Volvo EX90
Published · Researched 2026-09-21
Do not buy a 2024 or 2025 Volvo EX90 unless you have written proof that Volvo replaced its central computer. Everything else in this review is context for that sentence.
The EX90 was supposed to be Volvo's electric flagship: a seven-seat, 5-metre SUV with standard LiDAR, a "software-defined" architecture, 402 horsepower, a 111 kWh battery, and a starting price around $80,000. What customers got, instead, was the most troubled launch in modern Volvo history — and unusually, Volvo has effectively admitted it.
Consumer Reports bought a 2025 Twin Motor Plus for $81,290 and titled its verdict "The Volvo EX90 Is an Unfinished Electric SUV". Airbag warning lights. Dead Bluetooth and radio audio. Unprovoked error messages. Software version 1.3.18 fixed some of it, but CR's conclusion stands as the defining quote of this car's story: the EX90 should not have been sold until that software was ready. An owner quoted by InsideEVs went further, calling her car "a dumpster fire inside a train wreck" — phone-as-key that didn't work, a keyfob she called useless, a keycard that rarely worked, constant connection failures. A Canadian owner documented his saga on a dedicated website — keys dead within days, a software update that bricked the centre screen, door-lock faults, an emergency stop triggered by a system fault, air conditioning dead for a week — and started legal action for a refund. Volvo's own CTO, Anders Bell, told journalists: "Unfortunately, we have disappointed many customers... I'm going to say sorry to the customers who have lost trust."
Then came the unprecedented part. In September 2025, Volvo announced it would replace the central computer of every single 2025 EX90, free, with the 2026 model's Nvidia Drive AGX Orin-based unit — 500+ TOPS of processing power. InsideEVs called it "a tacit admission that the company can't solve the EX90's issues" on the original hardware. Volvo disputes that framing and says stable software is coming for both generations. Read both statements and draw your own conclusion; either way, the company is performing open-brain surgery on its flagship, under warranty, because the original brain wasn't up to the job.
Launch features were missing or inactive at delivery: LiDAR functions, CarPlay, smart charging, driver-assistance features — the very things the marketing had sold. Some owners reported loss of power on the highway. Against this, the praise that exists is mostly from pre-delivery press drives: a comfortable ride, a beautiful interior, handsome design. Real owners' praise is scarce.
So where does that leave the car? The 2026 model ships with the new computer from the factory and, presumably, mature software. It might be a good car. Nobody knows yet, because the fixed hardware-software stack has no track record. The battery and motors, notably, have no documented pattern failures — this was never a hardware-quality story, it was a software-and-compute story, which is both reassuring (fixable) and damning (it shipped anyway).
Who should skip it? Anyone considering a 2024–2025 car without documented proof the computer swap was completed — full stop. Anyone who needs their $80,000 car to feel finished — the Kia EV9 costs $20,000 less and, per Consumer Reports, never made its owners feel like beta testers. Anyone buying in a market where the computer-swap campaign's availability is unclear — confirm with Volvo directly, in writing.
The value call is stark. New, the EX90 competes with the EV9, the BMW iX and the Mercedes EQE SUV — all with cleaner launch records. Used, a 2025 car post-swap could be a genuine bargain if the market prices in the stigma and the paperwork proves the fix. That's a big if, and it requires a buyer willing to do homework most people won't do.
Sweet spot: 2026, the first year of the new computer — provisional, pending real-world data. Years to avoid: 2024–2025 pre-swap, absolutely. The EX90 might yet become the flagship Volvo promised. Right now it's a cautionary tale with a free brain transplant.