The 2024 Volvo EX90 would be the automobile that cements the Swedish maker’s pivot into electrical automobiles for North America. Revealed to the world Wednesday morning in Stockholm, this new seven-seat crossover factors to Volvo’s absolutely electrical future whereas falling into step with the shape and performance of the gasoline XC90 SUV that redefined the model.
With three rows of seats and projected vary of as much as 300 miles, the brand new massive EV (proven right here in European trim) is the defining mannequin for Volvo within the U.S. As with the Volvo XC90, which is able to nonetheless be made in parallel with the EX90, will probably be adopted by smaller siblings that promote at decrease costs and in greater volumes—however the EX90 units the tone for what is going to comply with. Volvo says it should launch one new battery-electric car yearly, and can promote solely EVs by 2030.
Vital for U.S. patrons, the EX90 shall be inbuilt Volvo’s meeting plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, beginning subsequent yr. That meets one in every of a number of new necessities to qualify it for federal incentives underneath new guidelines adopted after the passage of the Inflation Discount Act. It’s going to even be inbuilt China. U.S. clients can configure their automobiles beginning subsequent fall, for supply early in 2024. Costs for a “well-equipped” EX90 will begin at lower than $80,000, Volvo stated.
2024 Volvo EX90
Trustworthy echo of its predecessor
The EX90 isn’t the high-end electrical transport previewed by the Volvo Idea Recharge “model manifesto” design train proven in the summertime of 2021. As an alternative, the 2024 mannequin is immediately identifiable as a giant Volvo SUV within the vein of the XC90. It’s so devoted to that trailblazing mannequin, it might nearly be a gentle refresh of that mannequin—till you look extra carefully on the particulars.
In profile, the tailgate is barely extra raked and the higher physique tapers on the rear. The now-traditional vertical taillights stay, however now they’re separated from the bracket-shaped decrease lights, that are related throughout the highest in a brand new variation on the trademark Volvo rear.
Up entrance, a clean blanking plate with the model’s massive “ironmark” emblem continues into extra swept-back corners underneath headlights with Volvo’s “Thor’s hammer” sample into the fenders. However the body-side and wheel-well sculpting faithfully echoes that of its predecessor, to the purpose the place we count on mates, neighbors, and family members to see the EX90 as the brand new mannequin of the XC90 and maybe fully miss that it’s powered by electrical energy.
Inside, three rows of seats sit underneath a full glass roof, offering headroom whereas shaving a treasured inch or two from the EX90’s aerodynamic profile. The central tablet-style touchscreen in is bigger, at 14.5 inches, and there are fewer knobs and buttons on the sprint itself. We’ll wait to drive the EX90 earlier than we weigh in on how successfully that works. Another EVs have gone overboard in eliminating laborious controls for tap-and-swipe onscreen buttons, to their detriment.
2024 Volvo EX90
‘Efficiency model’ promised
The 2024 EX90 is powered by two electrical motors drawing present from a 111-kilowatt-hour battery pack positioned underneath the cabin. The usual model has a mixed output of 300 kilowatts (408 horsepower), whereas a “efficiency model” may have the next output of 370 kw (496 hp) and 671 lb-ft of torque. Volvo quotes an estimated vary of “as much as 300 miles” on a single cost, although readers ought to look forward to the EPA vary rankings, which aren’t more likely to arrive for a yr or extra.
The corporate spent fairly a little bit of the debut on the concept that the EX90 is a “software-defined car,” shorthand for a automobile whose defining traits are decided as a lot by its working software program because the {hardware} it controls. As Tesla confirmed 10 years in the past, software program by definition might be up to date, that means such automobiles can add new capabilities (in addition to fixing any bugs) through over-the-air software program updates.
The EX90 will run on Volvo’s personal working system, with software program developed in-house operating on a pair of central computing platforms from Nvidia Drive AI known as Xavier and Orin. A lot of what drivers see on the digital screens are operating on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platform. All of it has been built-in to supply the following era of person interface that replaces the Volvo Sensus system within the XC90.
A entrance trunk is deep sufficient to accommodate no less than one suitcase within the heart, with shallower trays at both facet to carry objects like a transportable charging wire.
2024 Volvo EX90
Lidar for extra driver-assistance capabilities
It’s all however invisible in a black housing on the prime of the windshield, however the EX90 is among the first automobiles on this planet that may provide a Lidar scanner as manufacturing facility gear. It joins each cameras and radar sensors to create what Volvo calls a “surrounding defend” of security.
Lidar is now thought of a requirement for superior ranges of automated driver-assistance software program, allowing hands-off driving on highways and different roads. Volvo’s assisted-driving operate is named Pilot Help, and within the EX90, automated lane-changing provides to present capabilities present in earlier automobiles, together with lively lane-keeping and adaptive cruise management.
Cameras contained in the cabin monitor the driving force’s eyes, and the system will present alerts—of accelerating frequency, first “mild” after which “extra insistent”—if it detects distracted driving. If the driving force merely fails to reply, the automobile will cease itself and name for assist (the driving force heart-attack state of affairs).
2024 Volvo EX90
Bidrectional charging
Like many manufacturers, Volvo sees monumental advantages in permitting electrical automobiles to function cell vitality storage—for family backup and different capabilities. The EX90 is the primary electrical Volvo with that functionality inbuilt, although Volvo cautions that it’ll be made out there “later” in sure markets.
For quick charging, the corporate says the EX90 will cost from 10 to 80 p.c in about half-hour. That’s, in fact, underneath splendid circumstances that embrace battery temperature, ambient temperature, and a charging station that may ship the required present.
Way more stays to be realized concerning the 2024 Volvo EX90, and the corporate may have extra particulars because the U.S. launch will get nearer. In the meantime, we now know what it seems like and among the technical particulars. Homeowners of current-model Volvo XC90s will seemingly be reassured—and excited.
–Volvo supplied airfare, lodging, and meals to allow Inexperienced Automotive Stories to carry you this first-person report.