The Volvo EX90 is the brand’s largest electric SUV and can be seen as a reinterpreted version of the ICE-powered XC90. Developed on a platform dedicated solely to electric vehicles, the EX90 has two electric motors under the bonnet with 517 horsepower on tap and a 107-kWh battery, by far the most generous of all models taking part in EUROCHARGE.

The Swedish flagship promises (on paper) a maximum range of 570-614 kilometers, and during our test we came very close to achieving it, especially on alpine passes. What’s more, even though we’re talking about a 400V architecture, Volvo has managed to implement charging powers of up to 250 kW.

Volvo EX90: daily infographics on consumption, real range, charging costs

Volvo EX90 by the numbers:

• Total distance traveled: 4635 km
• Total charging stops: 13 sessions on the road + 5 overnight charges at the hotel
• Total time spent while charging on the road: 7 hours and 20 minutes (440 minutes)
• Total energy charged: 1033.7 kWh, of which 322 kWh in hotels
• Total cost of charges (hotel charges were free): between €277.6 and €562.2 (depending on the charging app used)
• Fuel cost comparison (estimated per route):
  • A gasoline car of similar power (estimated average fuel consumption 12 liters/100 km, average price €1.8/liter) would have cost about €1,1001.
  • An equivalent diesel variant (estimated average fuel consumption 9 liters/100 km, average price €1.75/liter) would have cost around €730.
• Weighted average fuel consumption over the whole route: 23 kWh/100 km
• Weighted real average range: 470.7 km

Important mention on the driving style: Throughout the entire test, the car was driven in “Normal” mode. It was driven steadily, within the speed limits, with an approach as close as possible to the legal speed limit on each road segment.

Conclusions and observations

• Efficiency to match its size: As expected, the Volvo EX90 had the highest weighted average fuel consumption of all cars in EUROCHARGE (23 kWh/100 km), which is about right for a 2.7-ton, 7-seat, 517-hp SUV.
• Marathon run: The 107-kWh (usable) battery gave it excellent abilities on long trips. It reached a peak real range of 563.2 km on the day we crossed the Swiss Alps and completed the Stelvio and Dolomites routes with ZERO charging stops.
• Fast charging: The estimated time of 32-33 minutes for a 10-80% charge on such a large battery is a very good performance, essential to making long trips viable. However, the high energy consumption resulted in the highest total time spent charging (440 minutes).

Impressions of those who drove the Volvo EX90 in EUROCHARGE by Schaeffler

Tibi Buzdugan (Electromobilitate.com)

The Volvo EX90 is currently the Swedish brand’s largest electric model. It retains all the features of an XC90 – generous interior space, comfort, excellent soundproofing and a high level of safety – plus the advantages of an electric platform: no vibration and engine noise, plus instant torque distributed to all four wheels.

For a car that’s five meters long, weighs almost three tons and has a classic SUV shape, the EX90 offers a decent range of about 400 kilometers combined (highway and Transfăgărășan, i.e. twisty mountain roads). Granted, it has a 111-kWh battery pack and I averaged about 25 kWh/100 km, but honestly, I don’t think anyone expects a living room on wheels to offer the same energy efficiency as a Dacia Spring going downhill.

When you get to a fast-charging station of at least 150 kW, the waiting time is reasonable: on average, about 30 minutes to charge 50% of the battery. On paper, it has a maximum charging power of 250 kW, but it behaves just like a Tesla: you see the value on the screen when you arrive with the battery almost empty, blink, and then watch it quickly drop to 150 kW at 20%, and then continue to gradually drop below 100 kW at 75%.

I thought the handling was excellent. It’s definitely a car that keeps fatigue away after driving over 1,000 kilometers. The autopilot is exceptional, I’d say the most natural I’ve tested so far. It doesn’t jerk at all, changes lanes very smoothly and can be used without any problems even on very twisty roads like the Transfăgărășan. And if you get stuck in traffic and end up spending more than three hours between charging breaks, one of the five seat massage programs can work wonders and bring you back to life. And let’s not forget the headlights: when you see High Definition Pixel on the options list, you can be sure that night driving is just as relaxing as driving in the middle of the day.

What I missed most were the physical buttons. Minimalism is a trend taken to the extreme by Tesla and picked up by most automakers, but it often seems like design decisions are made by people who only design the cars, not drive them. For most Volvo owners, the brand is synonymous with car safety, and searching the menu for buttons and tweaks isn’t exactly ideal behind the wheel. This is confirmed by the on-screen alerts that pop up when you take your eyes off the road for more than 2-3 seconds. From this point of view, I would have much preferred the old design line of the 2020 generations, which still had physical controls for adjusting the air vents, four buttons for window control (instead of three now, 2+1, a solution also adopted by Volkswagen) and separate buttons for adjusting the rearview mirrors and steering wheel.

All in all, the EX90 strikes me as a car for someone who needs a lot of space, values comfort and safety, and either accepts the compromise of interior minimalism or is a fan of this design style.

Andrei Nedelea (InsideEVs)

Volvo wanted to transpose pretty much everything that made the XC90 a worldwide success for over twenty years into a new electric SUV when it created the EX90. And it largely succeeded. Although it looks like a slightly more futuristic XC90, the two models are not mechanically related. The EX90 is built on the SPA2 platform still found under the Polestar 3 and the forthcoming ES90, but Volvo has somehow managed to make the electric car convey much the same character as the equivalent ICE model only in an even quieter package.

I drove it almost 700 km today from Hungary to the Austrian Alps and it doesn’t feel like such a long drive. Our model has air suspension that makes any road feel smoother than it really is. And considering that the highways in the two countries are very good anyway, you practically feel like you’re floating and see the color of the asphalt change from time to time. But that’s about it.

The suspension has impressed me the most on the EX90 and I find it to be one of the best air suspensions I’ve had the opportunity to test in recent years. It’s even ahead of its XC90 sibling in this respect, helped by the more sophisticated air cushions, the slightly longer wheelbase and higher mass (just over 2.8 tons) combined with a lower center of gravity given by the 107-kWh battery pack it carries in its belly.

It controls its mass well, though, and doesn’t lean too alarmingly in corners. There’s plenty of power in the top twin-engined, 517 HP variant. Peak torque of 910 Nm simply catapults the EX90 towards the horizon with the verve of a smaller, lighter vehicle and makes you feel quite invincible when driving it. Knowing that it’s a Volvo that puts extra premium on safety makes the feeling even more obvious.

Considering the EX90’s mass and power, the end-of-day consumption of 25 kWh/100 km is quite reasonable. What surprised me is that even after the highway segments where we caught a lot of road works and had to abide by 80 km/h or even 60 km/h speed limits in some places for quite long distances, the average consumption never dropped below 24 kWh/100 km.

Although I generally prefer lower, lighter, sportier cars – I’m very curious about the Audi A6 e-tron and Mazda 6e on this tour – I understand the attraction to a big Volvo SUV feeding on electrons and almost want one now. What surprised me was that although we only charged it from stations that could deliver at least 300 kW, our EX90 didn’t draw more than 143 kW, although we also charged it from 37% with an ambient temperature (theoretically) almost ideal to see it approaching its maximum charging output of 250 kW.

And frankly, on today’s stretch of B-roads, I felt it a bit more incisive. Or was it the monotony of those 500 kilometers spent on the highway?

Radu Hângănuț (Euronews Romania)

If Volvo EX90 were your classmate, he’d be that tall student with banker parents who moved a year ago from a Nordic country, an Olympian in all the exact sciences, and who you don’t even have the guts to ask if he’s taking French, because it’s clear to you that he doesn’t know the concept of compromise from principles.

The EX90 comes to us with the same classic Volvo elements that have become almost pop-culture over time, but demonstrated on every meter of asphalt where the cars in this family run with the confidence that a dolphin can move through water, regardless of the relief and depth. “Since 1959” emblazoned on the seatbelt buckle is the ultimate statement from a brand that essentially invented road safety as we know it today, gave it to the world to consume (and then ignore when the world got its head around it) and now parades it around. When you can afford to write that, you’ve clearly put more airbags and safety systems in your car than most of our city hospitals have.

It doesn’t get lost on the corners and doesn’t leave you with any backward impressions. It shouldn’t. That’s why it’s a Volvo. Instead, you get the best out of its mammoth dimensions: a large boot in standard form (689 liters with seats 6 and 7 in their sleeper positions), huge if you fold down the seat (2,135 liters) and still decent if you want to take the family and the neighbors’ twins on vacation (324 liters).

I was also pleasantly surprised by the consumption. You’d think it’d have a big battery, so it’s got plenty of room to go. It does. But it’s also 3 tons when you launch it on the road with people and luggage. Still, on a day of consecutive climbs to 2,500 m, descents and highway, the consumption stayed close to the official zone: around 22 kWh/100 km.

But we wouldn’t appreciate the good things if there weren’t some to sneer at. The minimalism Volvo had accustomed us to, and the way it hid technology so that it served rather than blinded, seems, with the EX90 and its siblings, to remain specific to previous generations. In the EX90, everything happens on-screen. But everything. Maybe too everything. It’s one thing to adjust the temperature from a menu, quite another to turn on the lights, adjust the steering wheel and open the glovebox by accessing pages and selecting check marks next to the buttons.

Marco Badea (Explicativ.com)

You know that guy who always goes out in a shirt, has an athletic silhouette, is dressed smart casual and you turn your head because he has attitude? You know that woman dressed in a fine silk dress, tight on the body, with high heeled shoes and curls in the wind, that all the men turn their heads after?

This is the Volvo EX90. This car has a special attitude on the road, it stands out with elegance and it empowers you when you drive it. You can’t get too worked up behind the wheel of this car, because driving the Volvo EX90 is like a therapy session. You can collect your thoughts, you feel protected by the car, and the comfort is of the highest standard I’ve ever experienced in a car.

In other words, the Volvo EX90 is like a teacher who teaches you how to ride gallantly on public roads. You don’t need to impress anyone with anything, stomp on the accelerator or jerk the car around corners for the adrenaline rush. The Volvo EX90 isn’t a car that makes you want that. You’ll want to feel it when you drive it. And there’s plenty to feel.

I kind of abused the in-seat massage while driving from Austria to Switzerland. I’ve tried several programs, as he has several, and this option is not just a luxury as some might think, it’s specifically designed to invigorate you on the go on long drives.

What’s more, the car has a highly intelligent adaptive cruise control system that’s so smooth you don’t even feel it. It adapts itself to the road, it adjusts itself to the speed readouts on the turn signals, and it doesn’t jerk you off when you take complete control. It’s all silent. It’s the quietest car I’ve ever been in.

What’s more, the one pedal drive system is extremely efficient. There’s simply no need to use the brakes, because the Volvo EX90 brakes as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator (if you’ve activated the system).

I said about this car that it’s like a teacher mainly because it makes you drive on the road in a regular way and feel really good about it, without having to panic that someone is tailgating you, someone is honking at you or someone is in a hurry and overtaking you on the right.

This car disciplines you by the way it makes you feel behind the wheel. It makes you feel valued and that you belong to a higher standard. And that feeling beats any form of Meltevan adrenaline rush when you’re outraged that Europe’s roads are driven by following the rules, not breaking them.

This car also has such a fine music system that even if you turn the volume all the way up, you can hear yourself and the other passengers without screaming. Just possibly raise your voice a little louder. It’s so clearly thought out that you feel like you’re in an expensive car.

And as we entered Switzerland, we listened to Ana Coman’s “Contratimp” and it was a perfect fit, because this car has something of the metaphor of the song and doesn’t let you take chaotic steps in traffic. It sets a calculated pace. In other words, the Volvo EX90’s time trial would be any deviation from the rules, which this car teaches you to correct.

As for range, it’s a perfect electric car, I’d say. I charged it once and drove 536 km with my colleague Adi Mitrea. The average consumption was 20 kWh/100 km and at the end of the day we had a range of 535 km.

Mircea Meșter (Autocritica)

The Volvo EX90 carries forward into the electric age the idea of the apartment on wheels that its still-relevant ICE sibling, the XC90, has been carefully building for years. Basically, it’s the kind of car you get in and wonder if you need a building permit, not a driver’s license. It is, by far, the bulkiest, tallest and heaviest car on our tour, a Scandinavian packet on the road.

With that in mind, I set off on the road over three Swiss passes: Furka, Grimsel and Susten. Except that after the first 20 kilometers of winding roads, I completely forgot I was behind the wheel of a 2.7-ton SUV. I found myself instinctively ‘cruising’ the corners (with sense), the car ‘hugging’ me and listening to my commands. For a nearly 5-meter car, the EX90 is shockingly agile and dynamically well-tuned when your ride is a ride, not a special rally test.

Of course, physics never forgives anyone. On the way down, you feel the inertia of the gauge, which would throw you on your nose if you were reckless. On the plus side, Volvo has turned gravity into a super-charger. On the spectacular 18-kilometer descent of the Susten Pass, a visual ecstasy I recommend to anyone in need of natural therapy, the EX90 put no less than 8 percent back into the 107 kWh battery! That’s about 8.5 kWh. In English, it charged itself, from the brakes, faster than an 11 kW AC station at home or at the hotel.

In atmosphere, the EX90 is a mix of a Swedish house on the edge of a forest and the angular architecture of an Oslo concert hall. First contact with the minimalist interior is a mixture of confusion and awe. Where are the buttons? Why is cruise control activated by pressing the gear lever down, like some kind of technological hide-and-seek? But once you’ve befriended the Swedish logic, there’s a revelation. It’s simple. The little screen in front of you gives you exactly what you need, clearly and concisely. And that huge tablet in the center is like Tesla, only better. If only because it has Apple CarPlay seamlessly integrated and Google Maps native.

And then there’s the comfort. The seats are so good, you get out more rested than you got in. The massage function has been abused on the highway, I admit, taking care of my labored back. The space is monumental – between my crest and the ceiling I think I can fit a head. And the materials are a lesson in design: wool, recycled textiles, fine eco-leather. A mobile Scandinavian living room. A huge cue ball for the Bose basic audio system, which sounds unexpectedly good. I can’t say it’s not worth breaking the bank for Bowers & Wilkins, the top option, but you’ll get good music anyway.

And after all that running, with three passes and highways, consumption: 19 kWh/100 km. A marvelous figure for how much shade this car gets on the road. Some 563 kilometers of real range calculated on what we did and crossed yesterday. The most of any car on the tour.

Constantin Ciobanu (Autocritica, Adevărul)

Ten square meters is a kind of estate on the Stelvio Pass, and on the Gavia Pass this surface turns you into a landowner. That’s how rich I was driving my Volvo EX90 on these passes today.

Today’s 321 kilometers may not seem like much, but it amounted to almost 8 hours of driving. On the plus side, the EX90 didn’t need charging today despite a day ahead that involved crossing three passes. Switzerland also threw the Julier Pass in our way – a climb up to 2,284 meters. Descended a little to fill our lungs with oxygen for the imperial Stelvio and the 2,758 meters, and the end of the day caught us on the Gavia “path” which also climbs to 2,620 meters. Lots of climbing today, but the Volvo still had 33% battery charge. The car is extremely efficient at harvesting energy. Average consumption is 21 kWh/100 km.

Great on the outside and on the inside. Today I was spoiled behind the wheel with the massage provided by the seats and a few more degrees inside because it rained continuously outside, and at times I saw outside temperatures of 7-8 degrees Celsius. The suspension provides the comfort you’d expect from such a dreadnought, but the mass forces you to be restrained. You’ll feel the pounds under braking and the slight tendency to sit on a wider track than you’d like.

An impressive model, which loses a bit of the Swedish brand’s beautiful identity by adopting ergonomic solutions ‘invented’ by another manufacturer. Too much of socializing with this model is done via the central display.

Dragoș Băltățeanu (Autocritica, Auto Test)

The Volvo EX90 is part of a new wave of electric cars from the Scandinavian automaker. It’s the biggest in its realm, and is basically the counterpart to the XC90, the much more popular Swedish full-size SUV with thermal engines under the hood.

It’s big, it’s got seven seats, it’s basically a sort of premium studio on wheels. It rides like a floating carpet giving it that special feel we’ve never seen from a British SUV brand before. On paper, it’s a bit too big for what we’ve squeezed in here in EUROCHARGE by Schaeffler. On some mountain passers, the EX90 is as wide as the road, but it nonetheless waltzed down alpine roads with uncommon grace despite the 2.7 tons in its resume.

The steering is well balanced, the body doesn’t lean too much, you always know where you are on the road, and the one-pedal mode allows you to brake without touching the brakes and recover some energy. In today’s agenda we covered 323 kilometers in mixed weather, a good chunk of which was highway, then winding roads through mountain valleys plus Ronda Sella, the tour of the Dolomite passes. 5 hours and 24 minutes of driving, 21 kWh/100 km and 35% battery left at the end of the day. No charging needed.

I appreciated the on-road handling, the package-like comfort on the highway, and the Bose audio system that played the best soundtracks today. But it’s a bit tricky with the Tesla-inspired digital controls that Volvo decided to adopt. I searched through the menus for minutes to find the digital button to defog the rear window. It’s hidden in the climate control menu. But it’s all habit. In time, you come to appreciate the screen in front of the steering wheel that offers clear, concise information with impeccable graphics and the multimedia system with Android Automotive and native Google Maps.

Dan Scarlat (TopGear Romania)

The EX90 is the most expensive, safe, powerful, roomy and heavy Volvo ever. What’s more, excluding the long-wheelbase version of the S90, available only in China, the EX90 is also the longest Volvo ever. So this is an absolute champion of ‘Scandinavian excess’ (a completely unusual term anyway), but at the same time it aims to be as environmentally friendly an option as possible.

Stylistically, the EX90 doesn’t bring a major leap forward, but fits naturally into an evolution of Volvo’s current language, launched with the XC90 more than 10 years ago. In fact, it looks like the XC90 and EX30 have made a child suffering from gigantism. And one that’s turned out special, in the most positive sense, thanks to the blinking ‘little eyes’ (for those who don’t know, the EX90 uses a retractable headlight system, in which the main LED units are covered with movable covers that integrate DRLs and automatically pop up when night lights are activated).

However, design in an already conservative line does not mean a complete absence of revolution. In these times of rapidly changing norms, Volvo is not standing still, and progress often chooses paths that can be a headache… for conservatives. The EX90 incorporates many changes to traditional Volvo ergonomics: door handles are retractable for the first time (for aerodynamic reasons), and adjustments to exterior mirrors, steering wheel, climate control and so on are made from the tablet menu and buttons on the steering wheel. These changes may seem unusual to traditional Volvo customers, but will probably be extended to the entire range in the future. In this respect, the EX90 represents a leap comparable to the XC90 a decade ago.

I drove this model on the longest day of the tour, almost 1,200 km, mostly on the highway. Although it’s the biggest Volvo ever built, fuel economy was very good: about 23 kWh/100 km, helped, it’s true, by the many straight and favorable stretches on the route. But the comfort was regal, thanks to the large seats with massage function, generous space and excellent soundproofing.