Volvo has pulled back the curtain on its upcoming ES90 electric sedan with 434 miles of range and a tech stack that includes Nvidia’s powerful Drive AGX Orin computer in a dual setup.
Volvo has been trickling news out about the ES90 over the past several weeks, but today’s announcement includes our first full look at the sedan and a full rundown on its specs, including an 800-volt architecture for fast charging and the aforementioned Nvidia system-on-a-chip.
The ES90 boasts Volvo’s longest range, fastest charging speed, and most advanced computing system of all its vehicles. The sedan will arrive with 700km of range (434.9 miles) based on the generous WLTP standard. (The EPA rating is likely to be less.)
The ES90 will come in three different variants. There’s the base model with a single motor mounted on the rear axle, with 245kW (329 horsepower) of power output and 354 lb-ft of torque. The dual-motor all-wheel drive version can put out 330kW (442hp) of power and 494 lb-ft of torque. And the dual-motor Performance ES90 can churn out 500kW (670hp) of power and 635 lb-ft of torque.
The single-motor trim sports a 92kWh battery, 88kWh of which is usable, and can accept up to 300kW of DC fast charging. Both dual-motor setups include 106kWh batteries (102kWh usable) and can draw in 350kW of fast charging.
The ES90 tops out at 112mph, as per Volvo’s policy of speed-limiting its vehicles. But the acceleration specs sound impressive, with a zero to 60mph time of 3.9 seconds for the Performance trim and 6.7 and 5.3 seconds, respectively, on the single- and dual-motor setups.
In addition, the ES90 will showcase new battery management software, allowing it to gain 300km (186 miles) of range in just 10 minutes of charging, while a 10–80 percent charge will be completed in 20 minutes. The 800-volt system is unique in Volvo’s lineup, but it’s comparable to other fast-charging EVs, like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6.
The acceleration specs sound impressive, with a zero to 60mph time of 3.9 seconds for the Performance trim.
The overall profile is tall and slightly boxy. Volvo said it wanted to purposefully blur the line between sedan and SUV, which is probably why the ES90 seems so reminiscent of the Polestar 2 fastback. (Polestar and Volvo are essentially cousins, both operating under the umbrella of parent company Geely.) Distinctively, it’s a high-riding sedan, with a height of 60.9 inches, placing it alongside other tall-ish sedans like the Toyota Crown (60.6 inches).
The ES90’s roofline is sleek, its door handles flush, and it has a lidar sensor mounted on the roof. The front end resembles the EX90, featuring Volvo’s signature “Thor’s hammer” LED headlights, with new C-shaped LED lights in the rear. There’s ample cargo space, with 424 liters of room that can grow to 733 liters with the rear seats folded down. The ES90 also features a 22-liter frunk (front trunk) for charging cable storage. The panoramic roof is electrochromic for adjustable transparency on sunny days, too.
Like other Volvo EVs, the ES90 features Google’s built-in infotainment system, which includes native apps like Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Cockpit Platform powers the 5G system. And the five-inch instrument cluster resides alongside a larger 14.5-inch center screen display.
Like the EX90 SUV, the ES90 is built on Volvo’s new Superset tech stack, which includes dual Nvidia computers with the ability to perform 508 trillion operations per second (TOPS). This will come in handy when managing functionalities such as “AI-based, state-of-the-art active safety features, car sensors and efficient battery management.”
The ES90’s roofline is sleek, its door handles flush, and it has a lidar sensor mounted on the roof.
The ES90 is built on Volvo’s SPA2 architecture and will be the second vehicle, after the EX90, to be based on the Superset tech stack. Superset is a modular engineering platform that the company says will be used to make safer cars more efficiently and to improve them over time through over-the-air software updates.
This is Volvo’s sixth all-electric vehicle, joining the EX90 SUV, EM90 van (China only), EX40 SUV, EC40 crossover, and EX30 compact SUV. The Swedish automaker had said it would be 100 percent EV sales by 2030, but it recently updated that timeline to reflect the global slowdown in EV sales. Volvo is now saying that it will rely on a mix of hybrids and battery-electric vehicles to reach its new goal of selling “90 to 100 percent… electrified models” by 2030.
The ES90 is an interesting addition, especially considering most US automakers have dropped sedans from their lineups in favor of trucks and SUVs. Volvo is hoping its electric sedan can fill a gap in the market, though it could prove difficult. Volkswagen recently canceled plans to sell its own electric sedan, the ID.7, in the US.
The ES90 will join the recently facelifted gas-powered S90 sedan, which starts in the US at around $59,000. Starting today, the EV version is available to order in most European countries, though Volvo has yet to announce when it will be available in the US. The automaker also did not disclose the price.
“We will share additional details on the US ES90 offer at a later date, closer to customer deliveries,” Volvo spokesperson Sophia Durr said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
