Volvo has been given a hand-up to total automotive electrification in a big way by its bosses at Geely, the Chinese automotive group that is the parent company of the Swedish luxury marque.
Both companies are involved in electric vehicle development, including the flagship large luxury Volvo EX90, which shares some of its technology and the Polestar 3 platform.
Geely also produces its own vehicles, such as the Geely Starray Em-1, and sells a range of accessories for the EX90 through its Geelyevs website.
However, is the swish seven-seater too tall an order for the Chinese newcomer? Volvo has seen to it that there’s more than a dash of prestigious XC90 DNA in the EV, plus a combination of class and high tech.
Genuine rivals, such as the Kia EV9 and BMW iX.are few and far between. So unrepresented is the segment that the bulky Sino-Swedish seven-seater could be seen as a single step down from the modern metro electric bus.
Available in two variants – the Plus Twin Motor at $124,990, plus on-road costs, and the Ultra Twin Motor Performance adding another $10,000.
Warranty is five years unlimited kilometres for the vehicle and eight years for the EV battery. Roadside assistance adds up to five years, with capped price servicing also five years or 150,000 kilometres.
STYLING
Some elements of the XC90 remain. For example, lighting up front is a Thor’s Hammer of sorts; and as with most EVs, gone is the grille (no ICE radiator, you see). The future is firmly in its sights with a no-fuss front and a slight swoop in profile.
Alternatively, the squared-off rear light set-up seems out of place in such a forward-looking vehicle.
Under the bonnet? A front load compartment provides smart storage of a charging cable and seldom-used items. A tyre-repair kit is easily accessible while freeing up space in the rear load compartment.
INTERIOR
Taking cues from the Scandinavian living room, the EX90 cabin showcases a modern, luxurious and uncluttered interior design with high-quality Nordico upholstery options, the test vehicle in a snow-dome shade.
Up to seven persons travel comfortably with excellent view in individual, ergonomically designed seats. All seats adjust easily to suit personal preferences.
Each seat on the second row slides and reclines individually to maximise comfort or further enhance legroom in the third row. And to facilitate getting in and out of the third row, the outer seat backrests of the second row fold conveniently and the seat can be pushed forward.
Each rear seat is easy to fold individually into the load area floor. When the third row is not needed, the seats fold into the load floor at the touch of a button.
There’s versatile space across all three rows, although the third row is tight for taller grown-ups. Storage space is 377 litres with that third row in use, and a massive 822 litres with only the first two rows in use. All seats folded leaves 1945 litres.
Families are catered for by a cubby under the front centre armrest, deep door pockets in both rows, a space ahead of the front-centre console, map pockets behind the front seats as well as a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders in the second row.
INFOTAINMENT
A huge 14.5-inch portrait-style centre touchscreen dominates the dash and is quick to respond, but the need to dig out buried menus to adjust wing mirrors and other driving-related functions, including the level of regenerative braking and suspension modes, are fiddly and distracting.
Occupants are cosseted in expansive lounge-like seats in surroundings finished in pale wood inlays with the 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system in the Performance model sporting metal speaker grilles.
Ahead of the driver is a slim 9.0-inch digital instrument binnacle that is shared with a number of Geely Auto group models, though the EX90’s one is very close in look and feel to that of the Polestar 3 and 4. It offers a flat and simple readout of key info, and has a couple of different views including a Google Maps view.
Running Google Built-in software and connected services, it offers native apps like Google Maps, and Google Assistant as well as access to the Google Play store. And it gets wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard.
ENGINES/TRANSMISSIONS
Two motor variants are available. The Twin Motor version develops 300kW and 770Nm, while the Performance ups that to 380kW and 910Nm. Both models use a 111kWh battery pack (107kWh usable), and there’s a 400-volt electrical system that can take charging up to 250kW. That means you can get from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 30 minutes with a rapid charger.
SAFETY
The EX90 is equipped with advanced safety features such as lidar, radar, and cameras for a 360-degree view and provides over-the-air software updates supported by Geely technology.
It also comes with a lot of preventative safety technology including pedestrian, vehicle, cyclist detection, intersection collision and oncoming mitigation with brake support; post impact braking; steering support; driver alert; lane keeping alert, adjustable speed limiter, blind spot info, with cross traffic alert, front and rear collision warning with mitigation, hill descent control; intelligent speed assist and door opening alert.
DRIVING
The credit card-style key found it hard to keep up with locking and unlocking the doors.
Patience paid off for the driver. A mobile phone app is a smart alternative.
All EVs are ‘some sort of silent’ but the EX90 is in the medieval monastery class, including from wind and road noise. The suspension is clever enough to handle hefty mass on most road surface blemishes, as would be expected from the superior Scandi.
Steering is slow-speed lite – handy for parking this five-metre-plus juggernaut – and front-and-side visibility is good. The rear view, however, is compromised when the third row of seats is in use.
SUMMARY
The EX90, part of Volvo’s far too ambitious plan to be all-electric Down Under by next year along the way to a complete electric world at decade’s end have missed both targets. With those out of reach the new EVs will be sold alongside refreshed versions of the brand’s legacy nameplates in mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid forms of the XC90.
RATINGS
Looks: 8/10
Performance: 8/10
Safety: 7/10
Thirst: 7/10
Practicality: 7/10
Comfort: 7/10
Tech: 8/10
Value: 7/10
