The new family wagon is a plush electric computer on wheels; set up for a degree of self-drive beyond that delivered to NZ market models.

FANCY an electric seven seat sports utility brimming with safety and smart-driving tech that offers a range of more than 600 kilometres?

Volvo has taken the covers off its all-electric replacement for the XC90.

Though it’s still a way from New Zealand introduction – the brand made clear at the overnight presentation that production from a new plant in a new location (South Carolina in the United States) won’t begin until late 2023, a timeline enforcing public availability here won’t start until 2024 – the EX90 nonetheless seems set to generate quite a lot of excitement and anticipation. Ben Montgomery, Volvo NZ’s boss, says his franchises are already taking local inquiry.

“We have already taken early expressions of interest at our retailers. We expect to see first arrivals from 2024.”

Of the car, he says it brings together “state of the art tech with seven seat practicality and cutting edge design. Safety is in our DNA and this takes it to the next level.”

With Volvo-dom it stands as the first in a series of new electric cars the Swedish brand is promising to launch every year between now and 2030, after which it will only sell electric cars.

The EX90 revealed to media is a Twin Motor, with a dual motor powertrain for all-wheel-drive.

There are two editions, Standard and Performance, the first making 300kW and 770Nm the other 380kW and 910Nm of torque.

Zero to 100kmh in 5.9 seconds is cited for the entry model – not bad for a car weighing 2818kg – and the Performance takes that down by a second. Like all new Volvos, the car in any format will have a top speed of 180kmh as a safety and good citizenship sop.

UK media are suggesting the Performance model in fully-kitted form could be a $185,000 spend – a substantial step-up on the current XC90, which in base form places just under $100k.

But the current car, of course, runs a petrol-electric drivetrain that could be assumed to be cheaper to produce. Volvo hasn’t ruled out the possibility of hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants of the EX90. Probability of those being cheaper than the full electric models seems logical.

The design relationship between old and new is apparent from the latest continuing with a bluff silhouette, sharp shoulder line and “Thor hammer” headlights, but the five metre-long EX90 is entirely beneath the skin, being on the same pure-electric SPA2 platform as the recently revealed Polestar 3.

Seating for seven and a decent boot – here it’s 310-litres growing to 655 litres with the third row folded away and an ultimate 1915 with just the front seats in place – are type signatures. The full EV editions also feature a sizeable under-bonnet storage area.

The dominant feature of the cabin is an upright 15-inch central touchscreen with immense computing power. Google and 5G connectivity are built in; it also features the Qualcomm Technologies Snapdragon' Cockpit Platform and graphics were developed by Epic Games.

The driver has a widescreen digital display to consider and a head-up display as well. Phone key technology allowing owners to use their smartphone to automatically unlock the car as they approach is standard.

The car delivers Volvo's first use of Dolby Atmos, built into the Bowers and Wilkins audio system featuring 25 speakers, but what might excite technophiles more is that EX90 carries hardware enabled for use by later over-the-air updates.

 It has bi-directional charging - allowing use of the car's battery to charge up external devices, including other electric Volvos, and perhaps even a house – and a ‘plug and charge’ software that allows an owner to just plug the car into a suitable charger and it automatically sorts out the payment without any other input needed.

Each model is equipped with a 111kWh (107kWh usable) battery and the range between charges (said to take as little as 30 minutes on DC for the 10-80 percent benchmark) is quoted as 600 kilometres for the entry, with the Performance just 6km under that.

The EX90 is kitted out with Volvo’s latest array of radars and camera systems to make it the firm’s safest car yet.

It has enough sensors to theoretically support what Volvo calls ‘unsupervised driving’ in the future, once legislation allows it to be enabled. Realistically, this translates to ability to enable Level three semi-automated driving capabilities, one step beyond the current norm. Level Three means a car can perform most driving tasks, but human over-ride is still required.

To achieve that it includes eight cameras, five radars, 16 ultrasonic sensors and – take note Elon Musk - a lidar sensor.

It says that the latter is a vital component. It can detect pedestrians at a distance of up to 250 metres and “something as small and dark as a tyre on a black road” at a distance of 120 metres. Even at night. The set-up communicates with the model’s NVIDIA DRIVE onboard computer, which processes road information in real time. 

 There’s heaps more smart stuff still. Internal passenger monitoring cameras can detect driver drowsiness and even possible idleness and intoxication in conjunction with sensing erratic driving behaviour, which could initiate alerts and safety features. There is also an interior radar that is sensitive enough to detect a sleeping baby or animal breathing, and alert the driver if they have been left behind.

UK specifications have already been sorted and perhaps these give indication to how the model will format in NZ. The British market cars ride on air suspension and sport 22-inch alloy wheels, The high-end model for Brits is the Ultra model, which have the lidar system and driver attention monitor, along that Bowers and Wilkins HiFi, recycled fabric upholstery and a panoramic glass roof. A four-zone climate control setup is also fitted as standard, along with a cabin air purifier, soft-close doors and pixel LED headlights.