EX90 showcases Volvo's future

UK-bound, "software-defined" flagship SUV is a "big step towards zero collisions"

- JAMES ATTWOOD

The Volvo EX90 will go into production shortly, more than 18 months after it was first revealed, T with the Swedish brand promising that its electric flagship SUV will set new standards for safety.

The large SUV, which will sit alongside the combustion-engined XC90, was first shown back in November 2022. Manufacturing will start shortly at Volvo's US factory in Charleston, South Carolina.

Priced from £96,255, it is available to pre-order now, with first UK deliveries due before the end of the year.

Although product manager Hande Ergiturk admitted that the EX90 had been delayed by a number of software issues, she said the car's reveal "was deliberately early, because it wasn't just a car reveal, it was a reveal of our new technology".

The EX90 is the first car to sit on Volvo's advanced new SPA2 electric car platform, which it shares with Polestar's new 3 SUV, and is Volvo's first "software-defined" vehicle, with an advanced operating system that was developed entirely in-house and uses two high-speed computer chips.

Refining that complex system was a major challenge, explained Ergiturk: "It has been a big technology leap, and it wasn't an easy task. But safety is super-important for us: it was important to make sure that all the systems were refined and top-notch before they were offered to customers."