Volvo XC90’s Successor Set To Go Electric

• It will come equipped with LiDAR sensors and autonomous driving tech, powered by an NVIDIA Drive Orin system-on-a-chip.

• Safety features will be constantly updated via over-the-air updates.

• Volvo will develop backup systems for key features such as steering and brakes to supervise autonomous driving.

• Part of Volvo’s plans to have 50 percent pure EVs by 2025 and a full conversion by 2030.

Volvo’s future plans are coming in thick and fast with the latest announcement revealing the next iteration of its flagship XC90 SUV will be launched here in 2022. More importantly, it will run on all-electric propulsion.  

This is all a part of Volvo’s vast electrification plans, which includes 50 percent pure electric models by 2025 and a full conversion by 2030.

Aside from it being an all-electric model, the new XC90 will get some serious technology to further push the boundaries of passenger safety. For starters, the flagship SUV will come with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) developed by Luminar, which is basically SONAR but uses laser pulses instead of sound to detect what’s ahead.

Its autonomous driving computer will be handled by an NVIDIA Drive Orin system-on-a-chip, which will come standard on all XC90 variants. The best part about this safety package is that Volvo will be able to continuously update these safety features via over-the-air updates. Basically, Volvo claims it can utilise the safety-related data it gathers over time and adopt these learnings into the new XC90 and future Volvo models as soon as possible.

Volvo aims to have its new safety technology evolve to a point where it can preempt and intervene in case of any immediate threat to help reduce reaction times and avoid collisions. This is unlike the previous-gen systems that only alerted drivers for potential immediate threats. Volvo will also be slapping on a care package, standard on all Volvo EVs, that includes insurance coverage. 

Volvo will also have you covered with backup systems for key functions such as steering and braking to enable unsupervised autonomous driving. That being said, there's still some time before this technology will be implemented and it will only be available in safe areas that permit autonomous driving. 

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We should get more details about the new XC90’s electric powertrain and its appearance as we get closer to its debut date. Aside from the next-gen XC90, Volvo also has the XC60’s successor in the pipeline which will also get an all-electric powertrain. In India, Volvo retails the current-gen internal combustion-engined XC90 SUV at prices starting from Rs 88.90 lakh (ex-showroom). There’s no word yet on when the new XC90 will arrive in India, but we expect it sometime after it debuts in markets abroad.