Volvo is setting lofty U.S. gross sales expectations for its EX90 crossover, the Swedish automaker’s most vital launch because the XC40 in 2017, foreshadowing the model’s future know-how, design and sustainability efforts.
Volvo Automotive USA CEO Anders Gustafsson stated the seven-seater, launched Wednesday in Sweden, will turn out to be the model’s No. 1 quantity EV within the U.S.
“The EX90 is constructed for the U.S. market with a one hundred pc give attention to electrification,” Gustafsson instructed Automotive Information. “The amount on this automotive can be vital in 12 months one for our [retail] companions.”
It’s constructed on an all-electric platform and would be the first EV assembled at Volvo’s 2.3 million-square-foot plant in Ridgeville, S.C., an hour northwest of Charleston. EX90 manufacturing will start in late 2023. The manufacturing facility is projected to construct about 60,000 models in 2024, in line with AutoForecast Options.
Gustafsson stated he anticipates the majority of EX90 U.S. allocation within the first 12 months to be pre-sold forward of the mannequin’s launch in early 2024.
The EX90 marks the third battery-electric automobile within the Volvo lineup after the battery-powered variant of the XC40 crossover and the sporty C40 compact crossover.
The brand new flagship is on the vanguard of a wave of fashions that may remodel Volvo into an all-electric model by early 2030.
Volvo declined to reveal pricing for the EX90, saying solely it could begin at lower than $80,000.
The EX90 will partially qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit score below the brand new Inflation Discount Act, which incentivizes North American automobile and battery manufacturing.
Gustafsson didn’t disclose the EX90’s battery cell provider or its sourcing of the vital part.
The EX90 can be offered alongside the gentle and plug-in hybrid variations of the XC90 crossover.
With its new EV, Volvo joins a bustling section by which Tesla, Mercedes-Benz and BMW at the moment elbow for market share.
In keeping with information from Experian Automotive, the share of EV registrations within the U.S. has surged greater than 85 % within the first 9 months of the 12 months.
Gustafsson expects the EX90 to enchantment to Volvo loyalists in search of zero-emission transportation.
“I am satisfied that the best share will come from our present XC90 clients,” he stated.
Gustafsson additionally sees Volvo XC40 and XC60 crossover clients upgrading to bigger autos as their households develop.
Ernie Norcross, Volvo retail advisory board chairman, stated the household hauler hits the candy spot within the U.S. market.
“Because the market strikes towards a extra pleasant BEV market, we’re setting ourselves up for achievement with this automobile,” stated Norcross, proprietor of Volvo Vehicles Memphis in Tennessee.
New Jersey Volvo supplier Matthew Haiken describes the EX90 as an “evolution” of the XC90, which led the big premium crossover section by way of the primary 9 months of the 12 months.
The EX90, one of many few three-row EVs, can be aimed on the mainstream EV market, stated Haiken, proprietor of Status Assortment, which operates two Volvo shops in East Hanover and Englewood.
“That is the EV for the lots,” he stated. “We predict we might do nice volumes with it.”
However will probably be greater than a 12 months earlier than Volvo’s latest flagship arrives in U.S. shops.
“We might like to have the automotive sooner,” Norcross stated. “[But] we need to ensure that this automotive is correct; we wish it to be on the cash.”
The lengthy lead time, Gustafsson stated, will assist construct consciousness and enthusiasm for the high-tech mannequin, which incorporates lidar sensors for the primary time in a Volvo, together with bidirectional charging functionality.
The automaker will take the EX90 on a nationwide street present subsequent 12 months, utilizing the “cellular showroom” to coach sellers and customers on the brand new know-how.
“To organize for such a excessive quantity of electrical automobiles in our model, we have to educate our sellers’ workers,” Gustafsson stated.
Gustafsson describes the EX90 as a no-compromise automobile.
“There is no such thing as a legacy know-how it’s good to match into this new platform,” he stated.
The EX90 can be out there in a twin-motor, all-wheel-drive model at launch. The crossover’s 111-kilowatt-hour battery delivers 496 hp and an EPA-estimated vary of as much as 300 miles.
The massive premium crossover will characteristic an “invisible protect of security” that may assist scale back accidents that trigger critical accidents or loss of life by as much as one-fifth, Volvo stated. Sensors, together with eight cameras, 5 radars and lidar, are linked to the automotive’s core computer systems.
The usual lidar know-how on the EX90 might roll out to future fashions over time.
“That could be a very massive funding,” Gustafsson stated. “However based mostly on our security DNA, we see this as a brand new sign for Volvo automobiles.”
Lidar is a distant sensing technique that makes use of laser gentle pulses to render exact photographs of the surroundings round a automobile. The know-how, from Luminar, can detect pedestrians as much as 820 ft away, even at freeway speeds. Volvo stated lidar and the opposite sensors will enhance the reliability and efficiency of its assisted driving operate, Pilot Help.
“Lidar takes security to the subsequent stage,” Norcross stated, evaluating its significance to seat belts.
The EX90 is hardware-ready for bidirectional charging. Paired with smart-charging capabilities, it’s going to enable clients to cost their automobile when demand from the grid and costs are low and to retailer power within the battery to be used later.
The EX90 inside eschews {hardware} knobs and buttons for a digital dashboard anchored by two screens. The infotainment system runs on a 15-inch heart show powered by Google’s Android Automotive working system.
Driving-focused info, corresponding to instructions, present velocity and vary information, seems on a second, smaller display behind the steering wheel.
The EX90 is hardware-equipped for unsupervised autonomous driving. Volvo stated it’s going to make the characteristic out there first to clients in California earlier than rolling it out in different markets.