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This is the Volvo EX90, the Swedish company’s new flagship SUV, and a car that upholds Volvo’s hard-won reputation as a safety pioneer.
The range-topping EV comes with Lidar technology fitted as standard across the range to detect other cars on the road and provide Level 3 autonomous capability, but also features an interior radar system to prevent children and dogs being left in hot cars.
Visually, it sticks close to the design laid out by 2021’s Volvo Concept Recharge show car, and also bears a strong resemblance to sister brand Polestar’s new 3, which shares its SPA2 electric platform. The design is characterised by a shallow glass house, tapering roofline and vertical rear window, though some of the concept’s more ostentatious details, including the rear-hinged rear doors and four individual seats have been toned down for production.
But the concept’s main design themes are carried over intact, inducing a giant 14.5-in portrait touchscreen in the center console that is used to operate almost every function, because there are very few physical buttons. Volvo says this cleaner, less cluttered layout makes the EX90 safer to drive – though you won’t have to go far to find someone who thinks the exact opposite about bundling every control into a screen. In its favor, the EX90 does feature Google’s Android Automotive OS, which should mean it responds well to voice commands and can accept over-air updates.
The touchscreen is paired with that other must-have for any new car, a small digital instrument cluster ahead of the driver. As with the exterior design, there’s plenty of visual (and hardware) crossover between the EX90 and Polestar 3 inside the cabin.
Volvo is preparing to go EV-only by 2030, and the EX90 is its first big step in that direction. The new car will only be offered as an EV, but Volvo knows that some buyers aren’t ready to ditch their ICE powertrains and still want their safety fix. That’s why the old XC90 will be refreshed and remain on sale as a PHEV, though the EX looks so much sexier, you’d really have to hate electric cars not to pick the EV.
This is a developing story and will be updated soon.
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