Volvo's EX90 is a large seven-seat luxury EV crossover that redefines its brand's future. Jonathan Crouch drives the upgraded version.
Ten Second Review
The EX90 is a large full-battery EV Crossover that has taken 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. And now that this car has a proper 800V electrical architecture set-up, it's certainly worth a second look.
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 what was the first of the company's EVs to sit on a dedicated electric platform, this EX90. The original plan was for this to be the replacement for the combustion-powered XC90 large SUV model line that saved Volvo at the turn-of-the-century, though thanks to the slow pace of the EV revolution, that fossil fuelled model will now 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 - and also by Volvo's similarly-sized ES90 saloon. Both cars share the same drive system and much else with this EX90, but this big Volvo SUV differs from those two other cars in its provision of three seating rows.
The EX90 was first announced way back in 2023, but delay after delay meant that it didn't start filtering into UK showrooms until early 2025. In a form with an old-tech 400V electrical architecture and an older-tech Nvidia Xavier chip. We advised potential customers to wait for the properly upgraded Model Year 2026 version we're trying here, which got a much faster-charging 800V electrical system and a considerably faster Nvidia Drive AGX Orin processor. As before, the car is built for the UK at the company's US plant in Charleston - and is made at Chengdu in China too, with both plants rated carbon neutral.
Driving Experience
There are three powertrains on offer here. Things kick off with a Single Motor rear-driven model with a 333hp motor with 480Nm of torque energised by an 92kWh battery (88kWh of which is usable) with up to 347 miles of range. Otherwise, your EX90 will be of the Twin Motor All-Wheel Drive sort we tried, with a choice of two output levels that are significantly increased over those this model was launched with back in 2021. Standard Twin Motor models offer 456hp, while 'Performance' variants up that to 680hp - incidentally a massive 170hp more than the original version. The battery of this updated post-2025-era model is slightly different too - actually slightly smaller, though it yields slightly more range. With both Twin Motor variants, that battery is now 106kWh in size (with 102kWh usable-capacity), a pack which delivers a range of up to 380 miles in the base model and up to 371 miles in the 'Performance' version. As with all Volvos, top speed is limited to 112mph. The 62mph from rest sprint takes 6.8s in the Single Motor version and 5.5s in the Twin Motor model, improved to 4.2s by the 'Performance' version.
Given the near 2.7-tonne kerb weight of a Twin Motor EX90 (nearly 400kg heavier than an XC90 PHEV), you might be expecting somewhat ponderous handling, but this big electric Volvo handles its prodigious bulk confidently, though you'll notice it with the bigger wheel rims at low speeds on rough roads. Despite the fact that this Volvo is nearly five metres long and around 2 metres wide (84mm longer and 33mm wider than the XC90), town driving isn't too difficult thanks to the commanding driving position, glassy cabin and the option of a lighter steering feel setting, but you might be disappointed to find that unlike some pricier segment rivals (notably the Mercedes EQS SUV), there's no 4-wheel steering system available for tighter manoeuvring. There are drive modes available of course - on this Twin Motor version, the options are Standard, Performance AWD and Off-road. And of course there's a regenerative braking system, this one with a 'One-Pedal Drive' feature that really does virtually bring the car to a stop when you come off the throttle, though you might like us find that a bit aggressive and put the system instead into its smoother regen 'Auto' setting. Superb journeying refinement is complemented by the fact that ride quality is excellent - or at least it is with the brand's 'Active Four-C Chassis' adaptive damping and electronic air suspension package we'd recommend fitted, which costs extra with the mid-level spec most will choose. There are Soft or Firm suspension settings. Braked towing weight is quite impressive for an EV, rated at 2,200kg for the Twin Motor models.
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. The middle row bench does all the usual slidey-foldy things. And there's a reasonably-sized 697-litre boot, provided you can fold the third row seating. If you can't, there's 324-litres of space on offer: it's 1,316-litres with everything folded. Plus Volvo also provides a small 46-litre under-bonnet 'frunk' space for small items.
Market and Model
The EX90 badge might sound like a chemical formula but the pricing sounds very SUVIP. It starts from around £73,000 for the Single Motor version, only offered in base 'Plus' trim. You'll need around £86,000 for the Twin Motor version with 'Plus' trim, a version also offered with plusher 'Ultra' spec for around £94,000. Top of the range is the 'Ultra'-spec Twin Motor Performance version, for which you'll need around £98,000. The closely related Polestar 3 (a five rather than a seven-seater) costs significantly less, but that's for models without the 'Lidar' safety sensor package, which Polestar charges extra for.
At least you get an awful lot for Volvo's asking figures - 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.
With this upgraded Model Year 2026 car, the installation of a considerably faster Nvidia Drive AGX Orin processor (which operates at up to 500 trillion operation per second) has unlocked extra safety features. Including the ability to automatically steer away from cyclists and pedestrians in the dark and bring the car to a controlled stop if the driver is taken ill at the wheel. The car's auto parking ability is also expanded.
Cost of Ownership
We gave you the EV driving range figures in our 'Driving' section - 347 miles for the Single Motor version, 380 miles for the standard Twin Motor version and 371 miles for the 'Performance' variant. All three are aided by a relatively sleek shape for such a boxy SUV, with a drag coefficient of 0.29Cd.
Thanks to the Model Year 2026 800V system upgrade, the EX90's DC charging speed has risen from 250kW to 300kW, allowing 155 miles of range to be added to just 10 minutes. A 10-80% DC charge takes 22 minutes. 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. Full AC charging at home takes 15 hours with a single-phase 7.4kW wallbox for the single motor version (it's around 17 hours for the twin motor variants). With an 11kW three-phase AC supply, you could reduce full charging time to around 10 hours for the Single Motor model or around 11 hours for the Twin Motor version.
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.
