Chewy734
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Hey all, I had the opportunity to check out (but not drive) the upcoming Volvo EX90 SUV in a closer to production model today at South Bay Volvo. These are my impressions:
TLDR: In my opinion, the R1S is a more compelling and better vehicle in nearly every way.
Exterior
I liked the overall design and styling. The Thor headlights are cool, and the horizontal lights hide away in DRL mode and when parked. The light greeting is fine. The wheels this trim had was the most aerodynamic one and it looked fine. They were running Scorpion all-season tires. There will be other wheel options. They had swatches for interior and exterior colors and fabrics. Sadly, it looked like exterior colors were black, white, and five shades of gray. Hopefully they'll eventually have some more fun and interesting colors in the configurator. The trunk liftgate wasn't split like on the R1S, but was powered open/shut (same with the frunk).
Interior
The seats were a gray wool blend with some cream vegan leather in the headrests. They will also have a full vegan leather option in black and cream. The seats were comfortable with lumbar support, and also some nice side bolsters (similar to my BMW sport seats). The main screen was vertical and clear, while the driver screen was horizontal and smaller than the one in the R1. The driver screen moves with the manual telescopic steering wheel. They also had a pretty large cavity in the dash in front of the driver that was supposed to be for the heads up display, which was turned off for the demo. Two cupholders in the front by the main screen. There was decent storage under the cupholders and between the seats, similar to the R1 but perhaps a little smaller. The center armrest had less storage too. They had a wheel in the center for interacting with the infotainment system, and it was of lower quality than the ones for BMW’s iDrive. The rest of the materials were fine. The second and third row seats seemed to have less room on the shoulders and legs than the R1S. The 2nd row seats reclined but less than the R1S, and the third row seats have powered folding up and down. The 2nd and 3rd row seats can all fold flat. The storage behind the 3rd row is roughly the same size but perhaps less in height than the R1S. I didn’t see any plugs in the trunk or frunk. The frunk was tiny, where you could probably store the charging cables and a purse. The window washer fluid spout had a built-in funnel which was cool. The trunk had some space underneath, but less than in the R1S. Overall, definitely a minimalistic Swedish design, except for the steering wheel which had an unusually large number of buttons. The steering wheel itself was nice and comfortable though. They had a glass panoramic roof similar to the R1S, and a glovebox which they wouldn't open for me.
Infotainment
They had 5G! They also had apps for Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, with more entertainment options coming. The sound system was a ~26 speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system that sounds better than on the XC90. They had a read display similar to the R1S, but smaller, with all the climate controls for the 2nd row.
Specifications
I don't remember the exact power and torque numbers, but they were roughly 40-50% less than the R1S. It had 111 kW total battery capacity and charges from 10-80% in ~30 mins. They said they'll have a dual-motor and a dual motor performance variant. Both will have ~300 miles of range. The display in the demo I was in showed 302 miles left with 90% battery. The charging port is at the rear driver's side, similar to where you'd fill up gas, and it had the same connections as the R1S. They said the 2024 EX90 will need an adaptor to connect to Tesla superchargers, whereas the 2025 EX90 will natively have NACS. I asked about different drive modes and they said it's 1 pedal driving with regen, so I don't think they understood my question. They also mentioned that there will be an optional tow package that allows for ~4800 lbs.
Unfortunately, I was not able to drive it yet, but overall it's a nice vehicle that seemed well made. But, at a price of "~$80k well optioned", I think the R1S is a far more compelling vehicle. The EX90 overall has less interior cabin room, and much less storage than the R1S. The R1S has many more drive modes, active suspension, and more performance in every way. They said they'll have an EX90 configurator available sometime by the end of the year, and the vehicle will be out sometime next year.
TLDR: In my opinion, the R1S is a more compelling and better vehicle in nearly every way.
Exterior
I liked the overall design and styling. The Thor headlights are cool, and the horizontal lights hide away in DRL mode and when parked. The light greeting is fine. The wheels this trim had was the most aerodynamic one and it looked fine. They were running Scorpion all-season tires. There will be other wheel options. They had swatches for interior and exterior colors and fabrics. Sadly, it looked like exterior colors were black, white, and five shades of gray. Hopefully they'll eventually have some more fun and interesting colors in the configurator. The trunk liftgate wasn't split like on the R1S, but was powered open/shut (same with the frunk).
Interior
The seats were a gray wool blend with some cream vegan leather in the headrests. They will also have a full vegan leather option in black and cream. The seats were comfortable with lumbar support, and also some nice side bolsters (similar to my BMW sport seats). The main screen was vertical and clear, while the driver screen was horizontal and smaller than the one in the R1. The driver screen moves with the manual telescopic steering wheel. They also had a pretty large cavity in the dash in front of the driver that was supposed to be for the heads up display, which was turned off for the demo. Two cupholders in the front by the main screen. There was decent storage under the cupholders and between the seats, similar to the R1 but perhaps a little smaller. The center armrest had less storage too. They had a wheel in the center for interacting with the infotainment system, and it was of lower quality than the ones for BMW’s iDrive. The rest of the materials were fine. The second and third row seats seemed to have less room on the shoulders and legs than the R1S. The 2nd row seats reclined but less than the R1S, and the third row seats have powered folding up and down. The 2nd and 3rd row seats can all fold flat. The storage behind the 3rd row is roughly the same size but perhaps less in height than the R1S. I didn’t see any plugs in the trunk or frunk. The frunk was tiny, where you could probably store the charging cables and a purse. The window washer fluid spout had a built-in funnel which was cool. The trunk had some space underneath, but less than in the R1S. Overall, definitely a minimalistic Swedish design, except for the steering wheel which had an unusually large number of buttons. The steering wheel itself was nice and comfortable though. They had a glass panoramic roof similar to the R1S, and a glovebox which they wouldn't open for me.
Infotainment
They had 5G! They also had apps for Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, with more entertainment options coming. The sound system was a ~26 speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system that sounds better than on the XC90. They had a read display similar to the R1S, but smaller, with all the climate controls for the 2nd row.
Specifications
I don't remember the exact power and torque numbers, but they were roughly 40-50% less than the R1S. It had 111 kW total battery capacity and charges from 10-80% in ~30 mins. They said they'll have a dual-motor and a dual motor performance variant. Both will have ~300 miles of range. The display in the demo I was in showed 302 miles left with 90% battery. The charging port is at the rear driver's side, similar to where you'd fill up gas, and it had the same connections as the R1S. They said the 2024 EX90 will need an adaptor to connect to Tesla superchargers, whereas the 2025 EX90 will natively have NACS. I asked about different drive modes and they said it's 1 pedal driving with regen, so I don't think they understood my question. They also mentioned that there will be an optional tow package that allows for ~4800 lbs.
Unfortunately, I was not able to drive it yet, but overall it's a nice vehicle that seemed well made. But, at a price of "~$80k well optioned", I think the R1S is a far more compelling vehicle. The EX90 overall has less interior cabin room, and much less storage than the R1S. The R1S has many more drive modes, active suspension, and more performance in every way. They said they'll have an EX90 configurator available sometime by the end of the year, and the vehicle will be out sometime next year.
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