Volvo EX90 Review & Prices

The Volvo EX90 is an electric SUV that’s big, spacious and comfortable to drive, with seven seats as standard. It’s the brand’s flagship car that’s designed to be an alternative to other posh EVs such as the five-seat BMW iX and Polestar 3.

However, obvious seven-seat EV alternatives are few and far between, with the closest being the Kia EV9. The Volvo’s considerably more expensive than the Kia, though, so it’s a bit like buying clothes from Stone Island – you’re paying extra for the badge, even if it’s not immediately obvious whether it’s worth the extra over a mainstream brand.

The exterior design is certainly a classy one. Volvo has been using similar designs for a decade now, yet its cars still look as desirable as they ever did. The EX90 gets a closed off grille and a cool evolution of the Thor’s Hammer headlights that sees the daytime running element open up to reveal the main beam beneath.

Volvo EX90: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 375 miles
Efficiency: 2.9mi/kWh
Battery size: 107kWh
Max charge speed: 250kW
Charge time AC: 16hrs, 0-100%, 7kW
Charge time DC: 30mins, 10-80%, 250kW
Charge port location: Left side rear
Power outputs: 408hp / 517hp

Inside it’s a lesson in minimalist design – where a Tesla looks plain and uninviting, the EX90 looks cosy and thoughtfully executed. It’s refreshingly calming compared with the in-your-face flashiness of a Mercedes cabin.

It’s spacious in the front two rows and easy to get comfortable, though storage is respectable if not hugely impressive for a car that could seat seven. Third row legroom is tight for adults, so it’s better-suited to young children.

Boot space isn’t quite as good as a Kia EV9, but it should be more than ample for most. There’s 310 litres behind the third row, equivalent to a small hatchback, but if you fold the third row you get 655 litres. There’s also a front boot, though it’s unlikely you’ll need to use that as there’s a useful space beneath the boot floor for charging cables and the like.

The main disappointment inside is the fact you have to use the touchscreen for everything from the usual music and navigation down to basic stuff like the glovebox and wing mirror positioning. You just spend too much time with your eyes off the road fiddling around for functions that are simply easier to do with buttons.

The system itself is quick and clear, and Google integration means you might not even feel like you need to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto – that’s good news, because at the time of driving the car in late 2024, neither was actually available yet, instead slated to be introduced via an over-the-air update some time in 2025.

In terms of range, the Volvo EX90 has a massive battery, which offers an official range of 375 miles. This is a big, heavy SUV, though, and unsurprisingly efficiency isn’t great; we saw 2.4 miles per kWh, which isn’t terrible for this type of car but would equate to a range of around 260 miles. At least fast charging is very impressive, with a maximum speed of 250kW.

On the plus side, the Volvo EX90 is 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.

There’s a lot to love about this upmarket EV, then, but there’s no denying it’s an expensive thing and the lack of some technology at launch is a shame. You’ll want to check out the latest Volvo EX90 deals on Carwow if you want the best price. You can also get a great deal on other new Volvos, as well as used Volvos from our network of trusted dealers. Carwow can help you sell your current car quickly and easily, too.

At launch the Volvo EX90 is only available in the highly specced Ultra trim with a choice of Twin-Motor or Twin-Motor Performance powertrains. These will be the most expensive combinations you will be able to get, and as such prices start at close to £100,000.

That makes it considerably less expensive than the Mercedes EQS SUV and G-Class Electric, but considerably more expensive than the seven-seat Kia EV9, which isn’t a million miles away in interior quality and offers more space, but slightly worse efficiency.

A single-motor version with less performance and, almost certainly, increased range, is on the way. This is probably the one to wait for, because it will cost less and could be capable of 300 miles to a charge in the real world.

Comfortable, quiet and refined on the motorway, but the Volvo EX90 is a bit fidgety at lower speeds

In town

The Volvo EX90 is not the most comfortable car to drive around town, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the suspension doesn’t deal with short, sharp road imperfections like potholes very well, so the car can feel like it’s fidgeting about a bit at lower speeds. Larger obstacles such as speed bumps can cause a thud in the cabin, but the suspension settles quickly. Not a dealbreaker, just not quite as refined for urban driving as a BMW iX.

This is a very big car and feels it around town. The driving position helps give a good view of the road around you at least, and there are countless cameras and safety systems waiting to bing and bong at you if you get things wrong. The similarly massive Kia EV9 is a bit daunting in town, too.

On the motorway

It’s out on the open road where the Volvo EX90 really excels. Whether you go for the Performance version of the twin-motor powertrain or not, there’s ample power to get you up to speed on a slip road or pull off an overtake. The suspension settles nicely and wind and road noise are kept to a minimum at higher speeds. Better efficiency to maximise the driving time between charges would be the icing on the cake.

Pilot Assist is included as standard, providing adaptive cruise control to maintain your speed and distance to the car in front, and it can nudge the steering to keep you centred in your lane, too.

On a twisty road

When the road gets twisty the Volvo EX90 performs admirably, aided by the impressive performance on offer, but there’s no hiding the fact this is a big, heavy SUV. It leans quite a bit in corners, but there’s decent grip to accelerate swiftly out of a corner. If you really want your posh SUV to be capable on your favourite B-road, the BMW iX is the car to go for.

Spacious for those in the front two rows, but a Kia EV9 has more room in row three and a big boot, too

The Volvo EX90 is really roomy up front, and you get big, comfortable seats that feel like you’re relaxing on the sofa not driving a car. With lots of space and plenty of adjustment, it’s really easy to find a comfortable seating position.

Storage is good if not great for a car of this size, with useful door bins, a cubby beneath the armrest, a covered section on the centre console and a wireless phone charging pad beneath the screen.

Space in the back seats

It’s arguably even roomier in the second row, where you get loads of legroom and headroom, though if we’re being picky there’s not much room beneath the seat in front to rest your feet. All that space means it’s perfect for fitting even bulky forward-facing child seats, and the ISOFIX mounting points are easy to find between the cushions.

You get individual chairs in the second row, which is good for comfort but does mean that in the outer seats you’re a bit closer to the door than you might expect. There’s just about space for three, but the middle seat is hard and you feel perched up high.

Those in the third row will be rather cramped as it’s tighter than the equivalent space in the Kia EV9. Younger children should be fine, but adults are likely to start complaining shortly after you set off.

Boot space

With the third row of seats in place you get a respectable 310 litres of luggage capacity, which is equivalent to a small hatchback and just shy of the 333 litres you get in the Kia EV9.

The difference is bigger with the third row folded, as the Volvo has 655 litres compared with a cavernous 828 litres in the Kia. Still, it would take a very expensive trip to IKEA before that’s fully loaded. The Mercedes EQS SUV has a boot to match the EV9 at 880 litres, but the EX90 is more spacious than both the Audi Q8 e-tron (569 litres) and BMW iX (500 litres).

The bumper is quite high so lifting heavy items in could be tricky, but with the third row folded you get a big space with a flat floor, a net to one side, hangers for your bags and loads of underfloor storage.

Beneath the bonnet is a 37-litre front boot that’s a good place to store your charging cables, but with the space beneath the main boot being so big, that makes more sense for keeping items hidden out of sight.

Classy minimalist design is a good thing, but controlling everything through the touchscreen gets frustrating

Volvo’s Scandi-cool minimalist design is in full effect in the EX90. There’s a simple light wood effect running from the doors and across the dashboard, continuing down between the front passengers. You have a choice of earthy upholstery colours in synthetic leather or wool blend. It’s all very simple and very classy.

It’s a bit like sitting in a wood lodge cabin with modern interior design for the Airbnb generation, largely thanks to the big screen that sits in the middle of it all. The main infotainment display is a portrait-orientated 14.5-inch unit that uses a Google operating system. This works really well, with maps and music streaming built in.

However, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not available at launch, with free over-the-air updates coming some time in 2025. The native system is good enough that you don’t really need it, but it’s a glaring omission for a car that starts just shy of six figures…

What’s worse is that Volvo has followed Tesla’s lead in introducing basic functions, such as moving the mirrors, steering wheel and opening the glovebox, to the infotainment screen. Volvo is big on safety, which seems at odds with the inherently more fiddly operation required by such setups.

The argument is that most of these functions you set once and forget about, and the car remembers settings between profiles and is customisable based on features you use a lot, but there’s just no getting away from the fact that this feels like an inconvenient step backwards. The touch-sensitive button by the window switches to swap their operation between front and rear just feels like plain penny pinching.

On the plus side, the instrument display is a narrow screen that sits behind the steering wheel. It’s mounted to the steering column so it moves with the wheel as you adjust it, meaning you can see it clearly whatever your driving position. It’s simple and easy to understand, with all the information you need for driving.

The Volvo EX90 range is currently very simple. There’s one, massive battery with a usable capacity of 107kWh, and two motor options. There’s the Twin-Motor with 408hp and the Twin-Motor Performance with 517hp. The latter is, quite frankly, hilariously fast for such a big SUV, but once that novelty wears off the less powerful version is likely to be a better bet, for no other reason than you should see better efficiency.

If that’s important, though, you might actually be better waiting for the single-motor version. During testing we saw 2.4 miles per kWh in the Twin-Motor model, which isn’t great in the grand scheme of electric cars but, to be fair, normal for big electric SUVs such as this and the Kia EV9. That efficiency would give you a range of 260 miles, compared with the official figure of 375 miles.

Although efficiency isn’t fantastic, it does have impressive charging speeds, so topping up on the road doesn’t take forever despite the big battery. With a maximum charge rate of 250kW, you can go from 10-80% in 30 minutes. It’s worth noting that a 0-100% top up at a 7kW home charger takes a mammoth 16 hours.

Electric cars get a really low Benefit-in-Kind rate, so the Volvo EX90 makes a compelling choice for company car choosers. Private buyers also benefit from the lowest Vehicle Excise Duty rates.

The Volvo EX90 has not been safety tested by Euro NCAP yet, but every Volvo tested since 2009 has received the full five-star score. Volvo is proud of its safety record, so there’s no doubt this model will continue that.

That odd lump atop the windscreen, which looks a bit like a taxi light, is actually a Lidar system. It’s some clever technology that helps the car build a virtual view of the world around it to help with autonomous driving and safety systems. It’s not working yet, just capturing lots of data, but should be turned on eventually to improve safety further.

Even without the Lidar system turned on, the EX90 comes with the usual plethora of Volvo safety kit, including collision avoidance and mitigation, an advanced driver monitoring system and sensors to stop you accidentally running off the road.

As the Volvo EX90 is an all-new model, its reliability remains to be seen. In the latest Driver Power ownership survey, Volvo’s 16th place for owner satisfaction put it right in the middle of the 32 brands ranked.

With a three-year/60,000-mile warranty, the Volvo EX90 is in line with other premium car makers in the UK. You also get an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty for the main EV battery. You also get three years of maintenance service covering wear and tear.