Volvo’s next big product is a high-dollar electric SUV that will serve as the banner carrier of the Volvo line. But it will likely be followed by a smaller, less-expensive electric vehicle (EV) sharing many of the same traits.
Yesterday, the Swedish automaker revealed its new flagship, the 3-row 2024 EX90. The company hasn’t formally said the EX90 would take the place of the XC90 SUV. But Volvo has announced plans to sell nothing but electric cars by 2030. So we expect the XC90’s career to come to an end within a year or two of the EX90 arriving in dealerships.
At the end of the presentation, CEO Jim Rowan ended the presentation by hinting that something else was in the works. As he left the stage, a screen behind him showed static, with brief flashes on the silhouettes of two vehicles.
One was the EX90. The other looked like its kid brother.
It’s hard to judge size from the glimpse we captured. But Volvo already has a pair of all-electric compact SUVs, the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge.
So the logical assumption seems to be that this is an electric companion – and maybe replacement – for the 2-row midsize XC60.
Once you’ve built one EV, designing a second is fairly easy. Most new EVs ride on common platforms – almost flat, modular units that combine batteries, electric motors, suspension, and steering components. Engineers can scale them up or down to build vehicles of different sizes.
GM, for instance, uses its new Ultium platform to build everything from the roughly $30,000 Chevy Equinox EV to the $300,000-plus, hyper-luxury Cadillac Celestiq.
Volvo says the EX90 rides on an all-new platform. The company could likely scale it down slightly to build a 2-row SUV with many of the same traits.
We’ve reached out to Volvo to ask for more information. But automakers like to tease upcoming models and then dribble out information slowly, so we don’t expect to get a thorough answer before they want us to. We’ll bring more details as we get them.
