Volvo ES90: BMW i5 rival lands in March to kickstart EV onslaught

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 single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive 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 in Performance form. It is also likely to offer many of the EX90’s safety features, potentially including the lidar scanner, and have a similar, near-£100,000 price.

Power will come from a 111kWh battery that will offer up to 373 miles for the single-motor model. As with the EX90, the vehicle will be built around an advanced Volvo Cars Superset ‘tech stack’, which effectively comprises all of the software and hardware for the drive, infotainment, autonomous functions and other systems. That set-up will be used on all future models and offers over-the-air updates. The goal is that it will eventually allow updates to be rolled out across all Volvo models.

EX60 to help drive mainstream EV uptake from 2026

The XC60 has long been Volvo’s best-selling model, with Rowan describing it as the “workhorse” of the line-up, so it is notable that Volvo has waited for EV technology to develop before launching an electric equivalent. But that model, the EX60, will arrive in 2026 and Volvo chiefs have previously described it as a “huge boost” in the firm’s electrification plans.

Notably, the EX60 will be the first model to use the new SPA3 platform, which is effectively a heavy development of SPA2. It will feature deeper integration of the core computing software stack, but the primary focus is that it’s designed to be far more scalable: Volvo says it can accommodate cars smaller than the EX30 and larger than the EX90.

The platform will also enable the use of parts produced by megacasting, a process that Volvo will introduce at its main Torslanda factory in Gothenburg. This will allow entire sections of cars to be produced as single parts rather than as large numbers of individual parts, with the rear floor section of the EX60 likely to be the first to benefit from it. This method cuts production costs, increases rigidity and makes the parts lighter.

Few technical details of the EX60 have been revealed but, like the ES90, it will be offered in singleand dual-motor forms and use the same advanced infotainment system.

Electric estate on the cards for future line-up

The arrival of the ES90 and EX60 will give Volvo six EVs in the European market. Three further models are also in development, with Rowan saying that “some of them will be an electrification of our current models and some will take us into new segments”.

The only models in Volvo’s current combustion line-up that aren’t confirmed to get a direct electric equivalent are the S60 saloon and the V60 and V90 estates. Volvo has a rich history of estates, but the demand for such models has waned in recent years and they aren’tpopular in the crucial Chinese market. However, when asked about electric estates recently, Rowan hinted that the firm is “looking at that”.