It's been over two years since Volvo pulled the presumably very large sheet from its new EX90. Software issues shoulder some of a delay that’s seen a beacon of an all-electric future become a sibling to a smartly facelifted hybrid XC90; Volvo has revised its target to 90-100 per cent EV sales by 2030 rather than the full ticket. It’s unlikely you’ll be cross shopping the two SUVs for now, though, the EX90 kicking off at over £30,000 more in its (admittedly luxurious) base spec. You’re looking at a hundred-grand Volvo, at least until simpler single-motor offerings arrive to soften the blow.
It backs up its price with a number of superlative claims: not only Volvo’s techiest car yet but its safest and quietest on board. It is that latter claim that’s easiest to appreciate and this truly is a Zen Garden on wheels even during gnarly M40 traffic. Here’s an EV that could double up as a makeshift anechoic chamber. Perhaps that’s one way to help pay its £1,000+ monthlies…
Of course, it’s brim with self-driving potential, marked visibly by its comically black cab-esque Lidar nubbin above the windscreen. That’s a blemish on an otherwise handsome face, this remaining an attractive car even after two years in our conscience. Each XC90 before it has lived twice as long as most rival SUVs thanks to slick design and the EX90 appears to stick closely to their script.
Launch cars are all dual-motor, AWD affairs. A £96,255 outlay gets you a Twin Motor boasting 408hp and a 5.9-second 0-62mph time, while the £100,555 Twin Motor Performance boosts and slices these to 517hp and 4.9 second. Both have a 112mph limiter and claim 374 miles of WLTP range from a ginormous 107kWh (usable) battery. Rapid DC charging up to 250kW means you can top up 10-80 per cent in half an hour, though you can add 100 miles to the expected range in ten minutes if you’re in a rush.
A reasonably sensible two hours and 60-odd miles at the wheel gave us a return of 2.5 miles per kWh, translating to a theoretical range figure of 278 miles. I can’t say I drove with any sops to efficiency mind, and I’m sure you’d extract more from it with time. ‘Reasonably sensible’ is very much the driving style the EX90 encourages. A 2.8-tonne kerbweight tends to do that, but then there’s very little fizz or feel overflowing from its controls. Which is no criticism in a stocky luxe SUV, nor a barrier to this car being generally very satisfying to shift along. It rides wonderfully, only making a fuss over really pockmarked urban roads, its body control never wavering as it does so. The firm edge most other modern Volvos exhibit – perhaps in the wake of all those S Lines and M Sports doing the same – is pleasingly absent here, the twin-chamber air springs sucking the pain out of wintry British tarmac.
Neither version feels as neck-snapping as its on-paper output, an initial ‘are you sure?’ softness to the throttle helping ease you into their almighty torque. Push beyond it and those mighty numbers begin to materialise; the Performance version in particular picks up its skirt and hauls impressively out of junctions and roundabouts, a mechanical diff on the rear axle helping shuffle you out smartly and with appropriately modest drama. In moments like this those 2.8 tonnes momentarily, metaphorically shrink.
The rest of the time its prodigious reserves of power simply boost the feeling of luxury, much like having a lusty V8 in an old Range Rover. Having all that latent potential but not necessarily using it brings a coddling feeling that fits well here. You certainly don't miss gears or noise and Volvo naturally hasn't bothered impersonating either. Where hot hatches and even sports saloons are experiencing growing pains as they move to electric, this car feels like it could have always drawn power from a plug. Even if you might inevitably miss the long-range unstoppability of a big diesel every now and then.
The interior is broadly a triumph, too. In a five-metre car it needs to be vast, and it is: there’s abundant room for adults in the front two rows and you’ll even squeeze one into the two pews out back if you need to. Boot volume is 310 litres with every seat in place, rising to 655 and 1,040 litres as those rows are electronically flipped. Materials are glorious throughout – plasticky cupholders aside – and that on-board hush must be experienced to be believed.
I doubt you’ll shatter it with expletives, either. Volvo, a safety pioneer for decades, has incorporated all the mandatory systems as cleanly and subtly as you could ever hope for. Even with far too many of its functions corralled into the Tesla-like portrait touchscreen, the EX90 is a modern family car that won’t constantly admonish you for wandering eyes.
Somehow everything just works, even if adjusting the funky frameless side mirrors via a combination of screen and wheel controls is a faff. One you only ought to endure once, at least, as the car apparently recognises you and adjusts them accordingly as you clamber into its enveloping seat. Which points towards a slim speed readout that’s placed neatly below a decent head-up display.
A Performance mode adds more pep to the powertrain and there are three levels of ‘one-pedal’ regen: off, on or an Auto mode that aims to draw you neatly to a stop in urban traffic but let the car flow smoothly on brisker roads. And it mostly works, though in my two hours of driving I always hovered over the brake pedal as I tried to predict its responses. The screen learns your most frequently used functions and pops them in a neatly accessed row, however, so tech like this is easily extinguished in moments you don’t want it. Just one of many small touches that add up to a car that probably justifies its jaw-dropping price. Its supercar-mimicking interior door pulls feel like they’ve traded rationality for raciness and bring the warm, tingly sensation you’d hope a £100k car would. And who doesn’t love a soft-close door?
It doesn’t take much forum scouring to find EX90 deposit-holders narked by the delays, but it seems none of them are pulling their orders either, the general vibe being ‘there’s nothing else like it’. Perhaps a twin test with the Kia EV9 might challenge that claim, but experience suggests its Korean rival will beep and bong that bit more annoyingly and ride a mite harsher. But the fact we have two hugely impressive seven-seat luxe EVs to choose from, neither from a traditionally bougie brand, suggests the car market can still do diversity as the grasp of electrification tightens. The EX90 was worth the wait.
SPECIFICATION | 2025 VOLVO EX90 TWIN MOTOR PERFORMANCE
Engine: 107kWh battery (usable, 111kWh net), twin permanent magnet motors
Gearbox: Single-speed, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 517
Torque (lb ft): 671
0-62mph: 4.9sec
Top speed: 112mph (limited)
Weight: 2,787kg
Range: up to 374 miles, 2.9mi/kWh claimed
CO2: 0g/km
Price: £100,555
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