Volvo continues to tease its new ES90 ahead of the reveal on March 5, today releasing a few new images and giving us new powertrain details about the electric sedan. We know it will use the same SPA2 platform as Volvo’s EX90, and last week the brand announced the ES90 would have even more processing power than EX90 for improved safety systems. An even bigger hardware upgrade than the new supercomputer is that the ES90 will have an 800-volt electric architecture, where other SPA2 cars like the EX90 and Polestar 3. That means the ES90 will be Volvo’s fastest-charging and longest-range EV yet.
First, just take a look at how cool the taillights are. I’m ready to see more companies go really wacky with lighting design, and having taillights run up the rear window of a fastback sedan is right up my alley. It’s very Citroën DS.
On the European WLTP cycle Volvo says the ES90 will offer up to 435 miles of range, 60 miles more than the EX90. The EPA rates the U.S.-spec EX90 as having up to 310 miles of range (versus 375 WLTP), so I think the ES90 should have an EPA range that hovers around the 375-mile mark. Volvo specifies that the 435-mile WLTP figure is for a dual-motor ES90 with a 106-kWh battery pack, which is a few kWh smaller than the EX90’s. After launch there should be more efficient single-motor versions of the ES90 that could reach past 400 miles on the EPA cycle.
Finally, competitive charging speeds
One of my biggest problems with the electric vehicles that Volvo and Polestar currently sell are their relatively low charging speeds. The EX90 and Polestar 3 can be fast-charged at up to 250 kW, which is pretty good; older EVs like the Volvo XC40 and Polestar 2 only could do 150-205 kW. Thanks to that 800-volt setup the ES90 will be able to handle 350 kW of fast-charging power, putting it up there with other 800-volt cars like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Porsche Taycan as being one of the fastest-charging EVs on the market. At this point I think launching a new EV without an 800-volt platform is a huge mistake, at least for a more premium model, so it’s great to see Volvo improving.
Volvo says the ES90 will be able to gain 186 miles of range in just 10 minutes of charging (again WLTP numbers, so probably around 150 miles in the U.S.), and it will be able to charge from 10 to 80 percent in 20 minutes, a 30-percent reduction from the EX90. New battery management software was developed in-house by Volvo, and the company says every component in the electric system was upgraded to handle the higher voltage. According to Volvo, the overhauled architecture can produce more power and charge faster while generating less heat, all still using the same current as a 400-volt system.
As you’d expect, Volvo is also talking about sustainable production methods that have been employed with the ES90. 29 percent of all aluminum used in the ES90, 18 percent of all steel and 16 percent of all polymers is recycled, Volvo says. The ES90 will also have a “battery passport” that’s “based on blockchain technology” to tell you where all the materials used in your battery came from. I will never learn what blockchain means, but that’s kinda cool. We’ll get all the details about the ES90 when it’s revealed on March 5, unless another teaser comes out before then.
