New Volvo Electric Models to Propel Volvo to Full Electrification Faster – CleanTechnica

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Volvo has one of the most ambitious electrification targets of legacy automakers. It may not be the biggest automaker in the world, but its ambitions to become a 100% electric car company are notable, and its progress is commendable.

As a refresher, Volvo full electric vehicle sales increased 54% in 2024 compared to 2023 globally. “In December 2024, full electrics accounted for 19% of the company’s sales, while plugin hybrids accounted for 27%. So, 46% of the company’s sales last year had a plug! Across 2024, full electrics accounted for 23% of the company’s sales, while plugin hybrids accounted for 23% as well. So, again, 46% of the company’s sales last year had a plug!”

Starting with 23% share isn’t too bad at all, especially compared to other automakers, but that does still leave 77% to fully electrify. The good news now is that Volvo Cars has just rolled out a couple more compelling fully electric models.

New Volvo EX30 Cross Country

First of all, there’s the new Volvo EX30 Cross Country. “Revealed today as part of a literal fireside chat including outdoors equipment brand Fjällräven at a secluded winter cabin in the north of Sweden, the EX30 Cross Country is designed for people who want big experiences from their small, fully electric SUV,” Volvo Cars wrote recently. “It takes the successful recipe of the EX30 and adds rugged ingredients, making it perfect for the growing number of people who want to explore beyond their crowded cities — come rain, come shine, or when everything is covered in snow and ice.”

Based in Sweden, of course, Volvo has long been a brand that focuses models on this cross-country, adventurous market. “We launched our first Cross Country car over 25 years ago, and this concept of durable and all-weather cars is core to the Volvo brand,” said Jim Rowan, Volvo Cars’ CEO. “In Sweden we face harsh winters, but we also like to make the most of them by getting out and exploring our amazing nature, even when it’s minus 20 Celsius outside. That’s why we want to deliver a fully rounded experience, not simply a car, to our EX30 Cross Country customers.”

In addition to competing with other Volvo models, could the EX30 Cross Country take on Subaru in communities where that’s the “it” car? In many “tribes” in certain states in the US and certain countries, Subaru is dominant among people who want a small-ish car that is highly capable off road, or at least going up and down mountains. The EX30 Cross Country is aiming right for that market. “We think that ‘Cross Country’ should be an experience, not just a car, so alongside the EX30 Cross Country we’re also launching a new experience package for customers who buy the car, with access to accessories, gear and information aimed at giving you the full potential to explore the great outdoors.”

Some initial details on the new Volvo EX30 Cross Country:

• range up to 427 km (265 miles)
• can be charged from 10–80% in 26 minutes
• special, bigger wheels — up to 18-inch all-terrain accessory tyre

Here are some other little touches as well: “Inside, the EX30 Cross Country is highly functional and contains all the clever tech, storage and design that made the original EX30 such a hit from the moment we revealed it. The doors contain large storage compartments, because we removed the speakers and incorporated them into the soundbar on the dashboard.

“A versatile central storage tunnel between driver and passenger can be slid out as a cupholder for your morning coffee or your travel mug, or back if you need to store more things. There’s also a big storage compartment on the floor between driver and passenger. The glove compartment has been placed beneath the centre console, providing easy access for both driver and passenger.

“Rear passengers get a neat storage box that slides out from beneath the central tunnel. This box is also removable and washable, so can double up as a waste bin. At the rear, on the boot lid, we included a handy ‘Will it fit?’ guide, so you know exactly how much of your gear you can get in.”

More details on the car and flowery words about it can be found here. But on to an even more recent announcement, one from yesterday.

Volvo ES90

The new Volvo ES90 is something else, it’s all about tech. It is a “software-defined” vehicle and based on the company’s new “Superset tech stack,” which is “a single set of hardware and software modules underpinning all future electric Volvo cars.” This is the second Volvo to be based on the Superset tech stack, following the EX90. It also uses a dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin configuration. In terms of computing capacity, that makes it the most powerful Volvo to date.

“DRIVE AGX Orin is NVIDIA’s core computer for intelligent cars that orchestrates various essential systems and processes inside the car at ultra-fast speeds. With a high level of computational power — around 508 trillion operations per second (also known as TOPS) — it manages functionalities such as AI-based, state-of-the-art active safety features, car sensors and efficient battery management,” Volvo writes.

“The NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin-powered primary core computer provides an eightfold improvement in AI compute performance compared with DRIVE AGX Xavier, enabling us to gradually increase the size of our deep learning model and neural network from 40 million to 200 million parameters. This will happen over time as we collect more data and continue to develop the model, with the overall goal of improving customer experience and – most importantly – safety levels.”

Volvo also talks up the types of over-the-air software updates the company will deploy in the ES90. The model is also packed with ADAS hardware. “The ES90 combines an exceptional understanding of its surroundings through an advanced array of sensors, which includes one lidar, five radars, eight cameras and twelve ultrasonic sensors, as well as an advanced driver understanding system inside the car.”

We don’t have many details on the ES90 yet, but the car will be revealed fully on March 5, 2025.