Volvo’s incoming replacement to the tastefully executed and pleasing-to-pilot XC90 certainly has a tough act to follow, but as a luxury EV package it’s probably one of the most complete offerings we’ve sampled.
Underpinned by Volvo’s EV-only SPA2 platform, the seven-seater EX is larger in every direction than the XC90. But Volvo’s designers have done a great job of treading the line between imposing and tasteful by supplementing that bluff, angular frame with a combination of clean surfaces and studding it with eye-catching details. In the latter regard, it’s the lighting that adds the visual drama.
Up front, a new take on the ‘Thor’s hammer’ DRL array not only swirls to life when unlocking the car but also features headlamp units hidden behind mechanical ‘eyelids’ that blink open and closed, while the rear stacked units and C-shaped main taillamps extinguish themselves incrementally when powering down. The only clumsy detail is the somewhat taxi-esque bump on the roof above the windscreen that houses the LiDAR array, but more on that later.
Road Test: 2025 Volvo EX90 Twin Performance Ultra
Posted September 12, 2025
By: CAR magazine
With its combination of style, practical packaging and a powertrain that’s both serene and eye-widening, the EX90 is something of a luxury EV ‘Swede spot’.
Volvo’s incoming replacement to the tastefully executed and pleasing-to-pilot XC90 certainly has a tough act to follow, but as a luxury EV package it’s probably one of the most complete offerings we’ve sampled.
Underpinned by Volvo’s EV-only SPA2 platform, the seven-seater EX is larger in every direction than the XC90. But Volvo’s designers have done a great job of treading the line between imposing and tasteful by supplementing that bluff, angular frame with a combination of clean surfaces and studding it with eye-catching details. In the latter regard, it’s the lighting that adds the visual drama.
Up front, a new take on the ‘Thor’s hammer’ DRL array not only swirls to life when unlocking the car but also features headlamp units hidden behind mechanical ‘eyelids’ that blink open and closed, while the rear stacked units and C-shaped main taillamps extinguish themselves incrementally when powering down. The only clumsy detail is the somewhat taxi-esque bump on the roof above the windscreen that houses the LiDAR array, but more on that later.
2025 Volvo EX90 Twin Performance Ultra Specifications
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- Price: R2 650 000
- Electric motor: permanent magnet synchronous electric motor, front and rear
- Battery: lithium-ion, 111 kWh, 800 V
- Transmission: single-speed automatic
- Driven wheels: all
- Power: 380 kW @ 4 200-6 000 r/min
- Torque: 910 N.m @ 0-4 020 r/min
The EX’s cabin is a study in Scandinavian minimalism, featuring clean surfaces, high-end materials such as hide and open-pore birch panels and a tasteful amount of satin-chrome trim.
Details such as the central subwoofer nacelle and metal speaker grilles on the Bowers & Wilkins audio system really stand out on this uncluttered canvas, highlighted as they are by plenty of light coming in from the full-length panoramic roof by day, and an advanced LED interior lighting system with a colour spectrum close to that of natural light.
Much of the cabin’s appealing minimalism is down to the centralisation of most functions to the 14.5-inch, Google-enabled touchscreen infotainment system. While it features Apple CarPlay connectivity, the backbone of its interface is pretty much that of a scaled-up Android smartphone, complete with Google Maps and functionality for a wealth of apps such as Spotify and YouTube.
The interface is therefore familiar to anyone with a smartphone but given the depth of configurability for everything from vehicle settings to lighting and more, the system does require a little mining on the user’s behalf from time to time. Assigning multiple functions to certain ancillary controls in a bid to keep the cabin design clean does bring with it some unwelcome fiddliness here and there.
For example, when it comes to frequently used features such as the climate control and adjustment for the steering column and wing mirrors, both of these sit in sub-menus accessed via the infotainment system. We felt that the simple application of rotary switches for both of these functions would have been far more sensible and wouldn’t have detracted too much from the cabin’s clean design. Thankfully, there are aspects of the climate control linked to the Google voice assistant, allowing users to adjust the parameters such as the cabin temperature via voice prompts.
This central display is supplemented by a crisp, 9.0-inch instrument display just ahead of the steering wheel and a 13-inch HUD, both of which accommodate navigation and ADAS information in addition to performance readouts. It’s a neat feature that addresses the sometimes distracting central speedometer display that met with some criticism in the smaller EX30.
With the powerplants located on their respective axles and the battery located in the floorpan, the cabin is an impressively spacious affair with plenty of legroom for the second-row occupants. As is expected, the third row is small and better suited as occasional seating for kids, but with those items stowed into the boot floor (an easy, electrically assisted operation) there’s an impressive 504 litres of space on offer, and even with the third row in place there’s still a respectable 240 litres available. Fold all the seats, and the load space swells to a cavernous 1 408 litres, making Volvo’s largest EV a genuinely family-friendly offering.
2025 Volvo EX90 Twin Performance Ultra Interior Dimensions
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- Front headroom: 885-970 mm
- Second-row head/kneeroom: 915/530-650 mm
- Third-row head/kneeroom: 750/500-595 mm
- Boot/utility space: 240-504/1 408 L
The EX90’s powertrain comprises front- and rear axle-mounted electric motors that develop 180 and 280 kW, respectively, for combined outputs of 380 kW and a tarmac-creasing 910 N.m of torque. Under low-speed and load conditions, the front unit does most of the work, with the rear chiming in when more urge is called for. This longitudinal power transfer is instantaneous and imperceptible. It’s supplemented by clutch-based torque vectoring on the rear axle and a brilliantly resolved dual- chamber air suspension that ably reins in the car’s 2.7-tonne mass under cornering while ironing out road corrugations, making it feel nimbler than a car its size should.
Steering that’s light and not particularly communicative, even in its sportiest setting, means we’d stop just short of describing its driving manners as engaging, though. But that’s not where the EX is really supposed to major, anyway. As a town and motorway conveyance there’s little to touch it in terms of effortlessness and serene refinement. Even with that considerable frame and a 111 kWh battery array weighing 700 kg alone, the EX doesn’t want for pace.
Keep the drivetrain in its normal mode, and it feels brisk; the throttle modulation is progressive and filters in the power in a measured manner akin to that of an ICE vehicle. Toggle into performance mode, and both motors are primed and that previously relaxed throttle becomes more like a hair trigger. It’s properly gasp-inducing stuff, allowing us to dispatch the 0-100 km/h run in just 4.97 seconds.
In terms of efficiency and operating range, we couldn’t quite match Volvo’s 20.8 kWh/100 km, instead logging a still-respectable 23.5 kWh/100 km average during our test period. This translated to a real-world operating range of between 440 and 460 km, which although not as impressive as Volvo’s 614 km claim, is still segment-respectable.
Capable of accepting DC charging of up to 250 kW, our experience at a local 150 kW facility saw the EX charge from 10-80% in just 35 minutes, while an 11 kW wallbox charge from 0-100% will take around 16 hours. At present rates, fully fast charging the EX will cost around R750, while domestic charging brings that figure down to around R400.
CAR Magazine test results
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- 0-100 km/h acceleration: 4.97 seconds
- 100-0 km/h braking: 2.69 seconds/38.13 metres
- Energy consumption (test route): 23.5 kWh/100 km
As expected, the EX bristles with safety and driver assistance technology, all overseen by the roof-mounted LiDAR and camera array running through a powerful onboard computer featuring an Nvidia core. This system incorporates such technologies as the latest Pilot Assist module, which performs semi-autonomous drive and safety functions (lane-keeping and adaptive cruise control among them) in a fluid and natural-feeling manner. In fact, that’s one of the most impressive aspects of the Volvo’s ADAS systems.
Although the LiDAR can detect vehicles and pedestrians 250 metres away, and the system monitors both prevailing exterior conditions and the driver’s behaviour, it does so without the ham-fisted abruptness or unnecessary electronic chiding that we’ve found so grating in many equivalent cars with similar assistance systems – furthering the impression of calm and refinement already imparted by the electric powertrain and cathedral-quiet cabin.
In Ultra specification, there’s virtually nothing to want for in terms of standard specification and the inclusion of Volvo’s recent value-added ownership package (provision and installation of a GridCars wallbox, a R12 000 public charging voucher that’s valid for 24 months, and 10 GB per month of data for the infotainment system over three years), but the three-year/60 000 km maintenance plan looks a little thin in the company of rivals with five-year/100 000 km items.
Test Summary
As the in-waiting successor to the already impressive XC90, the EX90 is a deeply impressive offering. Its combination of tasteful execution, cavernous interior space, an ability to intersperse serene cruising with a wicked turn of pace when called on, and being possessed of a wealth of technologies that don’t overwhelm but rather augment its effortless road manners is no mean feat.
Being an EV and wearing both the Volvo badge and a R2 650 000 price tag make it a decidedly niche product and therefore a bit of a difficult sell in a segment where the Germans hold sway, but as a luxury EV segment representative there’s little to touch it.
