering array of cameras and sensors. Up-front at the wheel, minimalism takes over. Just about all the switchgear has been replaced by a Tesla-like 14.5-inch central portrait touchscreen. It runs at two and a half times the speed of the one in the XC90 and has all the major controls along its bottom bar. Materials used mirror Volvo's usual Scandinavian vibe, with jewel-like detailing and a 3D rotary controller sitting almost alone on the lower centre console. There's no conventional instrument binnacle - just a letterbox-shaped digital screen: and the lever-style gear selector has been mounted on the steering column. Much of the interior functionality will be based around a profile created for you the day you order the car. So your EX90 will know in advance things like your preferred temperature and control settings - and will greet you with a light sequence as you approach. Unlike its close cousin the Polestar 3, this Volvo is a seven-seater - a proper one nearly big enough for adults in the third row (unlike Tesla's rival Model X). The middle row bench does all the usual slidey-foldy things. And there's a reasonably-sized 655-litre boot, provided you can fold the third row seating. If you can't, there's 310-litres of space on offer: it's 1,915-litres with everything folded.

Market and Model

The EX90 badge might sound like a chemical formula but the pricing sounds very SUVIP. And is predictably expensive, with two versions initially available, both only offered with top 'Ultra' trim. The base Twin Motor model is priced from £96,255 (or from £1,599 a month on subscription). The faster Twin Motor 'Performance' model costs £100,555 - or £1,669 a month. Future lower-powered versions will be pitched at around the £75,000 mark. For reference, the closely related Polestar 3 (a five rather than a seven-seater) is priced from around £80,000, but that's for models without the 'Lidar' safety sensor package, which Polestar charges extra for. Still, you get an awful lot for that - certainly in terms of media connectivity thanks to a combination of Snapdragon computing power and the 'Unreal Engine 5 graphics' tech lately used by the gaming industry. Infotainment benefits from over-the-air updates and is based on an evolution of the company's Google software. It includes a variety of Google apps and offers 5G connectivity, along with the usual wireless 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto' compatibility. There's a thumping Bowers and Wilkins Dolby Atmos-enabled stereo system. And customers will be able to open their EX90 from their smartphone using a digital key. Away from media stuff, 'Ultra' trim gets you air suspension, a panoramic glass roof, 4-Zone climate control, a cabin air purifier, soft-close doors, pixel LED headlights, a driver attention monitor and the 'Lidar' camera and sensor system we've talked about elsewhere in this review. You might hope for leather upholstery from a car of this price, but that wouldn't be very eco-friendly, so instead the seats are clad in recycled fabric.

Cost of Ownership

We gave you the EV driving range figures in our 'Driving' section - 364 miles for the standard Twin Motor version and 360 miles for the 'Performance' variant. Both are aided by a relatively sleek shape for such a boxy SUV, with a drag coefficient of 0.29Cd. Volvo says that the 111kWh battery pack (107kWh usable) has an operating voltage of around 800 volts. The battery can be charged at 250kW, which makes possible a 10-80% charge in around half an hour. But you'll probably be using a range of different public chargers, so the brand has developed a multi-high-speed charging system that allows switching between 800 volt and 400 volt outputs. Volvo promises that its app will give owners access to an 'ecosystem' of services, which will include public charging stations and smart home charging management. The latter will support owners with a home 'powerbox' linked both to the car and roof-mounted solar panels. This EX90 will also support a plug-in charge system for public charge points which will automatically start charging the car and will sort payment for you when it's plugged into a compatible charger. In addition, the Swedish maker has developed this and other future EVs with bi-directional vehicle-to-grid compatibility, which allows the EX90 to power home appliances, electronics and even top up other EVs using the energy stored in its battery pack. The power output for bi-directional charging is set at 20kW. This is also one of the most eco-friendly cars Volvo has ever made. Over 15% of its steel is recycled, as is 25% of its aluminium. And 15% of the plastics used by the car are from recycled sources, which means 48kg of recycled plastics in every EX90. Other rivals better these figures though and the company doesn't expect complete carbon neutrality for its cars until 2040.

Summary

For Volvo, this EX90 isn't just a new model. It represents the start of a new era. CEO Jim Rowan describes it as 'a defining moment in our 95 year history'. On the face of things, the brand is simply replicating the rest of the industry in its switch to EV and its move towards fully autonomous driving. The transition here though, seems a little different. Volvo isn't simply adding batteries and camera tech to ongoing designs: it's re-inventing its whole product development approach around the fresh technology. Something very evident in this EX90. We can only hope the company will be just as good at doing that at more affordable price points than this: the EX90's near six-figure asking price will put it out of reach of the mainstream market. But those who want to carry seven in a full-EV that isn't a People Carrier don't have many more credible options than this just at present. And in this Volvo, they'll find that unique selling point packaged up in a very complete proposition indeed.