Volvo EX90 Review

Volvo took its time bringing the EX90 to market, but the end result feels like a serious statement of intent. This is the car that sits at the top of Volvo’s electric range, and it has clearly been designed to do more than simply replace the XC90. Instead, it offers a more modern, more overtly tech-heavy and more obviously electric answer to the same big-family brief.

The EX90 arrives in a market that is getting much more competitive at the upper end. Premium electric SUVs are no longer novelties, and buyers can now choose from everything from the BMW iX to the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV and Kia EV9. The EX90 therefore has to do more than just look futuristic and offer a big battery.

Fortunately, it does. The design is clean and contemporary, the interior has the sort of polished Scandinavian ambience Volvo does especially well, and the engineering underneath looks properly current. The latest UK line-up now centres on Single Motor, Twin Motor and Twin Motor Performance powertrains, with Core, Plus and Ultra trims making up the main walk-up.

That broader spread makes the EX90 easier to justify than it was at launch, when the car was pitched only as an expensive twin-motor luxury EV. The newer Single Motor version pulls the entry price down significantly, while still keeping the core appeal intact. Buyers who want the strongest performance or the fullest equipment can still head further up the range.

The EX90’s other big strength is that it feels like a true seven-seater rather than an electric SUV that happens to have an extra pair of chairs in the back. Space is strong, access is thoughtfully handled and the cabin feels designed around family use rather than around brochure headlines.

For most buyers, the Volvo EX90 Single Motor Plus is likely to be the most sensible choice. It is still a very expensive car, but it gives you a richer equipment count than Core without pushing the EX90 too deep into the sort of money where luxury-SUV spending starts to look extravagant even by class standards.

The Single Motor also suits the EX90’s character rather well. This is not a car that needs huge, headline-friendly performance to feel special. Its real strengths are refinement, calmness and everyday luxury, and the entry powertrain still gives you plenty of all three.

Core will be enough for buyers who want the EX90 experience at the lowest possible price, while Twin Motor versions make a strong case if you want the extra performance or all-wheel drive. The Twin Motor Performance is more a statement of excess than an essential upgrade.

The current Volvo EX90 range starts at £73,160 for the Single Motor Core, rises to £80,160 for the Single Motor Plus and reaches £93,860 for the Twin Motor Ultra, or £98,160 for the Twin Motor Performance Ultra.

There is no pretending that this is a bargain way into electric family transport. Even the least expensive EX90 is a major purchase, and once you start moving into the higher trims and twin-motor versions, the numbers become serious even by luxury-SUV standards.

The Audi Q8 e-tron is one of the clearest alternatives if you want a premium electric SUV with a slightly more traditional feel, though it only offers five seats. The Porsche Macan Electric is more driver-focused but smaller and less family-led.

The BMW iX and Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV are also obvious rivals if your focus is premium-badged electric luxury rather than seven-seat practicality. The Polestar 3 is a close relation in engineering terms, but again it is not as family-oriented in packaging. If seven seats are essential, the Kia EV9 remains one of the EX90’s most important real-world alternatives, even if it does not quite offer the same premium ambience.

The Volvo EX90 is a genuinely practical seven-seat SUV, not just a luxury electric car with occasional-use rear seats.

Space in the front is generous, as you would expect in something this large, and the seating position gives you that commanding SUV feel without making the car seem intimidating from behind the wheel. The middle row also has plenty of space, with enough legroom and headroom for adults to travel in comfort.

The third row is more useful than many buyers might expect. It is still best suited to children or shorter journeys for adults, but the EX90 does a better job than many premium rivals of making the rearmost seats feel genuinely usable rather than tokenistic. Volvo has also thought through the access arrangements well, with seats that tilt and slide forward neatly.

Boot space stands at 310 litres with all seven seats in place, rises to 655 litres in five-seat mode and reaches 1,915 litres with the rear rows folded. There is also a 34-litre front boot, which is the ideal place for cables.

That means the EX90 works well as a family car in all its common configurations. With all seven seats up, there is still enough room for soft bags or the weekly essentials. In five-seat mode it becomes a genuinely large luggage carrier, and with the seats folded it offers the sort of carrying flexibility you would hope for in a car this size.

The Volvo EX90 measures 5,037mm long, 1,964mm wide and 1,744mm high. Including mirrors, width grows to 2,113mm.

This is a very large SUV, but its tidy visibility, upright shape and extensive camera support make it easier to place than the dimensions initially suggest.

The EX90 uses a large 14.5-inch portrait touchscreen with Google built in, plus a 9-inch driver display mounted on the steering column and a head-up display on higher-spec cars.

In practice, the system is one of the better implementations of Google Automotive in the market. Google Maps works especially well here because it can use the car’s live battery and charging data to plan routes and charging stops intelligently. Voice control is also genuinely useful, which matters in a car that puts so much responsibility into the touchscreen.

The display itself is crisp, quick and thoughtfully laid out, with a large map view, smart widgets and a contextual shortcut bar that keeps major functions reasonably accessible. Even so, there are still moments where you have to dig further into menus than you might like, and buyers who prefer a few more physical controls may find the EX90’s minimalist philosophy a step too far.

One of the EX90’s real tech highlights is its Bowers & Wilkins audio system on Ultra models. With 25 speakers, Dolby Atmos processing and huge power output, it is one of the best factory-fitted stereos you can get in any mainstream-badged car. It gives the EX90 a genuine sense of occasion on longer journeys, and it is one of the features that helps the top-spec car feel properly flagship rather than merely well equipped.

Material quality is strong. Whether you choose Volvo’s Nordico trim or the optional wool upholstery, the cabin feels polished, substantial and very carefully finished.

There is also some genuine character here. The colour and trim choices make the cabin feel a little warmer and more distinctive than many monochrome premium rivals, and the overall ambience is helped by the panoramic roof and clean dashboard design.

The current EX90 line-up offers three motor and battery combinations.

The Single Motor is the rational choice in the range. It is still comfortably quick enough for a seven-seat family SUV, and it gives the EX90 a strong official range figure. For many buyers, that will be the version that makes the most sense because it delivers the EX90’s calm, premium character without asking you to pay for more performance than you are ever likely to need.

The Twin Motor takes a definite step up in urgency. It suits the EX90 well if you want the extra security of four-wheel drive and a stronger sense of effortless shove, especially when the car is full of people or luggage. It still feels like a luxury SUV first and a fast EV second, which is exactly the balance many buyers will want.

The Twin Motor Performance is the extravagant option. It is undeniably impressive, and the way it gathers speed is startling for something this large, but it also feels more like an indulgence than a necessity. The reassuring thing is that there is no obviously weak powertrain in the range.

Ride comfort is one of the EX90’s biggest strengths. Air suspension and adaptive damping help it smooth off rough surfaces in a way that feels properly premium, and the car has that big, effortless gait you want in a flagship seven-seat SUV.

The surprise is how tidy it feels once the road starts to bend. This is not a sports SUV, but it does a good job of disguising its size, with well judged body control, strong traction and steering that feels more natural than you might expect. It does not have the sharper edge of a Porsche-led alternative, but it never feels clumsy.

Refinement is where the EX90 really shines. Volvo says it is the quietest car it has ever made, and that feels entirely believable from behind the wheel. Wind noise is hushed, road noise is well suppressed and the electric powertrain’s near-silent delivery only adds to the sense of calm.

Around town, the camera systems and visibility aids do a lot to take the sting out of the EX90’s size. It is still a big car, but it is not the sort of big car that leaves you tense every time a multi-storey car park appears.

Safety is one of the Volvo EX90’s biggest selling points, and it now has the Euro NCAP result to back that up. The EX90 earned a five-star Euro NCAP rating in 2025, scoring 92 per cent for adult occupant protection, 93 per cent for child occupant protection, 82 per cent for vulnerable road users and 86 per cent for safety assist.

That strong result sits alongside one of the most comprehensive safety hardware packages in the class. The EX90 uses lidar, cameras, radars and ultrasonic sensors to support its driver-assistance and collision-avoidance systems, including the latest Pilot Assist functions, lane support, collision warning and driver monitoring.

The EX90 supports up to 250kW DC charging, and Volvo quotes a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in around 22 minutes on a suitably powerful charger. For a battery this large, that is a very strong result.

Home charging is more time-consuming, as you would expect. On a 7kW wallbox, a full charge is an overnight-and-then-some job rather than something you squeeze into a few spare hours. Volvo quotes about 15 hours from empty to full for the larger-battery versions.

The upside is that official efficiency is respectable for such a large electric SUV. The Single Motor’s longer range makes it the easiest one to justify if long-distance confidence is high on your list, while the Twin Motor versions trade only a little headline range for much stronger performance.

Volvo covers the EX90 with a three-year / 60,000-mile vehicle warranty, while the battery is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles. That is fairly normal by premium EV standards, even if it is not generous compared with some mainstream brands.

Insurance groups range from 49 to 50, which puts the EX90 right at the top end of the scale. That means premiums are likely to be very expensive, even before driver age, postcode and annual mileage are taken into account.

From the second year onwards, a Volvo EX90 costs £200 a year in standard VED form.

The more important point is the Expensive Car Supplement for EVs. The current threshold is more than £50,000, and every EX90 sits well above it. That means all versions attract the extra £440 a year from years two to six, so an EX90 will cost £640 a year to tax over that five-year period before dropping back to the standard rate afterwards.