Update: Introduction, ‘SPA3 Platform,’ ‘Specifications,’ ‘Release Date,’ and ‘Manufacturing’ updated.
Following the Volvo EX90 large SUV, Volvo Cars is developing a smaller and higher-volume electric SUV for the global mid-size segment – the Volvo EX60. The new electric SUV will be the all-electric alternative to the Volvo XC60, the company’s current best-selling model. It should significantly contribute to the company’s long-term target of converting 90-100% of its global sales to EVs by 2030.
SPA 3 Platform
The Volvo EX60 will debut a new ‘SPA3’ platform, Erik Severinson, the company’s Chief Product & Strategy Officer, revealed the development at the 2024 Capital Markets Day on September 5, 2024. He said the SPA3 “is the next-generation (platform) and a step function change from SPA2,” the platform that underpins the Volvo EX90 and will spawn the Volvo ES90 in 2025. Thus, the upcoming electric mid-size SUV will pack big improvements in technology, he added.
The EX60 will make a fantastic entry in the premium electric C/D segment, but SPA3 can also create cars in many other segments – should the company decide to do. Larger than the EX90 and smaller than the EX30 – using the same scalable tech stack with supreme integration and the possibility of providing great margins.
Anders Bell, Chief Engineering & Technology Officer, Volvo Cars (2024 Capital Markets Day on September 5, 2024)
Jim Rowan, the President and CEO of Volvo Cars, indicated at the 2024 Capital Markets Day that the company strategically decided not to rush with its Tesla Model Y rival though it could have been tempting in terms of sales volume. He said:
There is a reason that we waited for the EX – we just announced the EX60 today – there is a reason we waited for the EX60 to come out on the SPA3 platform. It’s a volume car. You get the benefits of having volume and price reduction, and of course, that’s a magic formula in itself. So when we get the EX60 the value release that’s when you get that SPA3 architecture, a massively reduced cost and a high-volume car in a BEV format.
Jim Rowan, President and CEO, Volvo Cars (2024 Capital Markets Day on September 5, 2024)
Skateboard-like floor
The Volvo EX60 should have a skateboard-like flat floor, with provisions to mount flat batteries and electric motors for the front and rear. According to a report by MotorTrend published on December 16, 2022, Volvo Cars and Polestar engineers are developing a new platform called ‘GPA,’ short for ‘Global Product Architecture.’ It’s safe to assume that it is the internal branding/working title for the SPA3 platform.
GPA will be more advanced than SPA 2, as it will have twice the operating voltage – 800 volts, the report said. Lower weight and installation space of the cabling, higher performance, and faster charging are some of the main advantages of a higher voltage. Volvo Cars’ former COO Javier Varela told MotorTrend that GPA will have software-related innovations, although he didn’t disclose details.
Meanwhile, the regular XC60 should live on at least until 2026 with periodic updates, in partially electrified variants. Volvo won’t stop producing the XC60 hybrid as demand for the Recharge variant is increasing every year, and the phasing out of the combustion variant would have to be gradual.
Specifications
Next-gen motors
The Volvo EX60 will feature the company’s third-generation electric motors, designed and manufactured in-house. Bell said at the 2024 Capital Markets Day that Volvo Cars aims to improve the efficiency from 91% in the second-generation motors to 93% in the third-generation units. Additionally, the company expects the latter to cost 40% less, Fredrik Hansson, the company’s Deputy CFO and Head of Performance Steering, said at the same event.
Cell-to-body (CTB) technology
The Volvo EX60 will feature battery cells integrated with its body structure instead of being stacked into battery modules inside a battery pack on the vehicle floor, Volvo Cars Chief Engineering & Technology Officer Anders Bell revealed at the 2024 Capital Markets Day. This ‘cell-to-body (CTB)’ technology saves weight, reduces cost, and reinforces the structure of the EV. Moreover, it improves interior space and thermal management, Severinson said.
More efficient battery cells
The Volvo EX60 will be part of Volvo Cars’ second-gen EVs. Compared to the XC40 Recharge or C40 Recharge, it will have improved lithium-ion battery technology. The company aims for a 50% higher energy density for the battery cells it plans to co-develop with Northvolt.
Volvo Cars and Northvolt have established a new joint venture called Novo Energy. The newly formed company started constructing Sweden’s second battery cell gigafactory near Volvo Cars’ auto plant in Torslanda, Gothenburg. This manufacturing facility will have a potential annual production capacity of up to 50 GWh.
We plan to source 15 GWh of annual capacity with the Northvolt 1 plant in Skelleftea, Sweden. This will start in 2024 in order to meet our capacity ramp-up of electric vehicles. The third step is to build a new gigafactory of up to 50 GWh of annual capacity. Combined, this will secure supply for the next generation of fully electric Volvos built in Europe.
Erik Severinson, former Head of Industrial Strategy, Volvo Cars (Volvo Cars Tech Moment)
Severinson reiterated at the 2024 Capital Markets Day that the battery cells Volvo Cars will use in the SPA3 platform-based EVs will have a higher density than the SPA3 platform-based EVs. Even lighter in count and fewer in number, they will deliver longer range, he added.
Up to 400 kW system power
Henrik Green, former Head of Global Advanced Technology & Sustainability, Volvo Cars, suggested that the Volvo EX60 could come with dual-motor powertrains that generate up to 400 kW (536 hp) of system power. Speaking to Recharge (mestmotor.se) in December 2021, Green said that the next-gen Volvo EVs coming from 2022 “will receive 400 kW (536 hp).”
200 kW+ charging power & ~350 miles range
At the 2024 Capital Markets Day, Jim Rowan said Volvo Cars’ new technologies will allow customers to add 200 km of range to its EVs in probably six minutes. Earlier, at the Volvo Cars Tech Moment in June 2021, Lutz Stiegler confirmed that second-gen Volvo EVs will have more than 200 kW of charging power. Stiegler was the former Solution Manager of Electric Propulsion at Volvo Cars.
The reduced internal resistance of the battery cells, improved thermal management, and an adapted design of the entire high-voltage system will allow the company to increase the charging power to this level, Stiegler said. This would considerably reduce wait times at the charging station.
Volvo Cars’ competitors have improved significantly in recent years. In 2023, sister concern Zeekr developed a 75 kWh LFP battery pack that supports charging at 500 kW and deployed it in the mid-size electric sedan 007. Thus, the company will likely need to do much better than 250 kW (2025 EX90), possibly at least 300 kW, in the EX60. It may aim for a 10-80% charging time of as low as approximately 20 minutes. We’re expecting a range of 300-350 miles (EPA-est.) in the EX60.
V2L
Volvo Cars will offer bidirectional charging, as it does in the EX90, allowing customers to use their car’s battery pack as storage for solar energy. This will help them save money on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint. The V2L system comes in handy when running appliances, tools, and gadgets during camping or at the job site. Moreover, customers in markets with time-variable energy prices would be able to reduce their energy bills with bi-directional charging.
Exterior & Interior
The Volvo EX60 could feature a new type of design inspired by the much bigger Volvo Recharge Concept. For enhanced aerodynamics, it could be lower and more estate-like compared to the SUV-looking XC60.
The Volvo EX60 will pack a completely new infotainment platform based on Android. At the Volvo Cars Tech Moment event, Sanela Ibrovic, Head of Connected Experience, Volvo Cars, shared the following highlights of the new infotainment platform:
- A large center touchscreen
- High-resolution driver information system
- Optional head-up display
- Simple user interface
- Easy-to-see information
- Responsive interaction
Every next-gen Volvo EV will run on the company’s own operating system called Volvo Cars.OS, an umbrella of various operating systems across the car and the cloud. The Android Automotive OS powering the infotainment system will be a part of Volvo Cars.OS. Customers will be able to use connected car functions available in every Volvo model using the same mobile app. It will be possible to connect the EV to other ecosystems, like connected home devices, for instance.
Customers will be able to control their car easily using their voice from the convenience of their homes by issuing commands. From inside their homes, customers will be able to control charging, in-car climate, and much more. But we also want our customers to be able to control home functions from the car, such as turning on the front door light and opening the garage door.
Sanela Ibrovic, former Head of Connected Experience, Volvo Cars (Volvo Cars Tech Moment)
Technologies available in next-gen Volvo EVs will include spatial audio, haptic seat belts, and a driver monitoring camera as well. Most configurations of the next-gen Volvo EVs will likely be hardware-ready for many high-end features, like Luminar LiDAR-enabled autonomous driving, for example. Customers would be able to enable and use features they didn’t pay for at the time of purchase or lease later by paying later.
We can deploy software over the air to the entire car. Meaning, we can activate and push brand-new functions, for example is, within autonomous driving. We can also improve and enhance existing functions in our cars, and it also allows us to activate paid-for features connected to the mobile app.
Anne-Mette Nygaard, former head of Digital Consumer Products, Volvo Cars
Safety
If not the safest, the Volvo EX60 should be one of the best models in its segment for safety features. In addition to multiple ultrasonic sensors, cameras, and radars, it will feature a LiDAR sensor, fitted on the roof. Developed by Luminar, the LiDAR sensor may allow the vehicle to see what lies 250 meters ahead, even in complete darkness. That’d only be that outside intelligence, though.
Volvo Cars has left no stone unturned when it comes to safety, and has developed new intelligence features for the interior of future models. It will likely offer its new driver understanding system that, using two in-cabin cameras, ensures the driver isn’t drowsy, distracted, intoxicated, or ill. Another safety highlight in the cabin of the EX60 could be the interior radar system that ensures a child or pet doesn’t get left behind.
Release Date
The Volvo EX60 will arrive in the second half of 2026, Automotive News reported on August 11, 2024. Competitors will include the 2025 Tesla Model Y, next-gen Mercedes EQC (Mercedes GLC Electric SUV), Audi Q4 e-tron, next-gen BMW iX3, and the Lexus RZ. The future electric mid-size SUV is one of the brand’s five upcoming products that will expand its EV line-up to 10 models.
Manufacturing
Volvo Cars will manufacture the EX60 at its factory in Gothenburg, Sweden, Severinson said at the 2024 Capital Markets Day. The company will use mega casting technology, with large aluminum casted parts replacing in some cases more than 100 smaller parts. “Landed cost for a mega cast structure is up to 35% below a steel-aluminum structure,” Volvo Cars Chief Supply Chain Officer Francesca Gamboni said at the 2024 Capital Markets Day.
Mikael Fermér, Volvo’s vehicle platform architect, had highlighted to Autocar UK that mega casting allows for more precise vehicle sculpting, potentially lowering the seating by up to 15 mm, which improves aerodynamics and range. This method not only offers design flexibility across different body styles but also promotes environmental sustainability through 100% material utilization, recycling cut-out parts back into the production cycle, similar to Tesla’s Model Y approach.
As per Auto Express, Volvo Cars claims that the new rear floor for their vehicles, produced using mega casting, weighs 15-20 percent less than a traditional stamped equivalent. Despite the reduced weight, it offers safety and durability that are just as good, if not better, than traditional methods.
TopElectricSUV says
The Volvo EX60 will be a pure-electric mid-size SUV similar to the Tesla Model Y. It should feature an exterior with a mix of modern but conventional proportions with futuristic design elements, a spacious and minimalist interior, class-leading safety and ADAS features, and a frugal zero-emissions powertrain. Considering the powertrain and technology to be included, the EX60 is poised to be the most advanced EV coming out of Gothenburg.
Volvo EX60 FAQs
What is the Volvo EX60’s release date?
The Volvo EX60 will debut in 2026, positioned above the Volvo EX40.
Which models would you consider the EX60’s rivals?
The Volvo EX60 will challenge the next-gen Mercedes GLC Electric, new BMW iX3 & Audi Q4 e-tron.
Do you have an idea of the Volvo EX60 price?
The Volvo EX60 is expected to come at between USD 60,000-70,000.
Featured Image: TopElectricSUV’s rendition of the Volvo EX60
A Mechanical Engineer by qualification, I started out as an automotive editor of a regional magazine in 2011. In my 11 years of experience in creating automotive content, I’ve traveled around the world to review, analyze and report on the world’s top electrified cars.
