2025 Volvo EX90 review: International first drive

To say the EX90 is an important cog in the wheel for Volvo in Australia is something of an understatement. Granted, the large, luxury SUV segment is not a huge one. Sales sit somewhere around the 12,000 to 15,000 mark annually depending on year. So, it's not like Volvo is flying headlong into the high-volume medium SUV or dual-cab segments where the most ferocious of sales battles take shape.

However, this SUV, perhaps more than any other, will unequivocally set the tone for Volvo's move to a fully-electric range in this country. And, given the enduring popularity of the still-excellent XC90, Volvo Australia must sway its customers with a compelling story in the form of the new EX90. Given the reality that conventional large luxury SUVs aren't cheap, an electric variant is better placed to make some headway in this segment.

Our first international taste is a short one, and we look forward to testing the EX90 on local roads ahead of its Australian launch, but we've had Volvo fans and potential buyers asking us about this SUV for some time. Let's take a look at the new Volvo EX90.

Outside, the EX90 is typically Volvo. That is, it’s big, bold, boxy and interesting. It’s certainly not a boring-looking SUV, which is an important element in terms of standing out from the crowd.

It’s fair to say this segment can be a little derivative in terms of design, but the Volvo certainly isn’t cut from that cloth. Does it look too much like an XC90? We've seen some of that commentary online, but I certainly don't think that's a bad thing, and we also love that it doesn't scream that it's an EV.

Thor’s Hammer remains prominent in the headlight design, there’s no grille up front of course, though, given the removal of the internal combustion powertrain. It cleans the front end up, and gives it a neatness that otherwise wouldn’t be present.

At the rear end, you’ll find meaty, C-shaped tail-lights, and the continuation of the modern, slick design ethos. The light signatures and design touches around the EX90 are tasteful and have a subtlety to them.

The cabin is – thankfully – immediately that of a Volvo. I write thankfully, because if you speak to any existing Volvo owner, the quality and comfort of the cabin are highlights of their ownership experience.

More to the point, it's the reason so many Aussie owners return to the brand when it comes time to buy a new vehicle. In other words, if you own a current XC90, you’re going to love the cabin of the new electric version. 

The bright, airy cabin immediately presents that difficult-to-define Scandinavian air of class, quality and minimalism that we’ve always appreciated in a Volvo.

The seats are excellent, visibility is strong, and there’s a familiarity to the controls and interfaces that current Volvo owners will love. Seat design has been a Volvo strong point for some time, and the seats in the EX90 are excellent, even with a few hours down on the road, there's no fatigue or aches and pains.

The big, 14.5-inch touchscreen, mounted in portrait mode, is the highlight of the technical inclusions, and takes up the real estate at the centre of the dashboard. There’s concerted minimalism in regard to the switchgear and controls, too, which makes for a clean cabin, and a general lack of fussiness and complexity.

Infotainment smarts will include Google connectivity, as well as the requisite connections for smartphones, and while there is some complexity in the depth of controls and customisation, Volvo's system is not a difficult one to understand.

Talking to the team at launch, it's clear that one of the directives with the new EX90 was functionality. There was a lot of talk of the interactivity we now have with modern smartphones, how easy they are to use, despite the power of what they can offer, and how the complexity sits beneath a familiarity that takes some of the trepidation out of the initial experience. In the same way, the new EX90 promises to quickly feel familiar and easy to use.

The quality of the audio system in the EX90s we tested was sensational. The Bowers and Wilkins system is a cracker, and Volvo has worked with the high-end audio company from early in the development process to ensure the best possible result from the system once it was installed. It’s as good as any vehicle we’ve tested, such is the audio quality.

No less than 25 speakers provide the sound, along with a ‘3D surround sound’ experience should you wish to activate it, and the result is a studio or concert-like experience inside the cabin. I can't recall a new vehicle launch where the engineering team that worked on the audio system was integral and willing to detail the level of research and development that went into it. Clearly, it's a point of pride for both companies, and so it should be.

You will be able to use your phone to lock and unlock the EX90, as well as a Tesla-style card-key system, or a conventional fob if you wish. I guess if we were to criticise an element of the EX90, it would be to say that some of the tech seems to be there simply for the sake of it, but as an owner, the idea that you can jump out of the EX90 with nothing but your phone is appealing.

Launching a vehicle with this tech can be difficult, because each vehicle needs a phone with it in order to illustrate how it works, and when it's not your phone, there's often a few glitches. However, when you own an EX90, chances are most of you will opt for the phone app that turns your smartphone into the key.

It's a simple solution we've tested in depth with Tesla before, for example, and it makes a lot of sense. It's one less thing to carry, and it leaves the card or key spare for another family member to use when need be.

Practicality, though, trumps tech and party tricks when it comes to the core expectations of a large SUV, and once again, the fact that the EX90 is electric fades into the background against its inherent practicality inside the cabin. You might expect the hefty battery pack to eat into cabin space, but it's been cleverly positioned in order to keep that impost to a minimum.

There’s usable space across all three rows, although the third row is tight for taller adults, as expected. Storage space is 377 litres with that third row in use, and a whopping 822L with only the first two rows in use. Fold all the seats down, and you get 1945L of storage. 

Two motor variants will be available, with the range to be firmed up closer to our local launch. The Twin Motor version makes 300kW and 770Nm, while the Performance steps that up to 380kW and a thumping 910Nm. Do you need that much power and torque? Not at all, and it’s why even the regular Twin Motor feels fast, and what the EX90 can do is hide its weight behind the formidable power outputs.

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 10–80 per cent in as little as 30 minutes with a rapid charger.

By way of comparison, a regular 10-amp single-phase wall plug at home will take around 45 hours to do the same thing, on a 16-amp plug full charge time is 29 hours, or with three-phase 11kW charging recharge times take around 10 hours.

The first thing we noticed on the move in the new EX90 was just how quiet and insulated the cabin is. Electric cars – given the lack of driveline noise – aren’t always particularly competent at filtering out wind and tyre noise. And yet, the EX90 does a commendable job.

Even on the sections of LA freeway that have the kind of coarse-chip finish that would normally be quite noisy. On smooth roads, the big SUV is almost completely quiet. 

Silence is one of those intangible indicators of luxury, too, so it’s valuable to buyers that the Volvo EX90 would be so quiet, especially when you’re on a longer road trip. And on that note, the EX90 is pretty well equipped to handle such drives – up to 570km on the Euro WLTP combined-cycle claim.

Both Twin Motor and Twin Motor Performance claim the same range from their 111kWh battery packs (107kWh usable). Even if that translates to 400km on the real world on the highway in summer, for example, that's a decent run between charges if you're out on the open road.

The second thing to note is the bump absorption and chassis control – and in short, both are excellent. Volvo has done a high-quality job of masking the heft of a large EV, and it glides over almost all road surfaces with a level of comfort we weren’t expecting, especially on the 21-inch wheels of our tester.

EX90 doesn’t have the hard edge that some EVs do, and it doesn’t crash over nasty surfaces. You’d have to go looking for a particularly sharp pothole or rut to unsettle the cabin occupants in the EX90. 

Like any electric car, the EX90 is punchy – as fast as 4.9 seconds to 100km/h from the Performance variant. The regular Twin Motor gets there in 5.9 seconds, which is still faster than you’ll ever need in any regular driving scenario. We know that all EVs are quick, and the EX90 feels sharp enough under any situation, whether you're accelerating from a standstill or rolling on to overtake on the freeway.

The new EX90 has a tough row to hoe. It doesn’t just have to replace the XC90, which is widely loved in this country. It also has to champion the manufacturer’s move to a fully-electric offering. While they might look the same, the EX rides on an all-new platform that doesn’t share anything with the outgoing XC. 

Our initial drive was a compact one, but it was long enough to understand that the EX90 will do exactly what buyers of electric vehicles will want it to do. Crucially too, it will do what Volvo buyers want it to do. It’s sharp, responsive, and doesn’t feel as heavy as it could when you’re on the move. It does weigh in between 2504kg and 2780kg depending on model and options, so it's portly enough, but it never feels that way. The steering on a twisty road, for example, and the way the front end behaves, belie the weight the chassis has to control.

The question isn’t so much whether the new Volvo EX90 is a good SUV. It is. Very good in fact. Even on a protracted test drive on overseas roads, it’s quickly evident that this is an impressive large SUV that will slot neatly into the Australian new car landscape. However, we expected that from Volvo. After all, look at the esteem in which the XC90 has been held for years in our market. 

The question, then, is whether Australian buyers are truly ready for a large, electric SUV. It would certainly seem that Volvo is set to take some market share of what is a small and rather exclusive segment. Adoption of electric vehicles had slowed somewhat at the time of testing, but Aussies love a premium electric offering, as evidenced by the others in this segment ticking along well enough.

We’ll report back more comprehensively once we know local pricing, but on face value after our launch drive, the new Volvo EX90 is an impressive offering. It's competent, comfortable, and built to the standard we expect from Volvo.