They made this press release into two parts, here’s the other part:
A space for living on the move: here’s the fully electric Volvo EM90 premium MPV
738 km / 458 miles under the CLTC testing cycle, which has been known to be wildly optimistic. 116 kWh battery, fast-charging to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Sold in China “first”, presumably it won’t leave Asia and if it does, it likely won’t come to North America.
So as predicted, the Volvo EM90 is a direct rebadge of the Zeekr 009 and Volvo is not hiding the fact that the car is designed for the Chinese market. Like, this is a “2000s-era General Motors” level of rebadge. Some different lighting, some different interior trim here and there, some different materials, and… That’s really it. It doesn’t look bad, but this is probably the Geely-est Volvo they’ve ever put out since the original acquisition a decade ago.
As a Volvo enthusiast this makes me grit my teeth but if the money they make from this car allows them to sell a less profitable “niche” or “heritage” wagon model in the future, it’s a necessary evil.
Hands-on over here from Telescope, with comparisons to the Zeekr 009.
So not only the 140kWh Qilin battery version is gone, the front motor is gone as well. Is it positioned as a lower trim version of Zeekr 009?
It probably won’t be cheaper than Zeekr009 either, so what is Volvo thinking?
A lot of Volvo’s verbiage surrounding the EM90 has been about “comfort” and “relaxation” so perhaps they’re trading performance for better interior materials or something.
And despite Volvo being under Geely like Zeekr is, if the agreement was that the CATL Qilin battery was to be put into Zeekr vehicles and Zeekr vehicles only, then it makes sense that the EM90 wouldn’t get it.
I don’t think Zeekr has a exclusive deal with Qilin battery, it’s just a name CATL give for their 3rd Gen CTP battery tech. Zeekr is just the launch customer, a lot of other EV manufacturers are starting to use it in their EV lineup.
Volvo may get away with sacrificing power for comfort, it won’t get away with lower range, as potential buyers do care about range.
Volvo may get away with sacrificing power for comfort, it won’t get away with lower range, as potential buyers do care about range.
I wouldn’t say a 738km CLTC range is particularly compromised, that’s still a range which is well above-average for the segment. They’re just not giving it the crowning-achievement Qilin pack for the moment.
We need more EV passenger vans and MPVs.