This New Volvo Electric SUV Could Be The XC60's EX60 Successor
Volvo may have just revealed its upcoming electric flagship SUV, but the brand new EX90 isn't the only EV that the automaker had to talk about today. The all-electric successor to the three-row XC90 is expected to arrive in the U.S. in early 2024, complete with up to 300 miles of driving range and a potent all-wheel drive twin-motor system. It's designed for families, or indeed anybody who needs the flexibility of up to seven seats.
However, Volvo also teased something a little smaller. Though the bulk of the Swedish automaker's presentation was reserved for going through the EX90's headline features — which includes being hardware-ready for autonomous driving, subject to software updates being pushed out further down the line — it saved a preview of a smaller SUV for the very end. Skip ahead to around the 1 hour 33 minute mark to see it:
That's a big deal, as for the moment there's a conscious gap in Volvo's electric line-up. Currently, the automaker only offers two fully electric vehicles in the U.S. market: the XC40 Recharge, which is a compact crossover, and the C40 Recharge, which is a version of that vehicle but with a more swooping roofline. The EX90 will fill in a gap at the other extreme.
An electric XC60 would likely sell like hotcakes
What's in the middle, though, is arguably Volvo's ripest market. The current Volvo XC60 has proved to be a perennial hit with shoppers, offering the flexibility of a family SUV but without the sheer size of the XC90. Until now, though Volvo has a plug-in hybrid version, we've not seen much about an electric successor to that car.
Volvo's teaser certainly looked like what might well end up being called the Volvo EX60, a fully EV version of the XC60. Definitely smaller in scale than the EX90 parked behind it, it has a similar — though not as expansive — rear light signature, complete with Volvo's familiar glass-flanking LED bars.
The automaker hasn't shared any more details beyond this dim preview, beyond the huge "2023" flashing up on the screen. That certainly suggests we'll find out more about the new model sometime next year, coinciding with a likely reveal of the Polestar 4. That's set to be a premium "SUV coupe" according to Volvo's electric-performance-minded sibling brand, and we're expecting to see the same SPA2 platform as underpins the Polestar 3 and the Volvo EX90 form its basis, too.