The £100k Volvo EV that drove me to distraction: We drive the EX90

With a suitably satisfied smile on my face, I’m cruising down the sunny sand-duned coastline of Southern California with the Beach Boys playing full blast in the most expensive Volvo ever launched – the new all-electric £100,000 EX90 seven-seater flagship SUV.

Does life get much better than this?

If I’d fancied a proper road trip in Volvo’s pricey SUV, the upmarket family zero-emissions 4X4 has a claimed range of 374 miles – enough almost to get me the 380 miles from Los Angeles to San Francisco or, closer to home, a blast north from London to Edinburgh.

Packed with the latest intelligent tech to protect drivers, occupants, and others, including cyclists and pedestrians – it also lays claim to being the safest Volvo ever – though with an unfortunate and irritating flaw which, in my opinion, threatens to undermine that laudable claim and heritage…

Had it not been for the sound of my imperfect voice singing along with gusto to the impeccably harmonised rendition of ‘Surfin’ USA’ on the crisp Bowers and Wilkins stereo (turned into an impromptu in-car karaoke), I could also have experienced how it is the quietist Volvo ever.

Only the seven-seater version of the new battery-powered EX90 will be available in the UK, though four and five-seat versions will also available in other markets.

I drove the Volvo EX90 Twin Motor Performance version in Ultra trim and a fetching shade called Sand Dune, which costs from a hefty £100,555. A slightly more reasonable Twin Motor Ultra version is also available from launch priced from £96,255.

To follow, there is expected to be cheaper models in Core and Plus trim – including an entry-level single-motor model next year starting from around £75,000.

Although on sale since November 2022, first deliveries of the new EX90 have been delayed from the first half of this year until autumn as Volvo continues to tweak key computer software used in the car, which is vital to its ultimate performance and user-experience.

So while the early production car I drove is mechanically the same as will be sold, the software that drives it is still being finessed.

Which as anyone who has had their laptop looked at by their IT department will attest, does provoke a slight frisson of angst.

What does a £100k electric Volvo look and feel like? 

The electric EX90 certainly looks very Volvo.

It is instantly recognisable as a car from the Swedish marque, partially thanks to its pared-back minimalist – yet still sophisticated – Scandinavian design, with modern aerodynamic styling and pop-out handles flush to the doors. 

At first blush, it looks a worthy and even higher-tech successor to its popular XC90 predecessor.

Inside it is very spacious. It feels light, elegant, comfortable, and obviously decluttered: just as you’d like your living room to be – if only.

That sense of airy spaciousness is enhanced by a fixed panoramic glass roof which lets the light flood in and the relaxing and supporting sports seats.

The vast but simple dashboard is dominated by the steering wheel and the central tablet-style touchscreen which – for better or worse – becomes your main ‘interface’ with the car itself. Of which more later. 

There is a dial in the centre console with which to control music – which is a blessing. Shame there wasn’t more of that.

The non-leather cloth interiors from recycled plastics are particularly smart. 

The upholstery textiles are made from up to 50kg of recycled materials such as plastic bottles and bio material from sustainable forests in Sweden and Finland.

One major selling point for growing families who want a flexible friend is the seven seats spread over three rows – with three seats in the centre and two front and back. 

This gives you options to boost the rear luggage area for load-lugging if you don’t need the three seats in the second row or the two pop up seats in the very rear. You’d not want to be there for very long journeys, but for short to medium hops it’s not a bad space, even for adults.

Time to get on the move 

Powered by two electric motors totalling 517 horsepower (380kW), my Twin Motor Performance model is the more powerful of the two EX90 versions on sale at launch. 

The other is the 408hp (300kW) Twin Motor.

It drives very engagingly with a good lick of pace when required, good ride and handling, and relaxed manners whether out on the motorway, ambling through busy, slow-moving town-centre traffic, or having some dynamic fun negotiating twisting hills and vales which it tackles with aplomb.

Acceleration from rest to 62mph takes a brisk 4.9 seconds, which is pretty sprightly for such a large SUV weighing in at around 2.5 tonnes.

In line with its philosophy on safety, top speed is restricted to 112mph, which is plenty fast enough given prevailing UK speed limits (though Germans on their de-restricted Autobahns may moan a bit).

State of the art sound-proofing means it’s the quietest cabin ever engineered by Volvo – provided you’re not singing along to the 25-speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system (featuring Dolby Atmos) whose ultra-realistic vibes are about to be enhanced by a special downloadable ‘Abbey Road’ option which recreates the ambience of the London recording studio made famous by the Beatles.

The new EX90 boasts ‘cutting-edge intelligent safety technologies’ such as lidar – laser radar sensors that scan the car’s surroundings and highlight obstacles. Its interior radar sensing system helps prevent children and pets being inadvertently left in the car.

The EX90 will also offer bi-directional charging capability – a first for any Volvo car – which turns it into a mini power station from which you can charge up external accessories.

For mild off-roading the EX90 has a wading depth of 45cm (nearly 18 inches) and can pull up to 2.2 tonnes.

Clever tech includes eight cameras, five radars, 16 ultrasonic sensors, and a cutting-edge ‘lidar’ system to create ‘an invisible 360-degree shield’ around the car that Volvo believes will cut severe road accidents by up to a fifth.

Two cameras and posture sensors in the cabin will monitor a driver’s condition, detecting if they’ve fallen ill, are nodding off or intoxicated at the wheel…and then bring the car to a halt to prevent an inevitable crash. 

The hi-tech car is fitted with the computer hardware to enable it to achieve a high degree of autonomous driving – though only once the software that allows it to function is made available to download.

I didn’t expect a £100k car to drive me to distraction

Volvo says of its new EX90: ‘It brings a new level of connectivity to Volvo Cars, which is designed to become better, safer and more tailored to the driver over time.’

But here’s the rub. 

For a car firm that has built its reputation on safety, it is surprising that Volvo has been seduced so heavily into an over-reliance on the central touchscreen and removing practical, human-friendly buttons and knobs which allow drivers to make key changes while still keeping their eyes on the road. 

It’s a regressive and potentially dangerous trend started by Tesla and copied by others – which unnecessarily introduces worrying levels of driver distraction.

The company is as proud as punch to proclaim a new generation of fully electric ‘software-defined Volvo cars’ with ‘cutting edge safety technologies’ including sensors to spot potential problems and ‘an advanced driver-understanding system.’ 

Bravo. It’s brilliant.

Yet perversely, this key safety message is undermined by other unwelcome moves – namely a tendency to distract drivers by forcing them while on the move to switch their gaze from the road ahead to the central screen– rather than instinctively putting their hand down to twist a dial (while keeping their eyes on the highway).

Let’s face it – the central dashboard screen of the EX90 is just like an Apple iPad or rival tablet. And an iPad is simply a big smartphone. 

And if you were caught by police touching a hand-held smartphone while driving you’d rightly be hit with six points on your licence and a £200 fine. 

Do it a couple of times and you’d lose your licence because law-makers deem it to be such a dangerous distraction.

Yet I experienced a number of different distractions of such risk during my short test drive.

The ‘warning triangle’ alert should always be instantly accessible with a large button on the dashboard – it is, at the end of the day, for use in emergencies.

Yet, on the Volvo this triangle is a small icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. 

I had to look away briefly from the road to find it, then repeat that few times to ensure I pressed the right place. Distracting.

Also, on the freeway (what we call a motorway) I realised that the mirror setting (a pretty basic function traditionally sorted quickly with a quick finger-twist of a button without ever taking your eyes of the road) needed a subtle tweak so I could have a better view behind me on the three-lane highway.

Here’s what the manual (in the section entitled ‘adjusting mirrors’) says you should do on the central touch-screen to make that happen:

1. Press the car symbol (shown) in the bottom bar and go to Quick controls.

2. Select Driver adjustments (arrow) Side mirrors.

3. Use the steering wheel buttons on the right hand side to adjust mirrors. All of this, remember, while barrelling at speed down the motorway and trying to keep you eye on the road ahead and the traffic around you.

I tried it and it was hairy, to say the least – and definitely not recommended on my part.

Essentially, for too many of these basic functions, you need a co-pilot or co-driver to do it for you while you concentrate on the driving. And that’s not ideal.

Car executives argue defensively that most people set their mirrors only once, and then it’s done. And the system allows for a variety of drivers with their settings saved. Fair enough. But I’m not convinced.

Pushing more and increasingly key basic functions to the central touch-screen (air con is another) is sold to customers as a ‘cool’ advance – but significantly for the bean-counters watching the bottom line, it is also cheaper than having physical buttons and saves car firms money on production costs.

But cars are not – nor should be – just ‘computers on wheels’. Car firms are NOT tech firms – though to hear the way some motor industry bosses talk you’d think they were as they try a little too hard to emulate Tesla’s Elon Musk or the late Apple boss Steve Jobs.

Yet as I often say to car-makers: ‘Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you have to do it.’

This touch-screen obsession has gone too far – and beyond reason. Common sense must prevail.

In fact, there IS now a backlash against this over-reliance on screens. Volkswagen recently reverted to some buttons on its revamped 8th generation Golf, following critical feedback from many motoring journalists (including me) and, more importantly, customers shelling out their own hard-earned money. Aston Martin has made great play about the physical dials, buttons and knobs on its new £330,000 Vanquish. Because – at the end of the day – we are human motorists on the move, not desk-bound tech nerds.

If the computer lap-top on which I am writing this review has a software glitch, I can safely turn it on and off again and hope the re-boot works.

Try that on a car at 60mph.

The tech that does work effectively 

Ironically, the car’s own very clever safety features are themselves designed to spot if drivers are being distracted.

Two cameras inside the cabin will constantly measure the user’s ‘eye gaze concentration’ and a sensor also monitors the driver’s posture.

One of the cameras is embedded under the digital driver instrument panel behind the steering wheel and the other is placed higher in the speaker housing. This ‘maximises accuracy from different angles.

The cameras calculate for how long the user is looking at the road ahead and then decides if their attention is focused somewhere other than driving. 

A Volvo-developed algorithm then uses this information to detect the user’s current state and will be able to ascertain if the motorist is overly distracted, tired, drunk or falling ill.

The cameras and sensor will also be able to understand if a motorist is using their mobile phone or another device at the wheel – and therefore liable to the £200 fines and six points if drivers are caught in the act. But I see little difference between that and being distracted by an in-car screen.

The Cars & Motoring Verdict

The new Volvo EX90 is a tremendous automotive achievement whose brilliance is marred only by an over-reliance on the central screen for basic functions better placed on physical buttons. 

Oh, and the hefty £100k price tag.

It’s a shame that this simple to solve flaw detracts from what is otherwise a fantastic – if expensive – package. It’s a sophisticated SUV with great presence, pace and relaxed manners and the flexibility of seven seats.

It makes great advances in safety – a traditional Volvo strength and legacy – only to undermine that welcome progress with a few touch screen commands too far. 

The fact that Volvo is still sorting out last minute software issues reinforces that suspicion. Some food for thought for Volvo bosses when they launch the mid-life refresh.

Yes, there may well be people who buy in unquestioningly into the brave new button-less future. 

You will probably spot them cruising slowly down the middle lane of motorways, oblivious to other cars, while they fiddle with their touchscreens trying to sort out the air con.