When Volvo launched the XC90 at the beginning of the millennium, it entered a new world. But since then SUVs and crossovers have become an increasingly large part of the portfolio and today it is precisely this category that sells the most.

The current generation arrived in 2014 and was the first real in-house product after the split from Ford. In 2022, the replacement will arrive and by all accounts it will be a big change compared to before.

Battery size and bi-directional charging

A novelty for Volvo, but as several other manufacturers have launched, is that the EX90 comes prepared for bidirectional charging. In selected markets, this will be offered as a package that also includes a charging box and an energy management system (Home electricity management system).

With this, you can use your Volvo to operate other appliances, but in the long run also other cars or your home

– With the Volvo EX90, you can run your life. You can use the battery in many different ways, from maintenance charging your e-bike while traveling, to connecting an electric stove while camping. The car can even run your house during the hours of the day when the spot price of electricity is high, says Oliver Loedel, responsible for the electricity ecosystem at Volvo Cars.

The whole process is supposed to be managed from your Volvo app and the underlying algorithm will ensure that it is all managed in a safe and limited way. In a video about the feature, Oliver Loedel also reveals what we can expect for the size of the EX90’s battery

– Our next generation of cars will have a capacity of over 100 kWh, he says.

Then Volvo’s new electric car is launched: EX90

On November 9, Volvo will take the wraps off its new electric car. The manufacturer revealed it during an event on September 21, where it gave a first small glimpse of what is to come.

Exactly seven weeks before launch, Volvo chose to hold court. In a pre-recorded video, the company’s new CEO, Jim Rowan, presented the first concrete information about the upcoming electric car. A model that will thus become the brand’s new flagship.

So what did we find out? Well, partly because it will be the first Volvo to get a lidar sensor. In addition, he said that the new car comes with a safety update that is on par with when Volvo introduced the three-point seat belt.

In addition to lidar, sensors inside the car together with proprietary algorithms must keep track of whether the driver is distracted, tired or drunk. The biggest news, however, was that we now have a launch date to write in the calendar.. and that it seems that we should forget the rumors that the model would be called “Embla” – because the name became the less exotic “EX90”.

First pictures… of the EXC90!

When the new XC90 was introduced in 2014, it was the first step for Volvo outside the Ford group. The model was on a new platform and the first product with the manufacturer’s new design.

Now have alleged pictures of what the replacement looks like in 2022. The images, which look like renderings for design protection was published on the car forum Worldscoop. On The EU IPO also includes an application for trademark protection for the EXC90.

If we look at the pictures, there are clear XC90 similarities. Not least how the silhouette looks. However, there are quite a few differences in the front and rear.

This and the fact that the name of the car is stated to be EXC90 causes problems. Why? Well, according to Volvo, the new model to be introduced has been described as a mix of station wagon and SUV with inspiration from the Concept Recharge that was shown last summer. Here it looks the most “smooth”.

The name also sends a warning signal, as former Volvo boss Håkan Samuelsson was clear that it should not receive an alphanumeric model designation.

Another thing to pay attention to is that the pictures do not show any lidar up on the roof – technology that should be included in the new model

One explanation is that the images show an updated XC90, which will then be sold as hybrid and plug-in hybrid next to its replacement, the new flagship “Embla”.

The technology in the upcoming electric car

For a long time, Volvo has been talking about the new generation of the larger cars being built on the SPA2 platform. From the beginning, it was a flexible architecture that could be used to build pure electric cars as well as hybrids with a combustion engine. But Henrik Green, product manager at Volvo Cars, clarified in June 2021 that the platform will be fully electric and will rather be called SPA1.0, to reinforce that Volvo is stepping into a new era.

An important issue regarding the next generation of electrified vehicles is the engines. Today’s models have third-party components from Siemens Valeo – but that will change in the future. Volvo will build its own electric motors in the factory in Skövde.

But since production in Skövde is not supposed to be up and running until the middle of this decade, it is unlikely to be an in-house produced electric motor that ends up in the replacement for the XC90. At least not at first.

Electric cars usually do not have a stepped gearbox, but only a reduction gear that reduces the speed and increases the torque from the high-speed electric motor. The premium electric cars Audi E-tron and Porsche Taycan, on the other hand, have a two-stage gearbox in an attempt to optimize the performance of the electric motor at different speeds.

In May 2022, Volvo Cars published a patent for a two-stage gearbox for an electric motor, which Carup was the first to tell. Maybe that means the new XC90 joins the E-tron and Taycan. The gearbox has double clutches (power shift), which means that gear can be changed in principle without a temporary loss of torque transmission to the wheels.

Another new technology that comes with the new platform is so-called lidar (laser radar). Volvo has bought into the American sensor company Luminar and this provides new capabilities. The manufacturer has said that with the new generation of cars it will introduce Highway Pilot – a system that will allow the driver to let go of the steering wheel on the highway.

Volvo doesn’t want to talk about the SAE scale for autonomous systems – but describes it as “unsupervised driving”. The manufacturer’s goal is for every third car sold to have the system as early as 2025.

What will the replacement for the Volvo XC90 be called?

It’s been a while since Volvo started talking in terms of “XC90 replacement” instead of discussing it as a new generation of XC90. But what should the car be called? Håkan Samuelsson, former CEO, has partly said that the name begins with a vowel – and that:

– It’s a name you would give your newborn child.

Some time ago it emerged that Volvo Cars applied for trademark protection for the name Embla with the European intellectual property rights authority. The manufacturer’s use of Norse mythology is nothing new. However, it remains to be seen whether Embla will be the name of the model.

Design – what will the XC90 replacement look like?

There has long been speculation as to what the upcoming XC90 replacement will look like. When Volvo presented its “Concept Recharge” they talked about it being a “manifesto for the next generation of all-electric Volvo cars”.

Now it is far from certain that the concept shows how the first series cars will be. However, some conclusions can be drawn:

The first is that since the 2022 car is built on a so-called flexible architecture where both electric and combustion engines are to be included – the design must allow it.

This means that you cannot be as radical in your curves and shapes as models where you do not have to take into account a petrol/diesel engine.

But regardless, we will probably see a car with shorter front and rear overhangs and that the new body is based on the design language introduced with the Concept Recharge. The key word should be “less, but better” and refers to the number of details, not size.

The concept also has a more station wagon appearance – which could well mean that we will see a car that may not be as easy to categorize as an SUV.

The XC90 replacement shares a foundation with the upcoming Polestar 3. And even if you don’t believe that the information is correct – Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath released a small detail in an interview.

– I have nothing against three rows as such, but the second we were to put one in – you in the media would have started asking what the difference was to an XC90, he said in a discussion about the design of the Polestar 3.

As more information becomes available, the article will be updated.