Volvo’s newest car, the ES90, is a big deal for the company, returning to its roots as a maker of safe, roomy and dependable sedans. This time, it’s a handsome (for the most part) but mildly uneasy mash-up of a sedan and a crossover, with a relatively high ground clearance, five doors and electric power.
But the ES90’s time in the sun was rather overshadowed by a slightly bizarre moment that came just before the 25-minute mark of the reveal livestream. In it, Volvo’s Shanghai design studio boss Sophie Jingyao Li, while talking about the car’s design heritage, “accidentally” walks into a studio where a tarp covering a clay model was hitched up to reveal a new SUV, before another employee hastily pulls it back down again.
As the model plate reveals, this is the EX60, the electric (that’s the “E” prefix) equivalent to the XC60, slotting in between the EX40 (née XC40 Recharge) and EX90. That means it’s a compact executive SUV that will compete with the next Mercedes-Benz GLC with EQ Technology (try saying that ten times fast) and the next-generation BMW iX3, the latter being part of Munich’s Neue Klasse family.
Not much is revealed about the styling, but we can see that the car carries a similar design language to the EX90, with clean surfacing, sharp lines and the rear number plate recess positioned low down in the bumper. One difference is the taillights – they are no longer C-shaped but vertical, with the upper and lower sections joined together following the contour of the shoulders, just like the XC60.
We still don’t know much about the EX60, but Volvo has previously confirmed it will enter production in 2026, using the third-generation Scalable Product Architecture (SPA3). This platform is touted to not only feature greater core computing power thanks to the Volvo Cars Superset, but also offer enhanced scalability and lower investment costs. The car should also get some of the ES90’s headlining features, including an 800-volt architecture that enables DC fast charging in excess of 300 kW.
The EX60 will complement the existing second-gen XC60, which was recently given a significant second facelift after eight years on the market, helping it soldier on for several more years. That’s a similar relationship between the new-ish EX90 and the also-updated XC90.
GALLERY: Volvo ES90
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