Volvo EX90 first drive: posh EV is stylish and comfortable, but is it worth £100k?

It takes about five minutes behind the wheel of the Volvo EX90 to understand that this really is a wonderfully luxurious car. Whether it’s the comfortable, cosseting seats or the way it makes rough UK streets feel race track smooth, it immediately feels like an electric Range Rover for people who prefer minimalist interior design to wingback armchairs.

It’s not as expensive as the Range Rover, but it’s far from cheap. At launch you have a choice of two versions – a dual-motor, fully loaded Ultra model for just under £100k, or go for the Performance option that costs just over.

That puts it right between the two main all-electric alternatives, being cheaper than the underwhelming Mercedes EQS SUV, but considerably more expensive than the excellent (and Carwow award-winning) Kia EV9.

So what are the highlights? For a start, the Volvo EX90 is simply lovely to drive. Sure, you’ll notice speed bumps a bit more than you might expect around town, but as your speed picks up the road becomes buttery smooth. On the motorway there’s next to no wind and road noise to worry about, either.

The cabin isn’t as overtly posh as something like a Range Rover, but the minimalist design oozes sophistication and the materials generally feel a level above what you get in the Kia EV9.

That large infotainment display works really well, with sharp graphics and your most-used features generally being easy to find. It’s a bit too Tesla-inspired though, with everything from the glovebox to the steering wheel adjustment going through the screen, which is unnecessarily complicated and something that also frustrated on the Volvo EX30. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren’t available until an over-the-air update comes along in 2025, either.

Space is generally good. There’s loads of room in the front and the boot is massive – at 655 litres with the third-row folded flat there’s more capacity than most people will ever need, even if the Kia EV9 is bigger still. With the third row in place there’s similar boot space to a small hatchback.

However, that third row is largely unusable for anyone other than children because legroom is pretty tight, though you can slide the middle row forward to make things a bit more bearable. Speaking of which, those in the middle row have decent enough legroom and headroom, but the EX90 isn’t as wide as you’d think, so shoulder room can be a bit tight if you want a third person in the middle.

In terms of range, the Volvo EX90 has a massive battery, which offers an official range of 374 miles. This is a big, heavy SUV, though, and unsurprisingly efficiency isn’t great; we saw 2.4 miles per kWh, which is fairly normal for this type of EV but would equate to a range of around 260 miles. At least fast charging is very impressive, with a maximum speed of 250kW.

It’s important to note that our test car was the dual-motor version that’s available at launch – as is so often the case with electric cars, the less powerful single-motor model is likely the one to wait for. The dual-motor’s creamy surge of enormous power is incredibly satisfying, but totally unnecessary. The single-motor model will go further on a charge and cost less, too.

Imperfections aside, the Volvo EX90 is everything you want from an electric Volvo SUV – it’s lovely inside, smooth and comfortable to drive and will be practical enough for most. At launch it’s very expensive and the real-world range is rather underwhelming though.

You’ll want to check out the latest Volvo EX90 deals on Carwow to get the best price, then. You can also check out other new Volvo deals, as well as browse used Volvo from our network of trusted dealers. You can sell your car through Carwow, too.

Wowscore: 8/10

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