The new Volvo ES90 Executive Sedan blends Swedish quirks with SUV-like versatility and a seriously comfortable ride

Singapore – As I enter the cabin of the new Volvo ES90 flagship sedan, I can already get a sense that the Swedish luxury marque means business. For the past few years, Volvo had been rather quiet, aside from bringing us the tiny B-Segment EX30 SUV.

But with the introduction of the ES90 sedan, EX90 SUV and in the near-future, the EX60 D-Segment luxury SUV, it looks like Volvo is back. But this time, their focus is electric.

The ES90 takes over the reins from the S90 flagship sedan. The latter, which debuted a decade ago, gave us a luxurious interior with open pore wood veneer, and even a very functional and very Swedish expansion and contraction point worked into the dashboard trim. In short, the S90 was a refreshing alternative to the trio of German Executive sedans.

BMW i5 Touring eDrive40 M Sport Review : Dynamic-Turn

The ES90 retains plenty of Volvo’s styling cues — from the diagonal bar across the front, to the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ headlamps, and the “shoulders” which run across the side of the car. However, because aerodynamics plays a huge part in ensuring that an electric vehicle delivers range, the ES90 is strictly speaking, a fastback.

With the sloping roofline, the ES90 achieves a respectable 0.25Cd, which is 0.01Cd better than the older S90. For the geek in you, the difference amounts to a 3.85% reduction in drag… and with distance driven, this adds up.

Toward the rear, the ES90’s fastback styling becomes more evident, with the roof’s curvature extending toward the edge of the bootlid, at where the fastback’s form ends rather abruptly.

My benchmark for the interior is the previous S90

The interior quality has largely been retained in the ES90. You get a good quantity of soft-touch surfaces, and the open pore wood veneer treatment which is carried over from its predecessor, can be found on the dash, and is even carried over to the rear quarters of the car, by way of the door cards and front seatbacks.

At the centre of the dashboard, a 14.5-inch central touchscreen takes centrestage. The Android Automotive OS, which powers the infotainment system, has a low learning curve, and is intuitive. Unlike the previous iterations of the Google-based operating system, it now includes wireless Apple CarPlay compatibility.

However, I would wish that Volvo had retained some physical dials to control the air-conditioning, as almost everything sits on the portrait style touchscreen.

Dig into the touchscreen, and you will be able to locate the settings for the 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system. Someone within the team developing this system was definitely a Beatles fan, as it includes an Abbey Road Studios Mode soundstage. Over here, you’d not want to cheap out with a free Spotify account, as audio quality is top-notch.

However, benchmarking the ES90 against its predecessor, there are some things within the interior I wish they had done better with. Smaller issues include the rather rough-cut edges of the touchscreen, and previously that cool expansion joint, featuring the Swedish flag, has now made way for a static moulding pressed into the metal trim.

Aside from the above, I find that there is a bit of a compromise on the ES90’s functionality. Adjustments for the steering wheel and wing mirrors are now parked within the screen, which takes a number of steps to get going. Much of this centralising on the touchscreen is consistent with Chinese vehicles — to which Geely is Volvo’s parent.

Not making things any better for the Volvo flagship sedan, the window switches on the driver’s side have been reduced to just two, so you need the additional step of touching a button on the panel, to be able to roll down the rear windows.

At the rear, leg space on the ES90 is generous enough for a pair of rather tall adults. The contoured seatbacks are a huge plus, as they gently cradle you in-place over more demanding roads. The sloping roofline though, whittles away some crucial headroom.

The boot presents a respectable 424 litres of cargo space, which can be extended up to 1,427 litres with the rear seats folded. For added carrying capacity, the front-end provides an additional 27 litres.

Comfortable as it probably gets

The rear motor’s 333hp (245kW) and 480Nm doesn’t break a sweat in getting the ES90 to the 100km/h benchmark in 6.6 seconds.

Within the cabin, you can tell that the adaptive air suspension is working hard to soak up road imperfections. The Ultra trim car sits on standard 21-inch rims, shod with Michelin Primacy tyres, which do a fine job between balancing grip, and hushing-up road noise.

In Performance drive mode, ES90’s buttery-smooth drive makes way for stiffer damping. However, the suspension still allows for a significant amount of play, so you may need to adjust your expectations if you are hoping for razor-sharp handling… that sort of driving belongs to a Bavarian brand.

The ES90 on the other hand, is designed to deliver a comfortable ride.

Despite being rear-driven, I was surprised that the ES90 is still equipped with an Off-Road driving mode. Capitalising on the air suspension, the Executive Sedan’s body gets a bit of lift, to help with clearing over terrain. The system, like in Volvo cars a generation ago, stays active, up to speeds of 40km/h, and deactivates once you build speed.

On a full charge, the Volvo ES90 claims a range of 661km. But as you know, the real world numbers are probably going to be lower. Therefore you can expect something closer to 560km — which is not bad at all.

Text & Photos: Clifford Chow

ProsCons
Comfortable and well-insulated rideToo many controls embedded in infotainment
Intuitive infotainment systemA slight drop in quality compared to the older S90
Fab audio system

2026 Volvo ES90 Electric Ultra 92kWh

DrivetrainFull Electric
LayoutSingle Motor, Rear-Wheel Drive
Motor power / torque333hp / 480Nm
Efficiency5.4 km/kWh
Battery capacity92kWh
0-100km/h6.6 Seconds
Top Speed180km/h
VES BandA
DealerWearnes Automotive
PriceS$410,000 with COE, with VES
VerdictA silky-smooth ride, Swede style