Third Generation XC90 Volvo Confirmed To Be Present, Withdraw From All Electricity Plans?

Volvo XC90 facelift. (Photo: Volvo Cars)

JAKARTA Swedish manufacturer Volvo is rumored to be developing a third generation XC90. This decision comes with the slow transition to pure electric vehicles originally predicted by this Swedish manufacturer.

Previously, XC90, who was 10 years old, had just received a facelift in September 2024 after almost being injected to death. This is due to the delay in the launch of the large electric SUV, EX90, which was originally intended as a replacement.

However, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson confirmed that the third generation model was in planning.

"We will need a new XC90," he told investors in a second-quarter earnings call for the company, quoted by Autocar, Friday, July 18.

XC90 is likely to become a long-range Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV). Samuelsson indicated that this technology will be brought to Europe from China, where Volvo will begin production of new XC70 Plug-in Hybrids in the next three months.

XC70 PHEV itself is claimed to have an electric range of up to 112 miles (about 180 km).

"This is something that I think European consumers will want. Plug-in hybrid with a longer reach is a solution that we might need for a few more years than we thought," he continued.

This statement shows a change in strategy from Volvo's commitment in 2021 to completely switch to electric vehicles by 2030. The company seems to realize that the pace of electric vehicle adoption varies globally.

XC70 builds on a new Geely platform called SMA (Scalable Modular Architecture), and this platform also has the potential to be the basis for new XC90. Currently, XC90 PHEV facelift still uses relatively small batteries, below 15kWh, compared to XC70 which has a choice of 21kWh or 40kWh batteries. This smaller battery in XC90 will affect the facelifted SUV under a new emission testing rule that will take effect later this year, which will recalculate CO2 numbers for PHEV, so models with small batteries will be more expensive taxes for the company's cars.