You don’t need us to tell you about the huge success of the Volvo XC90. Introduced in 2002, the XC90 was, for many, the ultimate middle-England seven-seater SUV. Practical, well-made, stylish, it’s no wonder that more than 1.5 million have been sold globally since then.
Welcome then to this, the all-electric EX90 – the XC90’s successor. Or not, as it turned out. Because that was always meant to be the plan, but eagle-eyed observers will note that the XC90 has continued in Volvo showrooms.
And that’s because the EX90 hasn’t had the easiest of starts. A hefty price tag (more on which later) together with software and supply issues and a lack of demand for premium EVs have seen Volvo continue with the XC90 alongside this EX90 despite the same seven-seater, family-friendly layout. So, how does the EX90 stack up and can it possibly justify that starting price of £82,660 for the range? Let’s find out.
VOLVO EX90 – DESIGN
There’s no question that the EX90 is a handsome looking car. With immediately recognisable family ties to the XC90, it brings the Volvo look up to date with a good refresh.
Obviously as a seven-seater SUV, it remains a big car, but it’s not openly striking in its styling as the likes of the Hyundai Ioniq 9 or Kia EV9, both rivals in the sector. The LED rear lights are an especially nice solution as are the 22-inch flat alloy wheels on the Twin Motor Performance model that we test drove.
For us though, there are two big issues with the EX90. The first and most obvious one, is the forward facing camera and radar at the top of the windscreen housed in a slightly bulbous lump that doesn’t look entirely unlike a London taxi. It’s just an awkward, eye-jarring sight that doesn’t suit the rest of the car.
The second however involves, ironically, the key. A thin credit card with a separate transponder, it answers questions that nobody ever asked and means you can’t just open the boot remotely as with other cars. Working on proximity, we found it didn’t always work first time either. What on earth is wrong with just a traditional key?
VOLVO EX90 – POWER AND RANGE
The EX90 comes with two batteries and three different power levels. With a choice of 104kWh and 111kWh batteries, the latter comes with 408bhp or a massive 517bhp in the Twin Motor Performance car that we drove.
Let’s be frank, nobody needs a car this size to do 0 to 60mph in 4.9 seconds and even the standard Twin Motor does it in 5.9 seconds. Either would have the family or dog howling in protest. The Twin Motor’s official range is 385 miles (375 for the Performance), although you can take that with a large pinch of salt as we never saw a full charge go above 300 miles which was disappointing. The Twin Motor has an average efficiency of 3mls/kWh with the Performance managing 2.9mls/kWh, though during our time with the car we averaged 2.6mls/kWh.
Just as well then that the EX90 can take a maximum charging speed of 250kW (impressive) and Volvo claims a 10-80% charge time of 30 minutes on a charger of that speed.
If you’re thinking that some of those statistics don’t entirely add up, you can lay the blame at the needle on the scales. The EX90 tips the needle at a fraction under 2.8 tonnes and even the single motor version is 2.6 tonnes. This is not a light car. To be fair, the EV9 and Ioniq 9 are hardly svelte thanks to their batteries, but when you consider that the XC90 is 2.3 tonnes and is hardly a new car, then it puts all of that into perspective.
VOLVO EX90 – ON THE ROAD
There are going to be two parts to how the EX90 performs on the road, just as there will be for the interior section that follows. And you’ll soon find out why.
The EX90 is refined on the road, has a decent ride quality thanks in no small part to the air suspension countering the huge 22-inch wheels and low profile tyres. It doesn’t cover the very worst of bad road surfaces and potholes, but it does a pretty good damn job nonetheless.
Wind and road noise are kept well suppressed and the steering is accurate enough, though you never feel like you’d ever desire to explore those performance figures mentioned earlier. We also mentioned earlier that this is not a light car and that is perfectly evident. You’re never less than aware that there’s a lot of mass here and that’s obvious with rapid changes of direction or when braking.
Talking of braking, rather oddly there’s only effectively two levels of regenerative braking available – Auto and On (the latter effectively One Pedal Driving). For us, Auto was nowhere near intuitive enough and had the car coasting as we approached junctions, which was both frustrating and unnerving. It definitely doesn’t work as well as the same system in the BMW iX.
By comparison though, switching on the One Pedal Driving made it almost too extreme the other way. Making it very hard to drive smoothly, even the slightest lift of your right foot has the car diving forwards which, added to that weight, makes it really uncomfortable. With familiarity, we did get better, but when Volvo has had electric models on sale for so long, why not just have the multiple settings of rivals?
So what could the second part of how it drives be? We’ll expand more on the interior section but it comes down to the large 14.5in central touchscreen housing almost all of the car’s controls. Even items such as adjusting the door mirrors or the steering wheel or the direction of the ventilation is all done by the touchscreen and is very hard to do on the move.
Worse still, some of the above are buried in menus requiring two or three steps and more time with your eyes taken off the road. Rather oddly too, the switch for the hazard lights is situated right next to the Apple Carplay icon, something you’re likely to be pressing frequently – one than once we pushed the hazards on by mistake.
For a company such as Volvo which has prided itself on its safety measures over the years, this all feels like a huge backwards step. Ironically too, it even alerts you with a warning to say that your eyes have been off the road for too long and you’re not paying attention – when all you’re doing is using the touchscreen in the car itself!
VOLVO EX90 – INTERIOR
So, after that, there will be little surprise what’s likely to dominate this section, so first the good news.
The EX90 boasts an immaculate interior. The Volvo’s build quality and materials are second to none, there’s a good amount of space (though the third row are best left for those in their low teens but not beyond) and it’s comfortable. The front seats are supportive and there’s no question that they’re conducive to long journeys. The frameless door mirrors are great and there’s good visibility in and around the cabin. The Bowers and Wilkins stereo in our test car was nothing short of exceptional.
But as with the central touch-screen, it’s like Volvo has lost its knowledge and history for simplicity and has over-complicated things at every turn. Like VW, there are just two electric window switches with a button to swap between the front and rear – two operations when there could be just one. Annoying.
That touch-screen is way too complicated as well. As we mentioned, a small adjustment for the door mirror, required you to choose the car icon, then the door mirrors, choose left or right, then go to the controls on the steering wheel to adapt it, none of which is remotely intuitive.
For each item, where before was one action that was easy and simple to use on the move, in the quest to rid the cabin of buttons, Volvo has added two or three steps for each one which is not just infuriating but to our minds downright dangerous in terms of how much it draws your attention away from the road.
Do you get more used to the touch screen and its operation with acquaintance? Yes, but in 30-plus years of test driving cars using a handle and latch to open a glovebox never got us frustrated and now, of course, it’s on the screen. For us, it all seriously affected our enjoyment of a car that’s just £40 away from £100,000.
There are some odd omissions too – there’s no blind or electro-chromatic glass for the panoramic roof, there’s no grab handles for the passengers and the charging flap doesn’t lock with the central locking. All of which feel like odd oversights in a car this expensive.
SUMMARY
You can probably guess which way this summary is going to go, but we may just surprise you.
The thing is, we think the Volvo EX90 is a good car. It’s comfortable, spacious, drives well enough and is practical for anyone after an electric seven-seater SUV. The problem is that the likes of Kia have got there first and with electric cars, buyers have already demonstrated that they’re increasingly less brand loyal than before.
But for us the EX90’s user experience with that touch-screen outweighs all of that positivity of how the car drives (efficiency and regen issues aside). And by pushing the EX90’s price tag further northward, it has raised expectations which this car just can’t meet. For that price too, you expect basic details such as a blind for the panoramic roof or a locking charging flap.
So the EX90 could be a great car for the sector and a midlife refresh resolving some of those issues such as the lack of physical switches would be handy, as would better efficiency. For us though, we doubt automotive history will remember the EX90 quite as favourable as it has the XC90. It will be some task for it to get anywhere near that car’s historic sales numbers.
FACT BOX
Model: Volvo EX90
Price: from £82,660
Power: Battery – 104, 111kWh
Range: Up to 385 miles
Average efficiency: 2.9-3.0mls/kWh
Average charge time on a domestic wallbox: 14-15hrs
CO2 emissions: 0g/km
Rating: 7/10