The Volvo ES90 electric sedan has just been launched in Thailand, making its debut in the region shortly before coming to Malaysia in 2026. But while our Northern neighbour gets the car directly from its main production plant in Chengdu, China, our version will be locally assembled in Shah Alam when it arrives in our market.
By then, the ES90 will be produced alongside the EX30 crossover and EX90 SUV (production to start early next year), giving Volvo Car Malaysia the title of having the widest CKD EV range in the country yet. Going the local route will also give the ES90 a significant advantage over its rivals in Malaysia, maintaining its tax-free status into 2026 while the BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE will be heavily taxed after the CBU EV tax holiday ends.
Over the Thai border however, with no such provisions, the ES90 in a sole Ultra RWD trim is priced at 2.99 million baht, which is currently around RM385k. That makes it a fair bit more affordable than the 4.89 million baht (RM630k) EX90 Ultra Twin Performance over there. For comparison, the EX90 goes for RM442,888 in Malaysia, so if the ES90 is to be priced nearly 40% less, we may be looking at a tag of around RM300k for the sedan here.
Back to the car itself, which is a bit of an enigma. It may generally be referenced as a sedan, but it’s technically more of a hatchback. Volvo itself describes it as a vehicle that “combines the refined elegance of a sedan, the adaptability of a fastback, and the spacious interior and higher ground clearance associated with SUVs.”
The SUV reference is clear enough to see. The ES90 is an unusually (but somehow not awkwardly so) high-riding sedan with a ground clearance of 178 mm – most sedans in this class are closer to 140 mm. Size wise, it’s very slightly larger than the S90 it effectively replaces, measuring 5,000 mm long, 1,942 mm wide, with a wheelbase of 3,102 mm. Compared to the BMW i5, the ES90 is marginally shorter by 60 mm, but its wheelbase is 107 mm longer.
Specification-wise, the Thai-market Volvo ES90 Ultra Single Motor Extended Range gets the top-end high-definition Pixel Headlights and massive 22-inch wheels – that’s actually bigger than what we get on our EX90 SUV! All-around air suspension, an “active chassis” and soft-closing doors are standard fit on Thai cars too, as is the rather taxi-like Lidar above the windscreen.
Moving inside, it’s fully decked out as well, featuring Nappa leather upholstery with ventilated/heated function front and rear, massaging driver’s seat, powered reclining rear seats with a “lounge armrest,” power adjustable steering column, ambient lighting and even an electrochromic sunroof. The last item can go from full transparent to opaque at a press of a button, forgoing the need for a sunshade.
Also fitted is the much-lauded Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity Audio System. The 1,610 watt, 25-speaker setup supports Dolby Atmos, while featuring an Abbey Road Studios Surround Sound listening mode – a new spatial audio feature developed under license with the London music studio most associated with The Beatles.
The 14.5-inch centre screen runs the very latest Volvo Car UX, featuring Google Built-in and of course, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Meanwhile, the display is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Cockpit Platform.
Under the surface, the ES90 is built on Volvo’s contemporary SPA2 platform, now updated to use the so-called Superset tech stack – a unified set of hardware and software modules that allow continuous updates and enhancements via over-the-air (OTA) updates throughout its lifecycle. It’s also the first Volvo car to use dual Nvidia Drive AGX Orin core computers.
On the EV front, you get Volvo’s next-generation 800V electrical architecture, which unlocks quicker DC charging of up to 300 kW and better overall efficiency. Volvo Thailand claims a range of 755 km on the NEDC cycle (around 650 km WLTP), with its 92 kWh (88 kWh usable) NMC battery.
With a 300 kW (or higher) DC charger, it’s claimed to be able to gain 300 km of driving range (NEDC) in just 10 minutes, and get from 10% to 80% SoC in as quickly as 22 minutes. However, it still only gets an 11 kW AC on-board charger, which is a little disappointing considering most of its rivals now offer 22 kW OBC.
The Volvo ES90 Ultra Single Motor Extended Range uses a 333 PS, 480 Nm motor powering the rear wheels, enough to get it from zero to 100 km/h in 6.6 seconds, and on to a limited top speed of 180 km/h. Twin Motor versions are available in other markets (with 0-100 km/h as low as 4 seconds), but it appears early RHD markets such as Thailand, Australia and likely Malaysia too will get the single-motor RWD setup for now.
We’ll have to wait and see if the Malaysian market Volvo ES90 will be as well specified as the Thai model, and if it’s going to be as competitively priced too. For now, what do you think of the high-riding premium electric sedan? Comment below!
GALLERY: Volvo ES90
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