{"id":76436,"date":"2024-09-03T03:03:18","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T07:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=76436"},"modified":"2024-09-03T03:03:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T07:03:18","slug":"1144333_test-drive-review-2025-volvo-ex90-ev-suv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=76436","title":{"rendered":"Review: 2025 Volvo EX90 EV reboots the brand but doesn\u2019t flaunt it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keep to quick first impressions of the 2025 Volvo EX90<\/strong> and you might get the wrong idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In one of the many inherently Swedish aspects of this next-generation electric SUV, it doesn\u2019t flaunt the future on the outside, but it certainly wears it well inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The exterior of the Volvo EX90 is what it needs to be\u2014an evolution from the XC90. On the other hand, its cabin embraces an extreme minimalist approach, cozies up to a touchscreen for nearly everything, and syncs up with\u00a0a software-defined-vehicle future<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a recent day of up-close time with the\u00a0South Carolina-made EX90<\/a>, set to arrive this fall, Volvo was big on the latter term, and its platform\u2019s origin story rooted in global technology partnerships with Google, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Luminar<\/strong>. But with the perspective of several hours of driving time, I was reminded that Volvo hasn\u2019t forgotten in the EX90 about what it does best\u2014making people feel comfortable, safe, and pampered, without overtly flaunting it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Touchscreen’s the key touchpoint<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no shying away from the 14.5-inch vertically oriented touchscreen system when you get into the 2025 EX90<\/strong>, and you\u2019ll get familiar with it quickly. While a 9.0-inch gauge cluster and head-up display help keep track of everything, the touchscreen is the hub for everything and, like it or not, you\u2019ll need to toggle through screen-based tabs to adjust the mirrors, steering wheel, and seats\u2014although the seats have a center button to click through the aspects of power adjustability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For newbies like me, it\u2019s simply not as easy as actual adjustment switches. While we\u2019re at it, the directional buttons on the Volvo steering wheel simply don\u2019t offer the kind of fine precision in adjustment that Tesla\u2019s tactile thumbwheels do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But drivers may realistically only need to do this once, and Volvo says that its system is a step ahead. Driver profiles correspond to each known smartphone, along with Phone as Key technology, and as someone approaches the vehicle, pings from four to six ultra-wideband sensors around the vehicle determine which phone is entering at the driver\u2019s door. If this all goes according to plan, the driver enters the vehicle with seats, mirrors, steering wheel, presets, and preferences all set to their liking. If by some chance the car guesses wrong, Volvo says you can select those profiles manually. This is one I truly look forward to putting to the test with a family of devices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That introduction aside, Volvo\u2019s latest screen experience in the EX90 will feel familiar to virtually anyone, with a tablet-like interface<\/strong> that locks climate controls. At the bottom of the screen is a locked row of icons that provide a quick navigation to a home screen, apps, settings, and climate control details. Above it is a row of contextual icons that will change depending on the current use, while above that widgets (for phone or audio) provide a quick look at what\u2019s playing or available. The vast majority of the screen is used for navigation\u2014with a clear, vertically oriented map display that\u2019s easy to glance at quickly (but you can also add it to the instrument panel). It\u2019s likely to evolve and a lifetime of vehicle updates are coming, and Volvo says it will keep data for navigation and over-the-air updates live even if customers let their 5G data subscription for apps and streaming lapse.<\/p>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Volvo EX90 is efficient, nimble, and quiet<\/span><\/h2>\n

I spent the day with two different Twin Motor Performance versions of the SUV, in the top Ultra trim, both bearing the same\u00a0$93,345 sticker price<\/strong>, in a spec that will . One of them offered a Sand Dune exterior (a very light tan) with a Dawn Quilted Nordico interior, the other a tailored wool blend interior and Vapour Grey exterior. Both of them wore 22-inch five spoke aero wheels.<\/p>\n

This is the heaviest, most luxurious EX90 in the lineup, at more than 6,000 pounds by international-market specs, and this brought three pleasant surprises in the driving experience.<\/p>\n

Firstly, by early indications, the EX90 is very efficient for a big three-row SUV. I averaged 2.7 miles per kwh<\/strong> on a 146-mile loop including some stop-and-go boulevard driving in Orange County, up and down a demanding mountain road, and some high-speed cruising at a very fast clip. Then on a loop of about 40 miles that included more boulevard driving and some denser afternoon traffic\u2014slower-moving probably being the key term\u2014I averaged more than 2.9 miles per kwh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The EX90\u2019s battery pack uses lithium-ion nickel manganese cobalt cells and adds up to a gross 111 kwh<\/strong>. Volvo has said that usable capacity is up to 107 kwh, so based on what we saw that amounts to a real-world range right around 300 miles<\/strong>, without driving particularly slowly or gently.<\/p>\n

Volvo\u2019s official EPA ratings for the EX90 are 310 miles with the 21-inch wheels and 300 miles for models with the 20- and 22-inch wheels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The second very pleasant surprise is how light and nimble the EX90 drives, considering those three rows and 6,000+ pounds. Ultra versions\u2014the only one we drove at this event\u2014include the air suspension as well as semi-active (multi-stage) dampers. Those extra suspension bits aren\u2019t included in more affordable Plus versions, so we\u2019ll need to report back in the future on whether they can maintain such prowess in the corners. In the Ultra, you can select from soft or firm for the steering and suspension, independently, but I settled on soft for both as with that the steering centered more neatly and the suspension still firmed up when needed in tight corners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The third takeaway, which left me rather awestruck, was simply how quietly the EX90 rides<\/strong>, whether accelerating rapidly, traveling at high speed, or riding on the roughest road we found along our route in mostly smooth Orange County. Hannes Veen, Volvo\u2019s senior manager for propulsion systems, said that the team didn\u2019t use any kind of active noise cancellation or sound manipulation; instead Volvo simply paid a lot of attention to noise insulation and bushings, including fluid-filled bushings for the motor units.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While this is indeed Volvo\u2019s first home-grown \u201csoftware-defined vehicle,\u201d it\u2019s also home-grown in an engineering sense, with the vast majority of development done around the automaker\u2019s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

EX90 has quick, satisfying performance\u2014with one exception<\/span><\/h2>\n

In its top-trim Twin Motor Performance Ultra form, the EX90 is very quick and, as is often the case in larger EVs, it felt even quicker from the front seats than its 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds<\/strong>\u00a0might suggest. While motor units themselves are the same across the EX90 lineup, Twin Motor models make 402 hp and 568 lb-ft of torque, combined, while Twin Motor Performance versions offer 510 hp and 571 lb-ft. The EX90 favors the front motor in steady cruising and much of the time, saving the rear motor for quick launches and traction needs. But a Performance AWD mode will access a constant (but still variable) power flow to the rear wheels at 19 to 81 mph, accessing more balanced dynamics. I couldn\u2019t feel much of a difference, or detect the seamless transition as the EX90 brings its rear motor in and out via a clutch.<\/p>\n

The accelerator and steering inputs have a good precision to them, but there was one thing missing in the EX90\u2019s otherwise finely fettled dynamics. Volvo has opted to provide just three modes for regenerative braking<\/strong>: off, auto, and on\u2014and the brake-pedal feel in our test vehicles was downright spongy at a standstill, to the point where it was hard to tell when the friction pads were or weren\u2019t making contact.<\/p>\n

The \u201con\u201d setting is a true one-pedal mode<\/strong>\u2014aggressive enough where you may only need to press the brake pedal for unanticipated stops\u2014while \u201coff\u201d brings a coasting\/gliding behavior that dials all the regen out and is like Neutral in a gasoline model. The \u201cauto\u201d setting applies a situational approach, relying on sensors, but I simply didn\u2019t have enough drive time to get a sense of that and what I really was left wanting was a middle setting for regenerative braking\u2014one that would gradually scrub speed off more like a gasoline vehicle in Drive or one gear down.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

2025 Volvo EX90 has luxurious seats and space<\/span><\/h2>\n

Between the two vehicles I was in, I got to sample Volvo\u2019s two high-end upholstery choices for the EX90. While one of them had the Nordico synthetic, which mixes in plant products and looks a little easier to clean, my favorite of the two was the tailored wool blend, which mixes in recycled polyester and borrowed the comfortable yet breathable feel of an outdoorsy wool sweater.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just an easy, comfortable space overall. A wide range of heights and sizes will find no issue fitting into the first two rows of seating, and the second includes a built-in booster seat for smaller kids. The third row is a pinch for taller people to get into and out of, but we found that 6-footers could fit behind two successive 6-footers<\/strong> in the first and second rows. Front-seat space itself is vast, and the passenger side has an extended footwell that impresses as a ledge for shoes (even though Volvo told me it\u2019s there for safety).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cargo space isn\u2019t yet out in U.S. terms, but it feels decidedly larger in this area than the XC90, with the power-folding third row easily tapping into 50.2 inches of cargo floor<\/strong> from the back of the second row and potentially more than 80 inches for long items if you fold the second row. Volvo teases with the idea of a frunk under the long hood, and while it covers a wide area it\u2019s shallow and too divided-up by hard-plastic partitions to be all that useful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"2025<\/p>\n

2025 Volvo EX90<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lidar, Pilot Assist, V2X: So much to make your world better<\/span><\/h2>\n

Volvo\u2019s safety suite incorporates a lidar sensor for the first time in the EX90, and it gives its active-safety systems a longer, more accurate look of the road ahead. Volvo says that it may help cut severe accidents by 20%.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pilot Assist is Volvo\u2019s appropriately named driver-assistance system<\/strong> intended to help with freeway driving, and it employs all of the vehicle\u2019s safety sensors around while looking for the driver\u2019s hands on the wheel with capacitive sensors. But as of yet, it takes a conservative approach. Engaging it requires a tip down on the shift lever\u2014to where the “B” setting would be on some vehicles. Drivers can only take their hands off the wheel for 14 seconds, and while one hand can be on the wheel while cruising along both hands need to be on the wheel before it provides an assisted lane change. That sort of defeats the purpose, I found, and it\u2019s very, very cautious about it so it\u2019s simply not a feature you\u2019ll be using in traffic.<\/p>\n

Bidirectional charging is coming, by the way, in the form of a DC unit from Volvo partner dcbel that will operate at up to 25 kw depending on the situation and is capable of backing up the home, peak-shaving, or sending power back to the grid. More details are coming soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now the hard part: The EX90, as I tested it in Ultra trim, with the optional Bowers & Wilkins audio and 22-inch wheels, costs $94,640, including the $1,295 destination fee. The starting price for the EX90 is $81,290<\/strong>. That\u2019s about $6,000 higher than the top-spec, all-wheel-drive\u00a0Kia EV9 GT-Line<\/a>, another three-row SUV that supports\u00a0bidirectional charging<\/a>. And it appears that it will not qualify for the\u00a0EV tax credit<\/a>, at least initially.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ultimately it feels like Volvo has kept its priorities straight. The EX90 is a completely new kind of vehicle on the inside and innovates in a long list of thoughtful ways. Those who get it won\u2019t feel a need to shout that out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Volvo paid for travel expenses so that we could bring you this test drive review.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keep to quick first impressions of the 2025 Volvo EX90 and you might get the wrong idea.\u00a0 In one of the many inherently Swedish aspects of this next-generation electric SUV, it doesn\u2019t flaunt the future on the outside, but it certainly wears it well inside.\u00a0 The exterior of the Volvo EX90 is what it needs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}