Volvo EX90 review

Big cities, big personalities, big portions – America knows how to do big things. So it seems an appropriate place to build the new Volvo EX90.

If you’re unfamiliar with the name, the EX90 is Volvo’s new flagship seven-seat electric SUV. It sits above the petrol-powered Volvo XC90 in the Swedish firm’s line-up as an electric alternative, and as we’ve already hinted, it’s quite a big beast at almost five metres long and 2,700kg in weight.

Powering the EX90 is a whopping great big battery that officially gives it one of the longest ranges of any electric SUV. It also has a vast interior, tonnes of luxurious kit as standard and an array of radars and sensors. Volvo says it's the safest model it's built.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the EX90 has a big price tag too. That means it will be mixing it with the likes of the five-seat Audi Q8 e-tron and BMW iX as well as seven-seat versions of the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV. Plus, there are cheaper seven-seat electric SUVs such as the Kia EV9 and Peugeot E-5008 to consider.

Read on to find out how the Volvo EX90 stacks up against its key rivals...

There are two versions of the Volvo EX90 to choose from: the Twin Motor and the Twin Motor Performance. Both get the same four-wheel-drive set-up with two electric motors – one on each axle.

The Twin Motor gets 402bhp and can officially cover the 0-60mph sprint in 5.7 seconds, while the Twin Motor Performance ups the power to 510bhp and drops the 0-60mph to 4.7 seconds. That's impressive for such a vast and heavy SUV.

We’ve driven the Performance model so far and it’s very quick. The accelerator pedal does very well to manage all the power and deliver it in a smooth, measured way – there’s no spikiness in its response at low speeds. For when you really do need to join a motorway as quickly as possible, there's a Performance mode that helps to hurl this SUV down the road in a more urgent manner.

The EX90 offers direct, well-weighted steering and it’s no problem calmly chaperoning this SUV around town or on the motorway. But it is still a tall and heavy car, tipping the scales at a chunky 2,700kg (the battery pack alone weight around 600kg).

Upping the pace on a country road reveals some body lean and, while you’re unlikely to be looking at this car if you’re after B-road thrills, a BMW iX and Audi Q8 e-tron are tidier through some twists.

All EX90s ride on enormous 22in alloy wheels and come with adaptive air suspension as standard, offering two different modes: Comfort and Sport.

In the softer of its two settings, the EX90 delivers a plush ride. You don’t glide down the road – you are aware of bumps and imperfections passing beneath you – but the impacts on the suspension are still very gently absorbed and for the most part you’re well isolated from what’s happening underneath.

You won’t notice many audible thwacks from the suspension inside, and any sounds at all are in short supply. Wind and road noise is kept to a minimum, so much so that a third row passenger could probably hold a conversation with the driver on the motorway at a whisper.

And what about the range? Both versions of the EX90 get a massive 111kWh battery, with a usable capacity of 107kWh. That gives an official range of 374 miles no matter which model you choose, which is very competitve.

It’s similar to the 383-mile BMW iX xDrive50 and further than the Kia EV9 RWD can officially manage (349 miles). In real-world driving conditions, though, all electric cars will achieve less than the official figures, and in the EX90 you can expect it to deliver around 300 miles.

“I found the adaptive cruise control and steering assistance very effective and natural. It’s easy to turn on and adjust, plus it does a good job of keeping you centred in your lane.” – Steve Huntingford, Editor

The Volvo EX90 offers a comfortable, high-riding driving position perched on a comfortable electrically adjustable seat with a massaging function and plenty of adjustable lumbar support.

Visibility out the front, sides and back are fantastic and you still get a 360-degree camera and a full set of sensors to help with parking.

The 9.0in digital driver’s display is neatly designed and attached to the steering column so no matter how you position the wheel it’s always easy to see. There’s a useful head-up display, too. For comparison, the Kia EV9 has many screens that are easily blocked by the wheel.

However, not all aspects of the EX90’s driving position are perfect. For example, adjusting the position of the steering wheel and door mirrors is done via the infotainment system and then the buttons on the steering wheel, rather than by permanent physical buttons down on the door.

It's a faff the first time you do it, but once you’ve set the wheels and the door mirrors up how you like, you can save it to a driver profile so it will always automatically adjust it for you when you unlock the car.

The central 14.5in infotainment touchscreen has been developed by Google and comes with things like Google Maps and Google Assistant built in. The screen on our test car was really snappy and responsive, with no glitches at all, and operated in the way you’d expect a high-end tablet to.

While you might use your tablet while lounging around on the sofa watching TV, travelling at 70mph while cycling through many menus and submenus to adjust things like the suspension settings and climate control is distracting and frustrating in the EX90. Physical controls to operate the infotainment would be far better, as you get in the BMW iX with its helpful rotary dial.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto come as standard but will be added as an over-the-air update in the future (it will be missing from the first customer cars).

Volvo has given no indication as to how long it will take to add it, and it’s quite disappointing to be missing this common piece of tech on a car this expensive. However, because of the fact you get things like Google Maps and Spotify on the native system, you may not end up missing the smartphone mirroring function too much.

The quality inside is impressive, with a plush mix of materials and a choice of classy wood finishes for the dashboard. There are some cheaper-feeling parts of the car, though. Like on the steering wheel, where the two sets of controls are housed in a flimsy-feeling slab of plastic. An iX is more consistently luxurious, but the EX90 is a step up from the cheaper EV9.

“I think it’s great you have a decent choice of interior colours and wood finishes for no extra cost in the EX90. Too many new cars force you to have dark and bland interior colour schemes, but not so in the classy EX90.“ – Doug Revolta, Head of Video

The EX90 is a big SUV, and the dimensions are very similar to the spacious Volvo XC90. Up front there’s plenty of room to get comfortable for the driver and front passenger. There’s lots of storage around as well, including a deep cubby under the central armrest, another open storage tray under the centre console with a carpeted base, and the door bins are a decent size.

In the middle row there’s plenty of space for tall adults to sit, with generous headroom and legroom making it easy to stretch out and relax on a long journey.

The wide interior, and flat floor, means sitting three adults side-by-side in decent comfort is possible as well. There are Isofix child seat mounts in the outer two seats. There isn’t one in the middle seat but there is a built-in pop-up booster seat, which is handy.

The standard fixed sunroof means it’s a very light and airy interior, and it’s built into the roof in such a way that actually improves headroom, rather than cuts it.

All EX90s have seven seats (which is still rare for electric cars) and access to the third row is good. The rear doors don’t open especially wide, but because they’re big they still allow a good amount of space to reach in and tilt the middle row forwards. There’s also plenty of room for clambering inside to get in the very back.

In the third row, space is very similar to what’s on offer in the rearmost seats of the petrol-powered Volvo XC90.

That means children will be fine, but adults will only want to do short stints in the very back, with little in the way of headroom and legroom. The middle row slides forwards (and reclines, too) so you can free up some third row legroom if you can negotiate with the person sitting in front of you.

Ultimately, though, the Kia EV9 is much better when it comes to rear seat space because it can seat adults in the third row more comfortably.

With all seven seats in place, the EX90 has 310 litres of boot space, which includes a generous underfloor storage space (where you’ll helpfully find a spot to store the load cover).

There’s also no loading lip and you can lower or raise the car’s rear suspension to help load things in and out of the boot. The button to operate that is located at the entrance of the boot on a touch-sensitive panel. You’ll also find the buttons to electrically lower and raise the third row seats (which happens quickly and easily – but they can’t be put up or down manually).

The only problem with the buttons is the fact they're touch-sensitive, and it’s not so obvious when you have or haven’t pressed them like it would be with a physical button. Instead, a gentle brush against it will launch them into action – a potential annoyance if a stray arm accidentally makes contact with it while loading things into the boot.

With the rear-most seats down, the overall boot capacity increases to 655 litres. Ultimately, the boot is smaller than what’s on offer from the Kia EV9 – but the EX90 is still a very practical car that’ll happily handle serious amounts of holiday luggage. Plus, it offers more room than five-seat rivals such as the Audi Q8 e-tron and BMW iX.

There’s also a 34-litre front boot in the EX90, which is very useful to have. It’s not just one open space, though: it’s split into a few sections. Still, there’s enough room to store a charging cable.

To open the front boot you have to release a lever in the front footwell then find the latch underneath the bonnet, as you would in a fuel-powered car. Given this car has been designed to be electric from the get-go (it’s totally unrelated to the XC90), it’s a shame there isn’t an easier or quicker way to access it using the key.

“While the third row of the EX90 might not be great for adults, the middle row absolutely is. I could sit very comfortably even in the middle seat, with plenty of headroom and legroom.” – Stuart Milne, Digital Editor

The Volvo EX90 is expensive and will make much more sense as a company car than a private buy because of its sky-high list price and low BIK tax rate (in common with all zero-emissions car).

True, the EX90 is cheaper than the eye-wateringly priced seven-seat Mercedes EQS SUV but costs considerably more than other electric seven-seaters including the Kia EV9 and Peugeot E-5008. The pricing also puts it up against a high-spec Audi Q8 e-tron or BMW iX.

Disappointingly, the first EX90s to be delivered to customers will be missing some equipment because the production timeline has suffered delays due to software issues. Some will be missing smartphone mirroring, and two systems that detect hazards at junctions then automatically apply the brakes. Plus, the car could also drain 3% of battery charge per 24 hours (up to 72 hours) while parked. Volvo has given no indication as to how long it will take to fix all this.

Software anomalies aside, the EX90 comes with a substantial equipment list in its one available trim level. Called Ultra, it gets lots of luxuries as standard, including four-zone climate control, massaging seats, a 25-speaker sound system and air suspension.

All versions can accept a maximum charging speed of 250kW, which is enough to give a top-up from 10-80% in around 30 minutes in ideal conditions if you can find a charger that’s quick enough. From a 7kW home wallbox charger, going from flat to full will take around 15 hours.

On our EX90 test drive of around 300 miles, which included a lot of start-stop traffic in warm weather (ideal conditions for an electric car), the trip computer was suggesting the car was achieving 3.1 miles/kWh, which isn’t great. So while it will be able to travel a long distance on a full charge, the electricity cost to do those miles will be more than in many other EVs.

Volvo says this is its safest car ever, but we’ll have to wait for the car to be crash-tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP to see if that's backed up by the results.

We don’t have any specific reliability data for the EX90, but as a brand Volvo finished a decent ninth out of 32 manufacturers in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey. Every EX90 comes with a three-year or 60,000-mile warranty.

“I'd be disappointed to pay this much for a new car only to be told that some of its promised tech wouldn’t be available for a while. On my test drive the key also left me locked out of the EX90 for a while, and other drivers were reporting similar issues – but Volvo said that technology is still in its late testing phase.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here