Volvo hasn’t precisely had an excellent run of EVs these days. The rollout of its flagship EX90 was stymied out of the gate by a bevy of software program glitches. The EX30, in the meantime, was too costly when it launched — the promised $35,000 mannequin was incompatible with the at the moment chaotic international tariff state of affairs.
Now, it is time for a brand new technology of EV from Volvo, one which’s radically completely different at its core with a gigacast body, a a lot higher-density battery and sufficient digital and literal horsepower to impress essentially the most jaded of automotive lovers. Mix in high-performance chipsets from each NVIDIA and Qualcomm, plus Google’s Gemini AI onboard, and on paper, it has rather a lot to supply. After getting an early have a look at the factor at its unveiling in Sweden, I really feel like this EV is prepared and capable of face off in opposition to BMW’s new iX3 and Mercedes-Benz’s upcoming GLC.
Let’s begin with the fundamentals: The EX60 slots within the Volvo product lineup proper alongside the prevailing XC60, Volvo’s hottest mannequin within the U.S. It’s a two-row, mid-size SUV that seats 5, the kind of factor excellent for these with small households or large canines. It’ll be out there in three completely different fundamental configurations, beginning with the single-motor, rear-drive, 369-horsepower, 310-mile EX60 P6. Next up is the AWD dual-motor, 503-hp, 320-mile P10, and lastly the top-shelf, 670-hp, 400-mile P12.
670 horsepower in an SUV of this dimension appears frankly extreme to me, however then it does have a number of weight to maneuver round — 5,137 kilos to be actual. That’s thanks largely to the P12’s 112-kilowatt-hour internet battery pack which is about 50 p.c greater than the one inside a Tesla Model Y. The P6 is a comparatively svelte 4,663 kilos due to its smaller 80-kWh internet battery pack, whereas the P10 has 91 kWh.
Volvo EX60 (Volvo)
Beyond the powertrain divisions, the Volvo EX60 may even be out there in quite a lot of completely different trims with various quantities of kit, together with the Volvo Cross Country version with air suspension and a 20mm increase of trip top. Prices are stated to start out “around $60k” for an EX60 P10 Plus with a 21-speaker Bose system, however a 28-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system with Dolby Atmos can be out there for many who really want all the channels.
Of course, Atmos assist isn’t any good with out a good supply, and to that finish, the EX60 would be the first Volvo with Apple Music inbuilt. That’ll be a part of the corporate’s Android Automotive-based infotainment system, operating on a curved 15-inch OLED display screen and powered by a Qualcomm 8255 chipset. It’s paired with a low, vast gauge cluster set far again on the dashboard behind the steering wheel.
This may even be Volvo’s first automotive with built-in Gemini, and certainly one of many first vehicles on the street with Google’s sensible agent. You can, in fact, do typical Gemini issues like ask concerning the climate or the nuances of René Descartes’s ideas on dualism. Beyond that, Volvo CTO Anders Bell stated that it’ll finally achieve entry to the automotive’s outward-looking cameras, that means you can ask for extra particulars on no matter it’s you may see looming on the horizon.
Volvo EX60 (Volvo)
Volvo calls the automotive’s software-defined structure and the {hardware} that powers it HuginCore, named for Huginn, the raven of Norse mythology and represents Odin’s thoughts and senses. Qualcomm powers the infotainment facet of the avian expertise, however in the case of lively security, the EX60 depends on an NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin chipset. Unlike the EX90, the EX60 is not going to use a LiDAR sensor.
Volvo CTO Bell downplayed the absence of the sensor. “We realized we can now achieve many more meaningful and safe automated functions without LiDAR than we could have years ago,” he stated. Per Bell, LiDAR was by no means actually within the plan for the EX60 anyway, a choice trying all of the brighter given the current chapter of Volvo’s former LiDAR associate Luminar.
The automotive’s cameras and radar sensors all tuck properly into the brand new exterior of the EX60, which definitely does not look miles off from the EX90 or certainly the present, gas-powered XC60. But the pronounced flares on the entrance fenders are a pleasant contact of persona on an in any other case understated SUV.
At the core of the EX60 is a brand new platform Volvo calls SPA3, with a chassis made utilizing gigacasting. This refers back to the drive required to inject molten aluminum into huge castings, permitting extra of the automotive to be constituted of fewer elements. Volvo says the carbon footprint of the EX60 is decrease even than that of the a lot smaller EX30.
The battery packs use the on-trend cell-to-pack development methodology, which implies all of the cells are lumped collectively right into a single unit. Typically, this boosts density at the price of repairability, a tradeoff most producers appear prepared to make in pursuit of upper vary and decrease prices. However, Bell stated that the corporate has really made pack upkeep simpler by optimizing the format of the ancillary tools.
Volvo EX60 (Volvo)
“The absolute vast majority, 90 percent of anything that ever needs to be repaired on a battery pack is electronics,” he stated. In the EX60, Volvo positioned the battery electronics beneath the rear seat to make them even simpler to entry. “We save a lot of weight, save a lot of cost.”
The EX60 can be Volvo’s first automotive to make use of the Tesla-style NACS charging customary, and the most important two packs will assist charging speeds as much as 370 kW. That drops to 320 kW on the 80-kWh internet P6.
In sensible phrases, although, they’re all roughly the identical. Each mannequin expenses from 10 to 80 p.c in lower than 20 minutes, including between 160 and 173 miles of vary in 10 minutes. That’s not fairly the 200 miles BMW’s iX3 can handle in the identical time, however it’s shut.
The iX3 will in all probability be the EX60’s fiercest competitors when Volvo opens up orders later this spring. The EX60’s $60,000 value for a midrange P10 Plus places it proper in step with the $60,000 that BMW says to anticipate for its iX3. Mercedes hasn’t set American pricing for its GLC but, however that, too, can be on a number of buyers’ lists to check.
I’ve already been impressed by how each the iX3 and the GLC drive. Sadly, Volvo would not let me behind the wheel of its EX60 simply but, however hopefully I can report again with impressions quickly to begin to see how all these stack up on the street.
