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Volvo used to be a strong proponent of electromobility; the Swedish automaker was even among the first to announce a plan for a full transition to electric vehicles. However, the company has been gradually retreating from its original strategy ever since. Now comes another such step: Volvo has confirmed that it will, after all, build a new generation of the XC90.
According to the original plan, the XC90 was supposed to be replaced by the electric EX90 model. But once it became clear that there wasn’t such strong customer demand for a large all-electric SUV, Volvo decided instead to extend the lifecycle of the existing XC90.
Its further facelift was a response to sustained interest from customers who continued to buy it. And now, as it turns out, that interest has been strong enough that the company finds it worthwhile to develop a whole new generation.
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Company CEO Håkan Samuelsson recently admitted to investors that the brand would need a new XC90. The model will see some changes: the upcoming XC90 is expected to be designed as a plug-in hybrid—a rechargeable hybrid will be the standard configuration.
Technically, it will likely be based on the XC70 developed for China, a 4.8-meter-long SUV currently in the pipeline. This probably implies the use of a combustion engine in combination with a battery of either 21 kWh or 39 kWh capacity, which would significantly extend its electric-only range.
According to Chinese standards, the XC70 should manage up to 180 km on electricity alone. By comparison, today’s plug-in hybrid XC90 T8 has an 18.8 kWh battery. However, development is progressing rapidly, so the final version of the vehicle may feature even more advanced technology.
There is still, however, one key detail we don’t yet know about the third-generation Volvo XC90: when it will arrive on the market. Given the typical preparation timeline for new vehicles, we expect it no earlier than 2027.
