2024 all-electric Volvo EXC90 revealed in patent filings

It is not the end of the XC90 yet, in fact the car will get a facelift and will carry on alongside its electric sibling which technically will be a completely separate model. It looks like Volvo is planning to break with another tradition as well and its biggest, electric SUV will come with a proper name.

The rumor mill is accelerating and sources familiar with the subject suggest two possible options - either the new Volvo will stick to its roots and use the EXC90 name or it will completely break away and use the Embla name instead. Volvo patented that name already and is poised to use it to differentiate its electric car lineup.

The EXC90, or Embla, does not stray too far away from Volvo’s current design language. It looks like a smoothed down XC90 with a lot of influence from Polestar. The front headlights have the same, unmistakable Mjolnir design, the silhouette is the same but a bit lower making the rear part of the car appear longer.

The rear lights no longer stretch all the way to the roofline but wrap around under the rear window, very much like they do on Polestar 2 but in reverse - with the longer part of the taillight sitting atop.

Looking at the side of the new EXC90 we notice the much more pronounced shoulder line, in the XC90 it is more curved and not as sharp. The new vehicle flattens a lot of body panels and introduces a lot of edges, there is a clear Polestar influence all over it.

We have an image of the dashboard and thankfully it points to Volvo keeping the infotainment screen size rather small, compared to what its competitors offer. There is a fairly wide HUD quite far behind the steering wheel, almost under the windscreen. By placing it so far back, Volvo has removed the need for the dashboard cowl which makes the entire dashboard look neat and symmetrical. There will be an additional instrument cluster placed on the top of the steering wheel column.

Final image from the patent filing reveals the steering wheel which is quite a departure form the wheel in the outgoing XC90. It’s impossible to not notice Polestar influence again - the swept up sides, smaller and trapezoidal bottom spoke - squint your eyes and you’d think you're sitting in Polestar 2.

Overall nice and clean design, by no means a revolution - rather an update, the revolution is under the skin. There will be two electric powertrain options - single and twin-motor with AWD and up to 455 hp output. The battery is expected to have 100 kWh capacity and will use the 800V architecture. We are told to expect over 600 km of range or 372 miles.

The EXC90 will be built on the SPA2 platform which it is going to share with the Polestar 3. It will be the first Volvo to use Nvidia Drive to power its autonomous driving system with LiDAR and latest, highly advanced sensors.

Volvo will build the EXC90 in the US, at its South Carolina factory in order to qualify for the federal EV tax credit. Once it arrives it will compete with Mercedes EQE SUV, Cadillac Lyriq, BMW iX and Tesla Model X.

Patent filing points to an imminent official launch and we should see the EXC90 - or Embla - in its full glory before the end of this year.

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