Volvo’s flagship electrical SUV, the EX90, has been a very long time coming. And despite the fact that it’s hitting the street a full 12 months delayed, a number of the standout expertise and options will nonetheless be in a “studying” section. Volvo is promising some progressive options, however the tech nonetheless feels a bit like a minimally viable product.
We spent just a few hours across the Newport Coast in California in an early model of the Volvo EX90. Our tester was a Twin Motor Performance model with a Sand Dune exterior.
The EPA says that the EX90 will stand up to 310 miles of vary from the 111 kWh battery pack. The Twin Motor Performance model places out 510-horsepower and 671 lb. ft. of torque, whereas the decrease trim will make 402-hp and 568 lb. ft. of torque.
Volvo says that each ought to cost from 10 to 80 p.c on a 250 kW DC Fast charger in about half-hour. While the EX90 is meant to return with bidirectional charging, the system gained’t work till a later date by way of a software program replace.
On the Road
Volvo leaned onerous into Swedish minimalism with its design each in and out. Its understated inside is extremely enjoyable. A single 9-inch driver’s data display sits behind the steering wheel and may be modified to indicate velocity, vary, and mapping data. You additionally get a really clear heads-up show that may be equally personalized.
Volvo runs its infotainment system on Google’s Android Automotive platform. That means you possibly can merely ask Google to alter your settings for a lot of issues, like mapping, radio options, and even temperature controls.
The automobile has virtually no bodily buttons–only one massive scroll wheel on the middle console and some buttons (together with hazards) on the headliner. Everything else is frustratingly managed by way of the primary 14.5-inch touchscreen set vertically into the sprint. Like Tesla, this contains adjustment for the steering wheel, side-view mirrors, seats, rain-sensing wipers, glove field opening, trunk peak, lights, suspension setup, mapping, audio, and extra.
While the system labored high-quality, it’s a ache when you simply want to regulate one thing easy, like wiper sensitivity or efficiency settings, as a result of it’s at the least just a few menus deep. Volvo assumes that these options might be set-it-and-forget-it for homeowners. The EX90 can use your smartphone because the digital key — although you get a bodily fob, too.
Unfortunately, the digital key we tried was buggy at greatest. While Volvo mentioned they had been working intently with Apple to good the tech (and combine CarPlay, which gained’t be out there till later by way of software program replace, both), the model we tried was unreliable. More than as soon as, we needed to open up the Wallet app, discover the EX90 digital key card, and place it on the wi-fi charging pad to get the automotive to acknowledge that the important thing was within the automobile. Multiple folks on the drive occasion needed to do the identical; some even needed to have Volvo’s assist workers plug in a laptop computer to get the automotive to acknowledge the important thing. Not precisely confidence-inspiring.
Volvo additionally took a web page out of Rivian’s playbook with the EX90’s superior adaptive cruise management options, referred to as Pilot Assist. Instead of buttons to activate the function on the steering wheel, it’s important to pull the drive choose lever on the correct aspect down towards drive and maintain it for a second when Pilot Assist is on the market (a grayed-out steering wheel image seems within the driver’s data display). Once it’s on, you should use the lane-change assistant to modify lanes. Though the method is a bit gradual, it’s higher and extra predictable than lots of the lane-changing assistant options on different automobiles.
On the street, the massive SUV (it’s slightly bigger than Volvo’s XC90) doesn’t really feel ungainly. The cabin is notably quiet and comfy. With the muted colorways and minimal distractions, it’s surprisingly calm. It doesn’t really feel rolly or jarring on damaged pavement if you put the air suspension into the default consolation mode. While there’s a sportier trip out there, it’s onerous to foretell whether or not homeowners may have the persistence to dig by way of the 5 layers on the infotainment display to get there. In Performance mode, the whole lot will get barely extra amped up, however that is no canyon carver.
The EX90 additionally will get new inside sensors, together with a radar system that senses the whole lot from the driving force’s eye motion as to if you’ve left a toddler or pet within the automotive unattended. On the drive, whereas making an attempt to dig by way of menus to seek out the drive settings, I had to take a look at the infotainment display, and inside just a few quick moments, the automobile chimed, letting me know I used to be distracted. The system is a bit delicate however not intrusive, and for drivers who stupidly want to scroll on their telephones fairly than take note of the visitors forward of them, like most LA drivers, the EX90 may very well be a wanted wake-up name.
Not Ready for Prime Time
A variety of well-known suppliers, together with Nvidia, Google, Qualcomm, and Luminar, comprise the EX90’s suite of security and tech options. Nvidia’s ORIN compute platform, which the corporate rolled out simply this 12 months, performs 254 trillion operations per second to assist the EX90 handle the whole lot from security to infotainment and battery administration. Qualcomm is chargeable for the inside tech, whereas Luminar’s lidar is chargeable for the exterior adaptive and security options of the automobile. Everything has to seamlessly talk with each other, which is without doubt one of the main causes that the EX90 has been so delayed in attending to market.
That strange-looking lump on the prime of the windshield is Luminar’s new Halo lidar, and together with the Polestar 3, the EX90 is among the many first automobiles to get it. Unfortunately, it’s not useful as a result of it’s nonetheless in studying mode, the corporate says, gathering information about real-world situations earlier than being “turned on.” When it’s out there, Volvo has mentioned the lidar will assist allow hands-free freeway driving — after which inevitably “unsupervised” Level 3 automation.
Both Luminar and Volvo say they’re centered on ensuring that the methods are foolproof and protected earlier than unleashing them on the general public. As to when that might be, Volvo gained’t say, citing varied regulatory and security approvals in nations the place the automobile might be offered. They be aware that the expertise might be rolled out steadily and solely out there on sure divided highways underneath restricted situations, very similar to GM’s Super Cruise system. There are some stories that a number of the superior driving options will begin to be out there in early 2025.
Despite just a few tech hiccups, and a few TBD options, Volvo’s EX90 is driving the ball ahead. As a minimal viable product, the EX90 continues to be fairly good. Future updates and bug fixes will make it the posh automobile that Volvo hopes it will likely be, with all of the promised bells and whistles.
