Volvo EX60 just showed the world how to build an electric mid-sized SUV – a Scandinavian masterpiece on wheels

Volvo have continued to impress with its transition to electric vehicles, and none more so than with the Volvo EX60. While the flagship EX90 and ES90 models are exceptional cars, the EX60 is arguably the company’s most important release.

As of June 2025, the XC60 became the best-selling car in Volvo’s 99-year history, with 2.7 million units sold. As the electric successor to this mid-sized SUV, the EX60 has big shoes to fill.

I took one of the first models in the UK out on the roads of Somerset to see how it drives. The good news is that it really impressed me, and despite this being a very crowded section of the market, it could be one of my favourite mid-sized SUVs to date.

Developing a new best seller

The company spent three years developing the EX60, including research with owners of Volvo’s first generation of electric vehicles, the EX40 and EC40. The goal was to create a vehicle with no compromises.

It needed to remove the stress and inconvenience of electric cars by eliminating range anxiety, while keeping the price comparable to the XC60 plug-in hybrid option – often considered a safer bet than pure electrics.

The new vehicle moves away from the traditional engine-centric architecture and is instead built on a new third-generation scalable platform architecture (SPA). Battery technology has been developed in-house, and the entire vehicle is engineered and built in Volvo’s home country of Sweden.

Importantly, this has allowed the flagship P12 version of the EX60 to break the 500-mile range barrier, with a 503 total range figure. Meanwhile, smaller battery versions offer 380 miles from the P6 and 400+ from the P10.

There’s no shortage of tech on board, as its central computer is powered by Nvidia, and its entertainment system is running on Qualcomm hardware in partnership with Google. This has allowed a deep integration of Google Gemini within the car, providing natural language conversations as well as contextual navigation and discovery – so it can say, ‘turn right after the blue car’, or you can ask, ‘what is that building in front of me?’

Price and availability

Starting from £56,860, the EX60 is only £90 more than the XC60 plug-in hybrid model. However, you can pick up the mild hybrid for just £49,860. There are two trim levels: the Plus and the Ultra, and three powertrains.

The base model is the P6, which is rear-wheel-drive with an 83kWh battery, while the P10, starting from £59,860 is all-wheel-drive with a 95kWh battery and the flagship P12, with that 500+ mile range, which starts from £64,860, is also AWD and has a 117kWh battery.

There’s currently no US pricing for the EX60.

Interior

While the outside of the EX60 is very classy, it’s the inside that really impresses. That Scandinavian minimalism is beautifully finished with light grey wood and charcoal textures. There’s a couple of areas of piano black plastic, such as around the B&W central tweeter, but not a lot.

The centre screen is a large 15.04-inch OLED display, gently curved to make it softer and more a part of the surroundings, with just a crystal rolling dial and two buttons for media control below it. If anything, these stand out, as they don’t quite fit the rest of the aesthetic.

That means that, as on previous models, everything from the climate control to the wing mirrors and steering wheel settings is through the main screen. If you’re someone who likes to make these adjustments on the move, that can be a little annoying. Climate controls are readily available along the bottom of the screen, but wing mirrors and fan positions take a couple of presses to find.

Perhaps more interesting, though, is the driver display, an 11.4-inch long thin screen that sits closer to the windscreen than most driver screens. The aim here is to work more like a head-up display, allowing the driver to keep a focus on the road, rather than down inside the car. And it actually works really well.

While it’s not quite as convenient as a HUD in the windscreen, you can keep your focus out further, and I certainly found I spent less time looking at the centre screen than I would on some other cars.

Bose speakers feature on the Plus model but the Ultra version of the EX60 features a Bowers & Wilkins audio system, complete with 28 speakers and 1,820W of power. This is the biggest system we’ve seen in any of the Volvos to date, both in terms of number of speakers and power. It includes speakers in the headrests, so you can isolate audio for just the driver or passenger if required, though for the full effect it’s best to use all the speakers, as it sounds stunning.

Driving experience

Though the car is indeed spacious, it doesn’t appear to have bloated in quite the same way as other mid-sized SUVs. In that way, it still feels relatively compact on the road, so even driving down small country lanes, I didn’t feel it was particularly wide (maybe helped by the fact that the car I had been driving the day before was exceptionally wide).

The steering wheel is quite small and light, with a squared-off top and bottom, which makes it appear more compact. It does provide the adaptive cruise control functions on the left and media controls on the right, with two thumb-stick controls.

As you might expect, the EX60 has plenty of power and really goes when you put your foot down. There’s the option of one-pedal driving here too, with low, high and auto settings available depending on what you prefer. Suspension is solid but still comfortable with no noticeable body roll around corners.

Overall, it’s a solid, well-put-together car that is comfortable enough for long distances but compact enough for quick trips around town.

Should I buy the Volvo EX60?

Volvo have done a great job with the EX60 and produced a car that is a worthy successor to the XC60. It’s a pleasure to drive and feels solidly made, with the safety features Volvo drivers would expect, plus some impressive tech features that you might not.

It definitely sits among the best all-electric mid-sized SUVs on the market right now, though it’s also one of the most expensive. Both the Mercedes GLC electric and BMW iX3 start from £55,495 and £56,050 respectively, and for the equivalent 500-mile-plus models, the BMW iX3 is about two grand cheaper.

There are still advantages to the Volvo though. The interior is far more pared back and clean, while the tech is just as advanced. I suspect in time this will become Volvo’s new best seller, and it will be deservedly so.