Volvo ES90 review

Swedish brand goes against the grain with an esoteric – and rather charming – electric 'saloon'

Its maker could do with something to pull it out of a tight financial spot, but the new Volvo ES90 – lower-slung sibling to the recent EX90 – is unlikely to be of much help.

How so? Well, imagine the most commercially questionable product today, given prevailing market sentiments. Right up there alongside an electric hypercar bearing the licensed, little-known branding of a reanimated marque is a premium EV that is neither a play-it-safe SUV nor a traditional saloon. That Volvo isn't even trying to sell the £69,000 ES90 in the US, its largest market, is the cherry on top. The ES90 hails from Chengdu, where Volvo has been making cars since 2013, and massive American tariffs for Chinese-built cars make it a non-starter.

Should the very real prospect of tepid sales prejudice us against the idea of ES90? Quite the opposite.

A car’s interest to enthusiasts is often inversely proportional to its sales potential: the Citroën SM sold miserably and, as it happens, was also precluded from the US market. Future legend status is perhaps out of reach for the ES90, but the facts are that it has an agreeable balance of ride and handling and right now it charges faster than any of its German rivals. It is also much easier on the eye both inside and out than any of its competitors – if you can forgive the taxi-style protuberance that houses the lidar sensor.

We’ll get to the caveats in a moment, because there are undoubtedly some questionable elements of the package, but despite them the ES90 is the kind of non-obvious car you end up liking as the miles go by. So, let's get to it.  

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Beneath the ES90's bluff body sits the same SPA2 platform found under the EX90, which is the more expensive, SUV-bodied version of these new-era Volvos.

For now, the difference is that the ES90 has an 800V electrical architecture; the slightly longer EX90 will make do with 400 volts until 2026 model-year cars hit the road. This gives even the entry point of the ES90 range – the rear-driven, 329bhp Single Motor Extended Range – a peak charging rate of 350kW and a claimed range of 401 miles. Four-wheel drive variants, with their slightly larger batteries, go a bit farther.

For the single-motor car, Ultra spec adds £10k to the price and brings 'HD’ headlights, air springs, an electrochromatic roof and power-reclining rear backrests, among other bits of kit. At launch, both twin-motor variants will come only in Ultra guise.
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

Both the 443bhp Twin Motor and the 671bhp Twin Motor Performance are on course for a claimed 435-mile range. They get 102kWh of usable capacity, while the single-motor car has 88kWh. It makes you wonder why Volvo didn’t give the bigger battery to all three.

As usual with Volvo, there will be some variability in how the ES90 conducts itself on the move. There are no fewer than three wheel sizes, ranging from 20in to 22in (our test car wore the largest), and adaptive dampers with dual-chamber air springs are optional on basic Plus trim and standard on Ultra. Otherwise you get a passive spring-and-damper set-up.

Note that the air springs are not the same as you might have experienced on the S90 or more likely the phenomenally successful XC90. The hardware is new – and, along with a wheelbase that’s 120mm or so longer and exceedingly good seats (witness the thickness of the backs!), it partly explains why the ES90 can be so isolating when it hits its stride. 

INTERIOR

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Such an uncluttered, pretty dashboard was begging for a neatly integrated display, but alas, the ES90’s 14.5in touchscreen is curtly bolted on. This isn’t the real issue, though, and neither is this Android-based system’s superb crispness and responsiveness.

The problem is that the software simply tries to do too much. It is tiring to have to write again about how door-mirror controls should be physical, not digital. Same for the lighting. It’s an approach that throws up irritating quirks. For example, if you are reversing into a tight space and you want to angle the mirror down, you need to come out of reverse via the steering-column stalk because the screen won’t deviate from showing the rear camera while the gear is engaged, so you can’t access the mirror controls.

Assuming you can live with this, the ES90’s is a fine cabin: thoughtfully wrought with touchpoints that feel expensive. Unlike in the EX90, there’s also the option of dimming the glass roof. But for the faintly high floor (cutouts for your feet in the battery pack would have done wonders), the back of the cabin is also spacious yet enveloping, with plenty of knee room and low-set shoulders for the front seats enhancing the lounge-like atmosphere.

In a city whose roads are in good nick, the ES90 would be an enviable tool for chauffeuring. Elsewhere, rear visibility could be better – but, given Polestar’s recent approach, be grateful for having glass at all. 

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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As alluded to a moment ago, this car really is fabulously smooth and quiet at times. The raised hip point, set slightly incongruously against the saloon-like glasshouse, make it feel like a Rolls-Royce Phantom understudy – or at least it would, had Volvo finally cracked low-speed ride quality. Perhaps smaller wheels would have helped, but a fidgety trundle would seem to remain a chink in the case for plush, executive Volvos. 

Launching the ES90 on a route that included snippets of the La Turbie hillclimb was also a bold move. The car weighs around 2.4 tonnes and is five metres long, with no switchback-friendly rear-axle steering. It also has quite uncommunicative steering, a high scuttle and those teeth-itchingly kerbable alloys, all of which make it perfectly unsuited to the mountainside rat runs of the French Riviera.

And yet this car does have an ease about it even in tricky environments. It may lack rear-steer, but the turning circle is as tight as a BMW i5’s even when that car isfitted with Integral Active Steering. The steering is also elegantly sped, and the ES90 delivers a perfectly calibrated accelerator.

With the EPAS in its lighter map and the car’s forceful one-pedal mode deactivated, it flows along neatly, feeling narrower than an i5 or Mercedes-Benz EQE, albeit with more old-world limo ponderousness in the body movements. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in fact it can be quite charming.

Upcoming four-wheel-drive variants will be much quicker than the rear-wheel-drive car we've tested, but it's doutbful they will add much to the car's good road manners and general ease of use.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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Our test car averaged a creditable 3.0mpkWh on a slow and tortuous journey with plenty of stop-start in Nice. That translates to a real-world range of 264 miles, which is useable, if nothing to shout about.

The ES90's 350kW charging speed is genuinely useful, though. By comparision, the i5 tops out at 205kW while the EQE is limited to 170kW. The new Audi A6 E-tron does better, at 270kW, but still can't match the ES90. The Swedish car is, for now, the finest GT option in the clique, which is a surprising state of affairs but the reality nonetheless. Fair play to Volvo.

As for price, none of these cars are what you'd call strong value for money, but the ES90 is competitively priced, given the strength of its 800V architecture and box-fresh infotainment. Of the above rivals, only the Audi notably undercuts the ES90, starting at £62,500. The BMW and Mercedes closely match the Volvo's £69,000 starting price and, just like with the Volvo, things escalate considerably from there.

 

 

VERDICT

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The ES90 is unlikely to be a runaway sales success for Volvo, but this is more a reflection of its somewhat left-field format and the currently tepid market for premium electric cars. It's not without flaws, but it does acquit itself with well and with no small degree of charm. We'll put it through its pace more thoroughly when we drive one in the UK, when we can objectively measure its efficiency and performance – and examine that outwardly good ride quality.

In the meantime, for a big, capable, lavish cruiser that operates easily in any number of environments, the ES90 is worth a look. This is particularly true given the fact the class is hardly overflowing with knockout options elsewhere. With the Volvo there is also the added benefit, of course, that you're unlikely to see many others on the road. 

 

Volvo ES90 news

New Volvo ES90 to offer 434 miles of range
New Volvo ES90 to offer 434 miles of range

Richard Lane

Richard Lane
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard is Autocar's deputy road test editor. He previously worked at Evo magazine. His role involves travelling far and wide to be among the first to drive new cars. That or heading up to Nuneaton, to fix telemetry gear to test cars at MIRA proving ground and see how faithfully they meet their makers' claims. 

He's also a feature-writer for the magazine, a columnist, and can be often found on Autocar's YouTube channel. 

Highlights at Autocar include a class win while driving a Bowler Defender in the British Cross Country Championship, riding shotgun with a flat-out Walter Röhrl, and setting the magazine's fastest road-test lap-time to date at the wheel of a Ferrari 296 GTB. Nursing a stricken Jeep up 2950ft to the top of a deserted Grossglockner Pass is also in the mix.