Volvo’s new all-electric EX60 has slipped the EV-range crown from the BMW iX3’s head with a potential one-charge range of up to 810km.
The new battery-powered Swedish SUV is to go on sale in Ireland in July and features three battery and drivetrain options, the most expensive of which will have that lengthy range figure, which theoretically beats the BMW by 5km.
The EX60 arrives at a critical time for the Volvo brand, as it seeks to stake a solid claim in the electric car segment as well as keep hybrid and petrol-engine cars on sale for longer than it had originally planned. Indeed, the hybrid-engine Volvo XC60 will is to remain on sale alongside this new all-electric model for some time.
Volvo has also had to contend with making an operating loss in 2025, thanks largely to having to cope with Donald Trump’s US tariffs.
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The maker has also had turmoil in the boardroom as previous chief executive Hakan Samuelsson has returned to the company, replacing Jim Rowan who left the company last year following delays in software development, and unreliable digital components, that caused Volvo major headaches with its EX30 and EX90 models.
Samuelsson, though, reckons the EX60 will be something of a turning point, and not just for Volvo.
The arrival of the EX60 now means there are three premium-badged long-range electric SUVs on the market – the Volvo joins the BMW iX3 and the incoming new Mercedes-Benz GLC EQ – and that, the Swede says, should stimulate interest in and demand for electric models, potentially triggering something of a sales tipping point.
The EX60 is coming armed to ward off the issues that clouded the launches of its bigger and smaller brothers.
It’s the first Volvo model to be built on the company’s new SPA3 platform, which will also be shared with the future Polestar 7 and other models within the sprawling Geely Group – the Chinese car maker which owns Volvo and Polestar (and most of Lotus, too).
The new Volvo is to arrive in Ireland in the summer, with prices starting from €66,995. This undercuts the price of the BMW iX3, but only if you’re happy to go for the basic version with the smallest battery and the lowest range.
That basic P6 EX60 comes with an 80kWh battery, a single 374hp electric motor driving the rear wheels, and a not-to-be-sniffed-at range of up to 620km from a charge. That most affordable EX60 is to go on sale in Ireland in August.
If you want a little more range, four-wheel drive and to get in before the rest, then there’s the P10 AWD version arriving in July at €69,995, which uses a 91kWh battery in concert with a combined 510hp from two electric motors. It has a range of 660km.
The “rangemeister” of the EX60 line-up, though, is the €76,595 P12 AWD arriving at the end of the year, which has two electric motors, a colossal 680hp and that 810km range thanks to a 112kWh battery.
Although to hit that range you’ll have to match Volvo’s claimed 16kWh/100km energy efficiency figure, which with a 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds (compared to a hardly-slow 5.9 seconds for the single-motor model) might prove tricky.
Certainly, the larger EX90 has disappointed when it comes to real-world usable range compared to its lofty claimed range, so Volvo will have to work hard to make sure the EX60 comes with no such disappointment.
To do that, the EX60 uses new battery technology for Volvo, including a cell-to-pack structure, which means that the battery forms an integral part of the car’s body, which saves a little weight, but critically also allows for 20 per cent better energy density – the amount of energy the battery can store for its total volume.
The battery gets 800-volt charging technology, which means that you can, potentially (and depending on what charger you can find when you’re out and about) claw back up to 340km of extra range in just 10 minutes of charging, with a 10 per cent to 80 per cent charge taking 19 minutes thanks to DC charging power of 320kW for the smaller battery and 370kW for the larger versions.
You can also draw as much as 22kW of power from the battery for other devices or even your home thanks to bidirectional charging.
The battery also boasts 31 per cent faster charging and a 37 per cent lower carbon-dioxide footprint compared to the previous generation SPA2 platform.
This being a Volvo, you’d expect safety to be top of the agenda. The cabin incorporates a new “Driver Understanding System”, which can monitor you for signs of distraction or drowsiness and can bring the car to a halt if you’ve become unresponsive for some reason.
The system can also monitor the rear seats and even detect the breathing of a sleepy infant, reminding you of their presence as you exit the car.
There’s also a new type of fully active seat belt – 77 years on from Volvo’s invention of the original three-point seat belt – which monitors the weight and size of the occupants and which knows the direction and angle of impact in any crash, pulling you tight into the seat with the appropriate amount of force.
On the outside, the EX60 looks broadly familiar if you’ve driven or owned a current XC60, but it’s also sleeker and smoother, with design elements – the lights, especially, brought in from the EX30 and EX90.
The most striking aspect is the entirely smooth, uncluttered sides as Volvo has removed the exterior door handles and replaced them with little tabs – which Volvo calls “Wing Grips” – at the edges of the windows.
This arrangement, not unlike that used by the Ford Mustang Mach-E, looks suitably tech-y, but may yet fall foul of legislators.
Transport officials in China are lining up a ban on such electronic exterior door latches following a spate of accidents where the occupants of cars could not be rescued by fire services, although Volvo says the door handles have been “engineered with redundancy, with multiple power sources and an internal mechanical release”.
Inside, there’s a new landscape-style touchscreen, which Volvo has worked on with chipmakers Nvidia and Qualcomm. This should ensure rapid reactions and operation, although disappointingly there’s a distinct lack of physical buttons within the cabin – a criticism levelled at Volvo’s other recent all-electric models.
Volvo is so proud of the EX60’s new software set-up that it’s actually named it the HuginCore, the name Hugin coming from one of Odin’s ravens, in Norse mythology, which roamed the land bringing back information for the King of Asgard.
There’s a collaboration with Google, too, not just for the software which runs on the big screen (thankfully, there’s a separate driver’s display screen too). It also encompasses Google’s Gemini AI voice assistant, which in theory can hold a natural conversation with you, can book hotels or restaurants, dive through your emails to dig out addresses or phone numbers and can calculate whether that chest of drawers you’re on the way to buy will fit in the boot.
Not much won’t fit in the boot, as the EX60 is one of the most practical Volvo models for some time, with a 634-litre boot that expands to 1,647 litres with the back seats folded down. There’s also a “frunk” storage area in the nose that runs to as much as 85 litres depending on the model. The EX60 will also be able to tow as much as 2,400kg on a braked trailer.
If it’s a more rugged performance you’re after, then wait for the EX60 Cross Country. Due to be introduced later this year, the Cross Country has a more off-road-y look to it thanks to suspension that has been raised by 20mm, although air springs lower that back down again at high speeds to improve efficiency.
This means the mid-spec P10 AWD Cross Country still manages a 640km range, and the P12 AWD with the biggest battery should be capable of around 790km. Both the Cross Country and the standard EX60 can cope with standing water of up to 450mm depth.
