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NEWSGOT A STORY Email our news editor will.rimell@haymarket.com VOLVO FLAGSHIP SALOON KICKS OFF NEW EV BLITZ ES90 is the first of five all-new electric Volvos set to use advanced tech Volvo is gearing up to launch the ES90 as its fi rst electric saloon early next year – and it will serve as a premium flagship for the fi rm’s nex t wave of five advanced EV models. The new BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE rival is a sibling model to the combustion-engined S90 and will be revealed next March at an event in Stockholm, Sweden. It has been developed with a focus on the Chinese market, although it will be sold worldwide. The ES90 will be closely related to the EX90 electric SUV and, much like that model, will serve as a technological figurehead rather than a driver of sales volume. It will be followed in 2026 by the new EX60, which will sit on a new-generation platform and, as the EV equivalent of the bestselling XC60 in the core medium SUV segment, will be key to growing Volvo’s electric car sales. Volvo currently has three further EVs in development. The new platform beneath the EX60 will accommodate a wider range of bodystyles, 4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 30 OCTOBER 2024
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“The all-wheel-drive dual-motor ES90 will be offered with up to 502bhp” N E W S IMAGE potentially including an electric estate. And while Volvo is still focused on ultimately becoming an EVonly brand, it has delayed plans to end the sale of plug-in and mild-hybrid models and is instead set to refresh and renew its combustion-engined lineup in the coming years. ES90 SALOON TO BE NEW PREMIUM RANGE-TOPPERTheES90 will be the fifth series-production electric Volvo model to be offered in the UK – following the EX30, XC40/EX40, C40/EC40 and EX90 – but the fi rst that isn’t an SUV. (Volvo also offers the EM90 MPV in China.) That reflects the current sales dominance of SUVs but, speaking recently, Volvo boss Jim Rowan said the fi rm will continue to offer a diverse line-up in future. “We have MPVs as well as sedans [saloons] and wagons and of course SUVs,” he said. “We’re in a nice position as a company that we have that spread.” Rowan added that even though SUVs are likely to continue to make up the bulk of sales, there was enough profit to justif y launching an electric saloon. “We’re 1% of the car market and we’re in premium,” he said. “There is still a demand for premium saloons in the electric age. We see more of that [demand] in China, but there’s still demand in other parts of the world.” Rowan noted that Chinese premium buyers prefer saloons with “really long leg room” in the back and said the ES90 will be developed with that market as a core focus. Volvo’s preview image of the ES90 confirms that the model will feature a similar side profile to that of the current hybrid S90 and it will also take styling cues from the EX90, including the closed-off grille, ‘Thor’s hammer’ headlights and upright rear lights. The ES90 will sit on the bespoke electric SPA2 platform that is used by the EX90 and it is likely to be a close technical relation to that model. Information leaked last year shows that the model has been developed under the codename V551 and will be produced at a plant owned by Volvo parent Geely in Zhejiang, China. The leak reveals that the ES90 will be 4999mm long, making it marginally longer than the S90, and have a wheelbase of 3100mm to maximise interior space. It will be offered in singlemotor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheeldrive forms. Power outputs are likely to match the EX90’s, suggesting that the all-wheel-drive model will be offered with 402bhp as standard and 502bhp ▶ 30 OCTOBER 2024 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

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NEWSGOT A STORY Email our news editor will.rimell@haymarket.com

VOLVO FLAGSHIP SALOON KICKS OFF NEW EV BLITZ ES90 is the first of five all-new electric Volvos set to use advanced tech

Volvo is gearing up to launch the ES90 as its fi rst electric saloon early next year – and it will serve as a premium flagship for the fi rm’s nex t wave of five advanced EV models.

The new BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE rival is a sibling model to the combustion-engined S90 and will be revealed next March at an event in Stockholm, Sweden. It has been developed with a focus on the Chinese market, although it will be sold worldwide.

The ES90 will be closely related to the EX90 electric SUV and, much like that model, will serve as a technological figurehead rather than a driver of sales volume.

It will be followed in 2026 by the new EX60, which will sit on a new-generation platform and, as the EV equivalent of the bestselling XC60 in the core medium SUV segment, will be key to growing Volvo’s electric car sales.

Volvo currently has three further EVs in development. The new platform beneath the EX60 will accommodate a wider range of bodystyles,

4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 30 OCTOBER 2024

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