Volvo ES90 with 800 Volt: First drive of the luxury sedan

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The range of sedans has shrunk considerably in recent years. Volvo, now in the hands of the Chinese Geely Group, is trying a combination of luxury, hatchback, and battery-electric drive with an 800-volt system. We were already able to take the ES90 for a short test drive.

Very small trunk

The ES90 extends to 5 m in length, of which 3.1 m is the wheelbase. Front and rear, as expected, there is plenty of space and very comfortable, air-conditioned seats. The workmanship is careful, and the lining consistently high-quality—at least if the nappa leather package or the most expensive trim level with wool upholstery was invested in. The standard faux leather upholstery does not necessarily feel pleasant to the touch. A bitter disappointment for many is likely to be the trunk, which at 424 liters is almost ridiculously small for a car of this format. Folding down the rear seats allows for up to 733 liters of storage. In addition, there is a compartment under the front hood with 22 liters.

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Volvo ES90 (7 Bilder)

For many customers, the base version might already be a good choice. Powered by a 245 kW motor on the rear axle, this ES90 is already well-motorized. In any case, the ES90 has little sportiness and skillfully imitates a quiet cruiser. For this, interested parties should avoid the largest available wheels with 22 inches, as this makes the ES90 appear bumpy on poor roads even with the air suspension. 21- or even 20-inch wheels are the better choice. Steering, springs, and dampers are skillfully tuned with a lot of routine. Drivers and passengers are shielded from the impressions of poor road surfaces—exactly what one expects from a sedan of this format.

Preparation for highly automated driving

What the Volvo ES90, like the EX90 SUV, lacks is an advanced driver assistance package that offers Level 3 automated driving support. The Pilot Assist (Level 2) works up to 150 km/h and costs an extra 2400 euros. It is intended to assist with lane changes on the highway, for example. A lidar is always installed on the front roof edge. At some point, highly automated Level 3 driving will very likely be possible with it—even for existing vehicles. The drama Volvo went through with the hardware swap in the heart of the E-SUV EX90 is definitely not to be repeated. In the ES90, the central computing unit is an Nvidia Drive processor. It is said to have so many reserves that future requirements are covered to a certain extent.

The Google-based operation is as minimalist as usual and works perfectly. The nine-inch instrument cluster behind the steering wheel is large enough in itself, but the display could be a bit larger. The dashboard is dominated by the 14.5 inch touchscreen, and the driver receives important information via the head-up display. The retractable door handles are not ideal to grip. The large glass roof is standard for the base model, but electrochromatic shading is only optionally available from the mid-range version. It cannot be opened in principle.

As usual: it stops at 180 km/h

Special attention is paid to the drive and its energy supply. Volvo initially offers three power levels. The base model with rear-wheel drive already has 245 kW and 480 Nm. This allows it to sprint to 100 km/h in 6.6 seconds. As in the other models, it fundamentally stops at 180 km/h. The all-wheel-drive models with 335 or 500 kW are even significantly faster in the standard sprint. We really didn't miss the performance in the base model at all. The ES90 is a comfortable glider, not a car that tempts you to rush through corners.

Quickly charged

The base model offers a battery with 88 kWh net and can charge at a peak of up to 310 kW. After 22 minutes, 70 percent between 10 and 80 percent charge level should be refilled. This would correspond to almost 62 kWh and an average charging power in this window of around 168 kW, to which charging losses must also be added. The more expensive models offer a usable 102 kWh and also take 22 minutes to charge from 10 to 80 percent. The average net charging power is therefore about 195 kW. Volvo promises a range between 647 and 700 km in WLTP.

Enormous surcharge for all-wheel-drive models

Volvo sees itself as a player in the premium league and therefore formulates quite confident price expectations. The base model is priced at 71,990 euros, placing it roughly where Audi and BMW are with comparable models. The standard equipment of the ES90 base model is already quite extensive. Among other things, the ability to transfer the key to the smartphone, a heat pump, and four-zone automatic climate control are always included. Annoyingly, however, some options are not available for the entry-level model: air suspension, a Bowers & Wilkins sound system, or an alternative to the faux leather upholstery are only delivered by Volvo from the second trim level, “Plus.” This costs 4000 euros more, which will likely not put off potential buyers in this segment. However, they will be very surprised that the all-wheel-drive models are currently only available in conjunction with the most expensive “Ultra” trim level. This raises their price to at least 88,990 euros. It remains to be seen how long Volvo can afford such rigid pricing policies.

(olb)