Volvo on track to reveal flagship electric XC90 later this year

The electric successor to the popular Volvo XC90 SUV remains on track to be revealed in the final quarter of 2022, according to Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan.

Expected to be Volvo’s new flagship SUV, the successor to the XC90 will take on an actual name, rather than just another alphanumeric designation, and recent filings by Volvo suggest that it will be called the Volvo Embla.

Despite the massive supply chain disruptions overtaking the global automotive industry, Volvo remains confident it will be in a position to reveal their new all-electric SUV by the end of this year.

“We are very much on track,” said Volvo CEO Jim Rowan, speaking to Autocar. “We’ve made commitments that we would be launching a certain amount of vehicles every year, and we’ll make the decision on when we release that, but the fourth quarter this year is when we will release more details on that product.

“It’s a very exciting time for us because it takes us into another sphere – it’s another building block towards the future. That model itself is an extremely important vehicle for us.”

While we will have to wait for the full reveal in the final quarter of 2022, we already have a hint of what the XC90’s electric successor will look like thanks to the 2021 unveiling of the Volvo Concept Recharge.

Volvo debuted the Concept Recharge in the middle of 2021 as the design influence for the marque’s new all-electric SUV models. Bulky in design, but providing significantly more interior space, the XC90 successor is Volvo’s first EV built on a new electric-only technology base, the SPA2 platform.

The potentially-named “Embla” is not Volvo’s first EV, having already unveiled the Volvo XC40 Recharge – which is on sale in Australia – and coupé-backed Volvo C40 Recharge. Both of these are built on the same CMA platform as the conventionally fuelled XC40.

The electric XC90 is nevertheless a big stepping stone for the company as it launches its own SPA2 architecture, which will offer two unique floor assemblies, one for hybrid models and a flat floor version for pure electric models.

“Our Concept Recharge represents a manifesto for the all-electric future of Volvo Cars, as well as a new type of vehicle,” said Robin Page, head of design, speaking in mid-2021.

The new flagship SUV is also expected to boast as standard state-of-the-art LiDAR technology to be powered by an autonomous driving “super computer” and will be built at the same South Carolina plant that is building the Polestar 3.