The new Volvo EX90 – the electric XC90 – arrives on 9 November, ahead of which Volvo is teasing the EX90’s exterior.
Ahead of that reveal – a reveal beaten by the very similar under-the-skin Polestar 3 – Volvo has been busy teasing the EX90, from announcing it won’t be the Volvo Embla as planned but the more Volvo-familiar EX90, to its ‘New Luxury’ interior.
Now it’s time, with just a week to go to a full reveal, to tease the looks of the EX90, including the image above and the video below.
The starting point for looks seems to be the Concept Recharge, but a recent patent filing showed that has morphed into something much more like a sleeker, somewhat lower, take on the current XC90.
Key to the new design is a reduction in drag, and Volvo has achieved a drag coefficient for the EX90 of 0.29 – impressive for a brick-shaped SUV, even one that’s sleek and low-ish – thanks in part to a rounded front end similar to the C40 Recharge, and flush door handles.
A key challenge for Volvo was also how to integrate the LIDAR sensors on the roof without the EX90 looking like a prototype test car, and they seem to have done that convincingly (3.37 on the video) on the roof to get the best view and range, good enough to spot pedestrians 250 metres away.
T. Jon Mayer, Volvo’s Head of Exterior Design, said:
We’ve taken inspiration from yacht design to outline the Volvo EX90’s beautiful and sleek proportions.
If you look at the front, it’s proud and confident – inspired by a sailboat’s ability to shear through the ocean’s slamming waves. But it’s also rounder overall, which enables the air to flow around the car more efficiently.
This may be the last tease of the EX90 before next week’s reveal, although Volvo could be back with powertrain details ahead of that.
Have your say - leave a comment