Last month Volvo pulled the wraps off its future EV flagship, the EX90 electric SUV, which at launch was only confirmed with dual-motor, three-row configurations and no single-motor or two-row variants planned. But that may change, according to a new report, which indicates that a base version of the EX90 without the third row of seats and front motor is being considered.
MotorTrend quotes Javier Varela, Volvo Chief Operating Officer & Deputy CEO, as saying referring to the EX90 that “it is possible with the platform to take away seats.” He also noted that if the company does give a single-motor base version the green light, the motor will power the rear wheels.
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He also hinted that a the company is mulling a performance variant, which would be even quicker than the most powerful model currently announced, which has a combined output of 517 horsepower from its two motors, enough to propel the big SUV to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h).
The EX90 is the first Volvo to be built on the new SPA2 platform that’s also used in the Polestar 3. The model will go into production in late 2023 and first deliveries should start in early 2024. Production will first begin at the Volvo factory in Chengdu, China, but starting in 2024 the EX90 will also be made at Volvo’s plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina.
According to the report, Volvo is working on an additional platform, which is called GPA (short for Global Product Architecture). Unlike SPA2, which can still accommodate a combustion engine, GPA is being designed exclusively for electric power and with an 800- not 400-volt electrical architecture.
We were in Sweden in early November to see the Volvo EX90 being unveiled and we made a video of the event, which is embedded below.
