The Volvo S90, which replaced the S80 to compete with the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series and other Audi A6s. © Volvo Cars
Electric cars are progressing rapidly among certain manufacturers. This is the case for Volvo, for which 100% electric models represented 16% of sales globally from January to November 2023 (source: Volvo Cars).
Like many other brands, Volvo has launched into electric with SUVs, if we exclude the very confidential C30 electric. These models are of course more popular than ever, but planning to abandon thermal engines in 2030, Volvo had to expand its range of electric cars with other bodies. Surprise, Volvo’s first electric car that is not an SUV is a van, the EM90. Acquired by Geely, it is primarily intended for the Chinese market.
Volvo enthusiasts will therefore be happy to learn that the Swedish manufacturer is also planning a first electric sedan. And it is the large S90, which took early retirement in France in 2020, which was selected to go 100% electric. It must be said that this is the oldest model in the Volvo range, after the XC90 which will gradually give way to the electric EX90.
According to our Swedish colleagues from Teknikens Världwho were able to consult a post from the Volvo intranet, a first copy called VP (prototype verification) of the electric S90, known under the code name V551, has already rolled off the production lines. The information is accompanied by a photo taken at the Geely factory in Cixi, south of Shanghai, where the pre-production model is still hidden.
Photo published on the Volvo intranet, on the occasion of the production of the first passenger car of the electric S90 (V551). © Volvo Cars
An imminent launch
We do not yet know the final name of Volvo’s first electric sedan, which is also its “the world’s first new model whose development was carried out under the leadership of the Shanghai engineering team”. Logic would dictate that it be called ES90, but Lexus, which already offers an ES, could block the use of this name.
The electric S90 should be launched in 2024. We already have a lot of information about it thanks to documents published by the Chinese authorities. The sedan should measure 4.99 m long, thus competing with the Mercedes EQE, BMW i5 and Tesla Model S, or even with the future Audi A6 e-tron also expected in 2024.
The electric S90 will be the second Volvo model to be based on the SPA2 platform, also used by the EX90 SUV or the Polestar 3. It should use the large battery with a total capacity of 111 kWh (107 useful kWh) which already allows two SUVs to achieve more than 600 km of WLTP autonomy. There is no doubt that the electric S90 will do even better, thanks to a more advantageous physique.
Subsequently, the S60 sedan, equivalent to the Mercedes C Class, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4, could also go electric. It would compete in particular with the Tesla Model 3. Let’s hope that Volvo will take advantage of its first electric sedans to offer them in station wagon versions, in order to offer an alternative to SUVs for families.