Volvo EX90 Ultra Performance 2025 review

For an all-new electric SUV packing both rapidity and agility, the Volvo EX90 Ultra Performance doesn’t shout its credentials.

Perhaps this is in keeping with the Swedish brand’s long-held pragmatism – built on a reputation for rock-solid ‘apartment blocks on wheels’, as people used to say – though the contemporary Volvo vibe is very much about tastefully minimalist design and slickness of operation.

Visually, the electric EX90 is clearly an evolved version of its still-handsome, combustion-engined XC90 predecessor, which remains on sale in freshly updated and facelifted MY26 form. But the EX90 adds a level of futurism with its grille-less visage, smoother flanks, and more dynamic silhouette with kicked-up window line.

Dimensionally, EX90 is remarkably close to the decade-old XC90 – a near-identical 2985mm wheelbase, similar 5037mm length (+87mm) and 1964mm width (+41mm), and slightly lower 1747mm height (-28mm) – which delivers a substantial wedge of large SUV.

But proportionally, the EX90 is a bastion of conservatism, especially compared to its main seven-seat electric rival, the Kia EV9, as well as its sportier five-seat cousin, the Polestar 3. The Kia is slightly shorter than the Volvo but features a much longer wheelbase (3100mm), gifting it a nuggetty stance on the road and an advantage when it comes to interior packaging.

Yet the EX90 still has presence – especially our top-spec EX90 Ultra Performance test car wearing standard 22-inch alloys with staggered-width Pirelli Scorpion tyres, broad 265/40R22s at the front and frankly enormous 295/35R22s at the rear.

With adaptive air suspension and a unique torque-vectoring dual-clutch rear axle, this dual-motor EX90 possesses the mechanical hardware to deliver a premium driving experience to match its premium price, which should elevate it beyond other seven-seat EV rivals.

What are the EX90 Ultra Performance’s features and options for the price?

From launch, Volvo Australia offers two dual-motor AWD versions of the electric EX90 – the Plus ($124,990 before on-road costs) and the Ultra Performance ($134,990 before on-road costs).

A single-motor rear-drive base model – as per its twin-under-the-skin, the Polestar 3 – will come later, likely to be priced around $105-110K.

Standard equipment on the dual-motor EX90 Plus includes:

• All-wheel drive
• 300kW/770Nm powertrain outputs
• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Headlight washers
• Panoramic glass roof
• Keyless entry/start
• Four-zone climate control
• Third-row air-conditioning
• Heated steering wheel
• Power-adjustable steering column
• Nordico upholstery
• Heated electric front seats with driver’s memory
• Electric four-way front lumber support
• Heated rear seats with 2nd-row booster cushion
• Head-up display
• 14.5-inch portrait centre display
• DAB+ digital radio
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless phone charging
• 360-degree camera
• Electric tailgate
• 14-speaker Bose premium audio with subwoofer
• Volvo Cars app remote functions
• Over-the-air (OTA) updates

To that, the $10K more expensive EX90 Ultra Performance adds:

• HD Pixel headlights
• 22-inch alloy wheels
• 380kW/910Nm powertrain outputs
• Performance mode
• Dual-clutch torque-vectoring rear axle
• Adaptive air suspension
• Ventilated and massaging front seats
• Electric side bolsters
• Puddle lighting
• Laminated side and rear windows
• Tinted rear windows
• 1610-watt Bowers & Wilkins 25-speaker audio with subwoofer

Nearest seven-seat price competitors to the EX90 Ultra Performance include the Kia EV9 GT-Line ($121,000 before on-road costs), Volkswagen ID.Buzz GTX ($109,990 before on-road costs), and Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 SUV ($198,200 before on-road costs).

The EX90 is offered in six colours: Crystal White, Onyx Black, Denim Blue, Mulberry Red, Vapour Grey and Sand Dune.

The interior comes in Dawn (off white) with Light Ash inlays, Charcoal with Birch inlays or Cardamom (milk-coffee brown) with Birch inlays.

How does the EX90 Ultra Performance drive?

Featuring adaptive air suspension with dual-chamber air springs, as well as an excellent torque-vectoring dual-clutch rear axle, the dual-motor EX90 flagship undoubtedly has the mechanical hardware to achieve a premium level of dynamic sophistication and cohesion.

And with powertrain outputs of 380kW and 910Nm, as well as an impressively lusty 0-100km/h claim of 4.9sec (despite having to shift a buxom 2736kg), the EX90 Ultra Performance promises to deliver on what its name suggests. And it most certainly does.

Indeed, performance is supreme. The EX90 is effortlessly rapid and anyone who feels like it needs more thrust should perhaps check themselves in with a therapist to mitigate their power lust.

But you do need to press a ‘Performance’ button in the centre screen to get genuinely snappy off-the-line punch and the startling rolling acceleration that EVs are capable of. Otherwise, it’s all slightly muted and softened off, so as not to offend too many passengers.

Same goes for the handling. Without Performance mode activated, the EX90 isn’t as dynamically animated and doesn’t engage its back axle much when turning into a corner. It will also run a bit wide if you don’t have its nose properly pointed into a corner, at least when pressing on.

Why? Because it doesn’t have very strong regenerative braking, and therefore lacks any meaningful trail-braking assistance when demanding it change direction.

Selecting Performance mode alters the way the electric drive split works between the wheels and amps the effect of the dual-clutch back axle. It makes the EX90 shrink around you and feel a lot smaller than it is. It wakes the Volvo up, like a slap in the face, to the point where it can be handled quite aggressively when pushed hard – certainly for a lardy seven-seater.

The suspension and steering each have two settings – Soft and Firm. The adaptive air suspension is best left in Soft, even though it’s surprisingly tolerable on tight, bumpy country roads in Firm – feeling nicely connected and not too crashy or stiff.

But Soft is still disciplined enough to complement the Volvo’s clever rear axle, if not plush enough to iron out stuff like deep manhole covers, which the huge wheels thump into quite loudly.

The EX90’s alert steering feels really good in Firm – especially combined with Volvo’s excellent three-spoke wheel – though steering movement is a lot easier in Soft mode, while still happily and effortlessly capable of threading its way confidently through corners, especially in Performance drive mode (which doesn’t change the steering and suspension settings).

There’s a hidden level of dynamism in the EX90 Ultra Performance that is, in some cases, very much hidden because to get to all these adjustable modes, you must select the car symbol, then ‘settings’, then ‘driving’, and then ‘view all’ underneath Performance drive.

For a vehicle so reliant on the right setting for the right situation, this stuff should be a lot more easily accessible.

What is the EX90 Ultra Performance’s interior and tech like?

The top-spec Volvo EX90 isn’t quite as premium inside as its five-seat Polestar 3 relative, yet there’s still a lot to like thanks to its tactile surfaces, classy digital screens, and very Scandinavian wood inlays.

The Australian EX90 doesn’t get the lovely Wool Blend upholstery option offered in other markets, but the leather-like Nordico perforated alternative looks and feels suitably luxe, especially when combined with a light-coloured two-tone steering wheel in the off-white ‘Dawn’ interior (there’s also Charcoal and Cardamom light brown).

And there’s a neat trick with the classy wood trim that miraculously transforms into a backlit yellow fishnet pattern at night.

For the most part, the EX90’s hushed interior (the Ultra Performance gets laminated glass) is a suitably serene, impressively soothing place to spend time. The heated/ventilated electric front seats are very comfortable and Volvo’s single-dial seat adjuster defines minimalist cleverness.

Once mastered (with relative ease), the EX90’s tactile switchgear is highly functional, its centre-console storage is useful, and its interior aesthetic is refreshingly light and airy.

But in a few areas, the EX90 isn’t quite everything it could be.

The oddly designed door pockets are limited to 600ml plastic bottles (where the decade-old XC90 can handle up to 1.5-litre bottles) and the EX90 lacks proper door grab handles, as well as overhead grab handles (which even feature stitched upholstery in an XC90).

The second row gets three individual seats, each with a fore-aft slider, that makes third-row entry super-easy from either side of the car. There’s a fully flat floor, dual-zone climate control (with centre and B-pillar vents), outboard heating and door sunshades, as well as excellent all-round vision and a standard all-glass roof.

The third row is acceptable for adult passengers but intended for children, offering USB-C ports and C-pillar air vents. You can electrically lower each third-row seat via buttons in the rear door frames, and when you do, that delivers up to 697 litres of expansive boot space (with 324 litres, including under-floor storage, with seven seats in use, plus 46 litres in a front boot).

If you’re an audiophile, paying $10K extra for the Ultra Performance could be justified by its outstanding 25-speaker, 1610-watt Bowers & Wilkins audio with sexy Remington Steel-esque speaker grilles. Surround-sound heaven.

Is the EX90 Ultra Performance a safe car?

The Volvo EX90 is yet to be independently crash-tested by any global NCAP organisation for its safety performance or rated for its electronic active-safety features. But its close cousin, the Polestar 3 – featuring the same wheelbase, powertrain and underbody structure, and near-identical safety-assist equipment – received a five-star score in 2025.

Individually, the Polestar 3 scored 90 percent for adult occupant protection, 93 percent for child occupant protection, 79 percent for vulnerable road user protection, and 83 percent for its safety-assist systems.

Standard safety equipment on the 2025 Volvo EX90 includes:

• Driver’s knee airbag
• Adaptive cruise control
• Lane-keep assistance
• Emergency lane-keep assist
• Forward cross-traffic alert
• Front AEB with forward collision warning
• T-junction AEB
• Lane-departure warning
• Driver attention monitoring
• Adjustable speed-limiter
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear collision warning
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Rear AEB
• Front and rear parking sensors
• 360-degree camera
• Tyre-pressure monitoring

As you might expect, the EX90’s active-safety systems are subtle, yet highly effective in operation, and can be clearly and easily customised via the portrait touchscreen.

What are the EX90 Ultra Performance’s ownership costs?

The official WLTP range claim for the twin-motor EX90 Ultra Performance is 570km compared to 567km WLTP for the closely related five-seat Polestar 3 Performance, 505km WLTP for a seven-seat Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD and 450km WLTP for a seven-seat Volkswagen ID.Buzz GTX AWD.

On test, sometimes driven hard, our EX90 Ultra Performance used 25kWh/100km, which translates to a real-world distance of 428km. In urban driving, the EX90 should comfortably achieve 500km before charging.

Using a DC ultra-fast charger, the EX90’s 10 to 80 percent charging time is 30 minutes, with a maximum DC charging rate of 250kW. That compares to a charging time of 24 minutes for the 800-volt Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 30,000km, with the Volvo’s five-year/150,000km servicing cost being included in the vehicle price.

Volvo’s new-vehicle warranty in Australia is five years/unlimited kilometres for private buyers, including roadside assistance, as well as an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty.

The honest verdict on the EX90 Ultra Performance

We drove the Volvo EX90 Ultra Performance at its international launch in California in 2024 and came away quietly impressed but not completely convinced that the electric newcomer was a better luxury SUV than its decade-old XC90 predecessor.

Having now properly tested it on Australian roads, we’re pleased to say that the longer you drive the EX90 and the more you ask of it, the better it gets.

There are a few areas in its cabin where it’s inferior to the XC90, and those huge 22-inch wheels can make their presence known with an occasional loud thump, but for the most part, the EX90 Ultra Performance is a roomy, super-quiet, impressively comfortable and satisfyingly premium-feeling electric SUV.

Aside from its superb stereo, what really sets the EX90 Ultra Performance apart are its hidden talents when it comes to performance, handling and overall driving enjoyment.

The Ultra’s ‘Performance AWD’ mode really does transform this large electric SUV from capable to truly engaging – well beyond what anyone could expect.

That’s what justifies the $10K premium for this top-spec version over the regular EX90 Plus, and potentially also the Kia EV9 GT-Line, which can’t quite match the Volvo for range, nor brand cachet. And at this price point, for many people, that will matter.