“Taking the S90 legacy into the electric era”... The 520-km flagship sedan, Volvo ES90 [Brilliant Mobility]

[Financial News] As the numbers on the instrument cluster change, almost nothing changes in what reaches the ears. Even when the road gets rough, the body does not sway much. Lift your foot off the accelerator, and the car lets its speed fall without rushing. This is the ES90, Volvo Cars’ flagship model, introduced as the company hands its top spot in the sedan lineup to an electric car.
I test-drove the Twin Motor AWD Ultra on a round-trip route of about 110 km between COEX Magok in Seoul’s Gangseo District and Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.
For a long time, the S90 held the top spot in Volvo Cars’ sedan lineup. The ES90 is a car that carries that legacy forward with electric power. Volvo Cars describes it as a next-generation flagship developed to connect the sedan’s heritage with an electrified future.
The car carries a little more weight in Korea. Yoonmo Lee, CEO of Volvo Car Korea, named Korea as the world’s second-largest market for Volvo sedan sales. In effect, the company has brought the next generation of its sedan to a country where sedans sell well at its most aggressive price yet.
The exterior combines a 5-meter-long body with a fastback roofline. At the front, Volvo Cars’ “Thor’s Hammer” headlights define its face.
The cabin’s key features are tucked away out of sight. The next-generation Hugin Core platform, developed with NVIDIA Corporation and Qualcomm, brings together safety, driving, infotainment and battery management, while over-the-air (OTA) updates continue to improve its functions. There are five radar sensors inside the vehicle, including in the trunk. They detect occupants by reading movements as small as about 1 mm, wake the power and climate-control systems when someone gets in, and sound an alarm if there is an intrusion.
The first word that comes to mind to describe this car is “quiet.” Without engine noise, electric cars can make the high-pitched whine from their motors and reduction gears especially noticeable. Volvo Cars wrapped the electric motor in a fiber-based acoustic cover and fitted large bushings at the motor mounts to keep vibrations from traveling into the body. The rear motor uses oil cooling, which keeps its internal temperature even and also helps absorb some fine vibrations. The Ultra trim I drove has double-glazed acoustic glass in every window.
The result was felt less in the ears than in reduced fatigue. While driving alternately on national roads and highways, there were few moments when the noise suddenly grew louder. You only realize a stretch was noisy after you have passed through it. Even after sitting for a long time, your ears do not tire.
The ride comfort follows the same principle. Volvo Cars used cast aluminum in the body structures where the front and rear suspension springs attach. The design aims to reduce the spread of road vibrations into the cabin by increasing local and torsional rigidity while reducing weight. Even after crossing a road joint, people in the car do not remember it for long.
Press the accelerator hard and the twin-motor all-wheel drive builds speed with ease. The process is quiet. The car’s character comes through more clearly when you lift your foot. With regenerative braking, deceleration stays even from beginning to end. There was almost none of the fore-and-aft lurching that is common in electric cars as they slow down. The sensation is not very different from lifting off the accelerator and moving to the brake in an engine-powered car. It moves just as you would expect a Volvo Cars flagship sedan to.
It also delivers the fundamentals of an electric car. The twin-motor model, fitted with a 106-kWh battery, has a certified combined range of 520 km at normal temperatures in Korea (548 km in the city and 486 km on the highway). Its combined range in cold temperatures is 469 km. Volvo Cars says it has the longest range among comparable imported premium models currently on sale in Korea. It is the first Volvo to feature an 800V high-voltage system. A 350-kW charger can add enough charge for 300 km of driving in 10 minutes, and charging from 10% to 80% takes 22 minutes. The battery is made by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL).
Prices start at 72.94 million won. Volvo Cars said it set the price about 50 million won or more below that in the European market. After electric-vehicle subsidies (based on Seoul) and tax benefits, buyers can purchase one for as little as 70.81 million won, depending on the trim. Pre-orders had topped 3,000 as of the end of August.
The S90’s place was that of a quiet, comfortable sedan. The ES90 takes over that position, removes the engine, and even makes the sensation of lifting your foot feel like that of a sedan. What fills the space left by the engine is a deeper silence. This is how Volvo Cars has turned the page to the next chapter of its sedans.


[email protected] Kim Dong-chan Reporter