Volvo has revealed its all-new EX90, an electric seven-seat SUV that replaces the XC90 and becomes the company’s new flagship model.
Unveiled in Stockholm today, the EX90 has a range of up to a claimed 600 km (372 miles) and at launch will be powered by two electric motors fed by a large, 111 kWh battery pack.
Volvo says the EX90 can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in “under 30 minutes,” and the total power output of the dual-motor version of the EX90 is 380 kW (517 horsepower). Combined with 910 Nm of torque, the EX90 is expected to be a rocketship of a seven-seater – although Volvo is yet to reveal all of the car’s performance statistics, and has instead said more about the its technology and safety systems.
As you might have noticed from the lead image, the EX90 has a Lidar sensor on the front of its roof, capable of seeing small objects hundreds of metres down the road, Volvo says. This, along with cameras and radars, feeds data to the car’s Nvidia Drive system to create a real-time, 360-degree view of the car’s surroundings.
The car has Volvo’s Pilot Assistant semi-autonomous system, and also packs a new eye gaze monitoring system that helps the car recognise if the driver is distracted or drowsy. Volvo says the system will at first softly nudge the driver to help them regain concentration, before becoming more insistent if they fail to do so. If the driver falls asleep or suffers a medical emergency while driving, the car will bring itself to a stop and call for help.
Volvo has fitted the EX90 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms system, along with graphics created using the Unreal Engine, a 3D tool developed by Epic Games and used in the modelling of video games like Fortnite and Sea of Thieves. These graphics appear on a pair of displays; one sits behind the steering wheel and the other, measuring 15 inches, is fixed to the dashboard and runs the car’s infotainment system.
Like those of the Polestar 2 and Volvo XC40 Recharge, the EX90’s infotainment is built on Google’s Android Automotive and features native support for Google Maps, Spotify and voice controls via the Google Assistant. Wireless Apple CarPlay is also available.
The EX90 has its own 5G connection for streaming music and installing applications from Google’s Play store, and the Dolby Atmos-equipped, 25-speaker sound system is provided by British audio firm Bowers & Wilkins.
Lastly, as far as technology goes, the EX90 comes as standard with a system for using your smartphone as a key. Once everything is set up, you simply walk up to the car and it’ll recognise your phone, then start a “personal welcoming sequence,” Volvo says, before loading up your driver profile and setting the interior to your preferred configuration.
Volvo says the EX90 is made up of approximately 15 percent recycled steels, 25 percent recycled aluminium, and 49 kg of recycled plastics and bio-based materials, which accounts for about 15 percent of all plastics used in the car.
To be built in the USA starting in 2023, followed by China at a later date, the EX90 will be followed by a new all-electric Volvo every year between now and 2030, at which point all vehicles offered by the Swedish company will be fully electric. By 2040, Volvo hopes to be a climate-neutral company.
“The Volvo EX90 is a statement for where we are, and where we are going,” said chief executive Jim Rowan. “It’s fully electric with a range of up to 600 kilometres on a single charge, designed to further raise our safety standards, the first Volvo car to be truly defined by its software and part of a wider ecosystem, connecting to your home and your other devices. The Volvo EX90 is the start of something new for Volvo Cars in many ways.”
Finally, the Volvo EX90 is equipped with bi-directional charging technology, where the car’s battery can be used to power other devices, like domestic appliances, other electric Volvos, and even your home. However, Volvo says this feature will be “available in the future, starting with selected markets.”
Also looking to the future, Volvo says the EX90 is its first car that is "hardware-ready for unsupervised driving in the future."
