Volvo EX90 review

It’s exactly what you want it to be: undemanding. There’s no point in this having detailed steering feedback or a wide variety of driving modes. All it needs is to do as you ask, when you ask and do it well. And it does all of that brilliantly. It responds to inputs intuitively. It doesn’t feel heavy to steer or handle. It’s not ungainly and conceals its weight well. 

No Volvo has ever ridden as well as this, and certainly none has ever been this smooth or quiet. The car it most feels like on the road is BMW’s iX. The driving experience is more akin to a luxury car.

It’s really that quiet and smooth?

Absolutely. There’s barely a trace of wind or tyre noise and the thing that often disturbs the peace (and is harder to put a finger on), suspension noise, is notable for its absence. It glides along very nicely indeed and if you lift off, that momentum continues. Rolling resistance is aided when you have reasonably good aerodynamics (0.29Cd) and high weight, but even so there seems to be no mechanical drag to speak of.

Unless you engage one-pedal driving (via the screen, obvs). Steer clear of the auto mode, which can be a bit snatchy, but regular one-pedal works nicely.

And the ride is impressive, too?

Yes, which is untypical of a Volvo. In the past they’ve tended to be a bit clumsy and brittle, but this is much more sumptuous. The ride is soft, yet well controlled. It’s only on bad surfaces you feel the weight of the wheels being bumped around and the body control stretched a little.

You can combat this by delving into a menu and stiffening up the ride, but it’s actually too much. You might try it once, but will soon go back. You can also change the steering weight. That’s more a matter of personal preference. We quite liked the heavier set-up.

Are there any other dynamic controls?

In the Performance there’s obviously a Performance mode. And that’s easier to find. It’s a screen press on the homepage (although you can set up other shortcuts if you want). Performance mode sharpens the throttle response and engages the rear mechanical differential. Yes, it has one. And it works well. The EX90 holds a tighter line through corners, feels a bit more engaged and active. You might press it more than once during your ownership.

But you won’t coo with satisfaction at the way the EX90 goes around corners. You’ll just bask in the satisfaction of how well it churns through the miles and how easy it is to move through town. The former is aided by a Tesla-style easily-engaged self-driving mode. Simply pull down on the gear column on the move and it’s on. For the latter it’s the fine all-round visibility and motor/throttle control at low speeds that sets it apart. Good turning circle too.

How’s the speed/efficiency?

This is a car that’s benefited by going electric. No-one buying an EX90 is going to be bemoaning the loss of character over the XC90’s petrol or diesel powerplants. There’s no choice of futuristic sound here, just blissful silence and smooth, even progress.

Which can be quite fast. The quickest Kia EV9 doesn’t cope that well with the speed it’s capable of delivering, feeling like it’s running away with itself. The 510bhp Volvo is swift and sure, whisking smoothly up to speed and back down again. To be fair, 402bhp is enough here – and we wouldn’t be that tempted to shell out the extra £4,300 to get another 108bhp.

Both have the same claimed efficiency at 2.9mi/kWh (although how Volvo’s arrived at that figure when 374 WLTP miles from the 107kWh battery works out at 3.5, we don’t know). In over 500 miles of driving we averaged about 2.8mi/kWh overall, having done 3.3 in town and 2.5 on motorways. That was in sunny California though: in the UK in winter we eked out 2.5mi/kWh, so about 265-ish miles of range from full.

Sum it up for me?

This is driving that doesn’t need much management. The EX90 is really good at delivering the kind of driving that parents need: precise, well controlled but undemanding. It’s surprisingly satisfying. A car you come out to in the morning knowing it’s not going to irritate you at all, but do the job you need it to do seamlessly and easily.