Battery size: 88 - 102 kWh
Miles per kWh: 4.4
Max charge rate: 350 kW
Range: 406 - 437 miles
Introduction
The new Volvo ES90 is, according to its maker “in a class of its own, combining the refined elegance of a saloon, the adaptability of a fastback, and the spacious interior and higher ground clearance of an SUV.”
Translated from marketing speak, that means that this 5.0-metre long premium electric car looks like a bit saloon-ish, but has a slightly higher ride height than a normal executive saloon, and has a hatchback boot instead of the deep, letterbox-shaped space that you get with traditional saloon body.
Despite all of that less conventional stuff, the Volvo ES90 is still a direct rival to cars like the BMW i5, Audi A6 e-tron and Mercedes EQE, to name just a few (so, not quite in a class of its own). In fact, possibly its biggest rival is of Volvo’s own making; the Polestar 3 shares a lot of tech with the ES90, and costs a very similar amount.
The ES90 gets a couple of battery options when it goes on sale later this year, both of which manage a range of over 400 miles,
It’s been a while since Volvo had a big saloon in its range and this is definitely the sibling of the EX90 isn’t it? With those familiar Volvo ‘Thor’s hammer’ headlamps and C-shaped tail lights, you can’t miss the brand style language. And let’s give a shout out to the colour - Auror Silver! It’s very Northern lights, isn’t it? And wouldn’t it look particularly lovely on an estate version of the ES90? No word on that, yet, though…
Range, battery and charging
The big Volvo gets a couple of different battery options. The ES90 Single Motor gets an 88kWh lithium-ion NMC battery, while the Twin Motor models get 102kWh, managing a WLTP range of 406 miles, while the Twin Motor models both achieve a 435 mile WLTP range. I’m particularly impressed that Volvo seems to have manages the same efficiency from the much more powerful Performance variant!
Anyway, that range is pretty good – it’s up there with the range in the VW ID.7, if not quite what the Mercedes EQE can manage.
As for charging, the Volvo ES90 can rapid charge at up to 350kW if you go for a dual motor model, while the single motor lags behind a bit with a 300kW peak charging speed. That means that you’ll get a 100-mile range boost into the ES90 in under ten minutes, or a 10-80% charge will take around 20- to 22 minutes depending on which battery you’ve got, and (of course) provided the rapid charger you’re plugged into can support those speeds.
The ES90 also comes with bi-directional charging, allowing you to power your home or return power to the grid that helps lower electricity cost. It’ll also be ready to go with Plug and Charge in some markets, including the UK. This is where you register your details with the car and then plug into a charger without having to tap your card or activate anything on an annoying app. Just plug in, and the car will charge. A heat pump is standard on every Volvo ES90, too, which helps with cold-weather efficiency.
Practicality and boot space
The Volvo ES90 gets a 468-litre boot, which is roomier than the boot you get in the Mercedes EQE but not as large as the BMW i5’s load space. Mind you, the boot aperture is nice and big, and with the seats dropped you get a whopping 1256 litre - although the seats don’t fold completely flat. There’s also a 22-litre frunk, which is about big enough for your de-icer and scraper but you’ll have to be a cable-folding ninja to get a cable in there.
As for the rear seats? Well, there’s tons of room back there; it’s really comfortable and gorgeous up front, and in the back. The pano roof is likely to be standard on all the ES90 models in the UK, which is great news as it really floods the interior with light.
And - praise be! - there’s a screen behind the steering wheel for your speed readout. You don’t have to rely on the central touchscreen for that, as you do with the Volvo EX30 and Tesla Model Y. Thank goodness for that.
Interior, design/styling and technology
Let's get back to that multitasking, because technology is where the ES90 really impresses. It’s the second Volvo - following the EX90 - to be built using a new ‘Superset tech stack’ and at the heart of it are two computers which use something called Dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin configuration. Nope, I have no idea what that means, either. But according to the geeks I know, it can do 508 trillion operations per second, which is about 15 times faster than the latest smartphones. It’s really fast. And it needs to be, if it’s to cope with all the complex systems on this car - for everything from driver assistance to safety tech. It also means that the ES90 will be upgradable in future with all sorts of autonomous driving features, although Volvo is tight lipped about when that may come.
The ES90 Ultra that I filmed for the early walkaround video of the ES90 is packed to the rafters with kit including a 14.5-inch central display, electric everything, front and rear heated seats, a 25-speaker Bowers and Wilkins stereo, wireless phone charging, panoramic glass roof and lots more. There’s even an air-purification system and pixel-LED lights on every ES90, as well as – this being a Volvo – loads of safety equipment. The voice assistant is actually really good, too, so you really can rely on it to change the cabin temperature, seat heating and all of those routine adjustments.
I’d be very happy with the Plus trim, though. It’s £10k cheaper than the Ultra, and does without the adaptive air suspension and glass roof, but it still gets a Bose sound system, heated front- and rear seats, electric seat adjustment, keyless entry, and all the driver assistance tech you could want.
Speaking of which, I can’t chat about a new Volvo with mentioning safety can I? Thanks again to all the tech and those super-fast chips, the ES90 takes safety to the next level with a system called Safe Space Technology, powered by a whole array of different sensors: one lidar, five radars, seven cameras, and 12 ultrasonic sensors. It scans the car’s surroundings, detecting obstacles even in complete darkness, and enabling proactive safety features like collision avoidance.
Inside, an advanced driver-understanding system keeps an eye on you to make sure you’re not getting too tired and that you’re paying proper attention to the road. It all combines to make it very safe. And that's why you want a Volvo, right?
Motors, performance and handling
I went out to the South of France to drive the Volvo ES90, and had a go in the Single Motor Extended Range version - which is the first to arrive over here, and I suspect will be one of the most popular models.
It’s not the punchiest in the range by any means, but with a 245hp electric motor powering the rear wheels, and a 0-62mph of 6.6 seconds it’s still more than fast enough. In fact, it feels really quite rapid around the narrow roads around Monaco and Nice; I never felt like I wanted more power! Having said that, there will also be a Volvo ES90 Twin Motor with 330hp, which will do 0-62mph in 5.4 seconds, or the Twin Motor Performance will arrive in the UK with 500hp and is capable of 0-62mph in 4.0 seconds! Am I the only one that thinks that’s a bit unnecessary in such a big car that’s clearly not a sports car?
Anyway, if you do fancy a bit of a sleeper car that has loads of performance beneath a luxury limo-like attitude then the Volvo ES90 has options to suit you. I reckon the Single Motor is the one to go for, though.
I drove the Ultra model, which gets superb dual-chamber air suspension that constantly adapts to the road, softening bumps and keeping everything smooth and balanced. It glides over rough surfaces, switching between soft and sporty as you drive - the kind of tech that makes even the bumpiest streets feel like freshly laid tarmac. It’s wafty - and glorious. I loved it!
Every ES90 model comes with a one-pedal drive system, too, so you can speed up or slow down just by using the accelerator, or it’ll even bring itself to a stop without needing the brake pedal. It's smooth, simple and makes driving feel almost effortless and is very nicely calibrated.
I also spent a bit of time playing about with the ES90’s driver assistance systems, including the lane-keep assist and the semi-autonomous Pilot Assist mode, which steers to keep you in the white lines, keeps you a safe distance from the car in front and will even respond to a change in the speed limit. I often struggle a bit with these systems as I just don’t trust them to do what I expect them to do, but the Volvo’s seemed a bit erratic by the standards of the best semi-autonomous drive systems. It would apply steering force quite abruptly if it sensed a white line too close, and it often misread speed limit signs.
I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt, here, as I haven’t had a go in the UK. As with the infotainment and other software on the ES90, the assistance functions can also be improved and changed via standard over-the-air updates, but even so – I think I just expected Volvo’s assistance stuff to be a bit more intuitive. On this basis I’d say that Tesla and BMW are a bit better, for now at least!
Running Costs and Pricing
The Volvo ES90 starts at just under £70,000 for the Single Motor Extended Range Plus, or you can step up to Ultra – but it’ll cost nearly £10,000 extra! You can only get the Twin Motor models in the Ultra trim, making them a lot more expensive; it’ll cost you around £84,000 for the ES90 Twin Motor Ultra, or over £88,000 for the Twin Motor Performance.
Most people considering the Volvo ES90 will be buying the car on a business lease, which sees monthly costs come in at roughly £1,000 - £1,400 depending on which model you go for.
Verdict
I really do like this car. I’d definitely have it over the EX90 unless I really needed the seven-seat layout that the SUV offers! The ES90 is just so lovely to sit in, the tech’s really impressive, and the price actually isn’t unreasonable for the range and tech – not when you compare it to its obvious rivals, anyway. Sure, I have been thinking that Polestar’s now doing Volvo better than Volvo, if you know what I mean, so it’ll be interesting to see what you lovely lot think of this compared to the Polestar 3. I actually think I’d have this over the Polestar… Let us know which one you’d have, in the comments on the YouTube vid!
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