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There is one glaring problem with the exterior, though: the lidar hump at the top of the windshield. Volvo knows this is a problem, and I know it for two reasons. First, if you look at the official press images of the car, you will see several shots of the EX90 from almost every possible angle looking forward in profile. I found a profile shot, but the car is so far in the background that the hump is small, which is no doubt intentional. Up close it really looks like a taxi sign off. Second, I asked a Volvo designer at the brand’s launch if the team had any problems with the hump as we watched it jut out from the roofline, and they reluctantly confirmed that they did.
However, that lidar increases the safety of the already formidable car. The company claims that this is the safest Volvo ever, as the sensor matrix is able to build a complete picture of the world around the car, picking out even small objects hundreds of meters away, both at night and of day
Although this technology makes the EX90 capable of autonomous highway driving, Volvo has not yet activated this capability, and Thomas Broberg, senior technical advisor for safety at Volvo, will not say when. “It’s more about what the car shouldn’t do rather than what it will do,” Broberg tells me. He adds that Volvo needs more time to test its Level 3 self-driving technology, but then admits that the company has been testing this system, or versions of it, for years. Early next year, the EX90 will allow 2.5 driver assistance, apparently, but until then all drivers will just be collecting data for Volvo.
One last important point about the lidar hump. At the launch, I spoke with the representative of Luminar, the company that makes this unsightly self-driving component. He tells me that the next generation of technology is half the size and that Luminar is working on putting it in a windshield rather than letting it sit proudly on top. This sounds much better, and you can expect to see it in cars as soon as 2026 or 2027. Unfortunately, Volvo would not confirm if it would update the EX90 to this lumpless lidar. We hope so.
Luxury interior
Speaking of radar, there’s one in the EX90 too. It’s to prevent children or dogs from being left inside by mistake, as well as all the monitoring and driver assistance systems you’d expect from a Volvo. This is a very good thing, because such is the plush nature of the EX90’s interior (the convincing Nordico “leather” is in fact made of second-hand plastic and sustainable pine oil), you don’t want to let pets and children no supervision to ruin it. the optional middle row captain’s seats or cavernous trunk, which has a very practical “Will It Fit?” Pictorial chart, including a washing machine, chairs, skis, and a refrigerator, which allows you to see what things can be hired in the acres of the back space.
