Volvo keeping sedans alive with new EV... even in Australia

Volvo will reveal its first electric sedan early next year, and it’s set to come to Australia.

“[The] ES90 will make its global debut in March, 2025 in Stockholm, Sweden and is expected to hit Australian shores in late 2025,” the company says on its Australian website.

The BMW i5-rivalling sedan is understood to be a key model for the brand in China, but will be offered in various global markets.

That includes Australia, despite its remaining sedan here – the S60 – selling in tiny volumes. To the end of October, Volvo has sold just 131 examples of the S60 in Australia – less than half the Audi A4’s tally, and around 1/16th the BMW 3 Series’ figure.

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Previously leaked documentation in China revealed the ES90 will measure 4990mm long, 1945mm wide and 1547mm tall on a 3102mm wheelbase.

That makes it 27mm longer and 66mm wider on a 161mm longer wheelbase than the flagship S90 that was last sold here in 2019, though the S90 is also available in a long-wheelbase version.

The ES90 will reportedly be offered in either single-motor rear-wheel drive or dual-motor all-wheel drive configurations.

It’s expected to ride on the SPA2 architecture of the upcoming flagship EX90 SUV and share its 111kWh battery.

The ES90 will join a growing lineup of electric Volvos, which currently comprises the EX30, EX40 (née XC40 Recharge) and C40 (soon to become the EC40).

The EX90 flagship SUV is due here in 2025, while the EM90 people mover is offered in China.

Volvo’s EV lineup will expand to include the EX60, expected in 2026, which will debut a new platform called SPA3.

It’ll serve as an electric counterpart to the XC60, Volvo’s best-selling vehicle globally.

Volvo confirmed in September it was softening its EV goals. Instead of committing to only selling EVs by 2030, it now says it’s targeting 90 to 100 per cent electrified vehicle sales by that point – a figure that includes plug-in hybrids.

The company has left a buffer of up to 10 per cent for its 48-volt mild-hybrid models.

“There has been a slower than expected rollout of charging infrastructure, withdrawal of government incentives in some markets and additional uncertainties created by recent tariffs on EVs in various markets,” the carmaker said in a media statement in September.

“With this in mind, Volvo Cars continues to see the need for stronger and more stable government policies to support the transition to electrification.

“The strategic adjustments to its electrification ambitions ensure that Volvo Cars has a flexible plan that meets customer preferences and enables value creation as a business.”

Volvo Car Australia had announced in 2022 it would move to an EV-only lineup even sooner than the brand globally, discontinuing vehicles with a combustion engine in 2026.

It has subsequently said this ambition is “still very much a focus” but “since the global transition to electrification will not be linear, [and] as customers and markets move at different speeds of adoption, we need to be pragmatic and flexible”.

MORE: Volvo is the latest brand to walk back ambitious EV goals