Volvo EX60 will stand alongside XC60 and compete with Model Y and BMW iX3

Volvo may be lowering its electric vehicle targets, but is still busy expanding its range of battery-powered vehicles.

The company has confirmed that it will launch a new electric SUV, the EX60, which will run on a new platform called SPA3. It has not yet confirmed when it will launch the new SUV.

The mid-size SUV will slot between the EX30 and EX90 SUVs and will serve as an electric counterpart to the XC60, Volvo’s global best-selling vehicle.

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The SPA3 platform builds on the SPA2 foundation of models such as the EX90 and includes several key upgrades, such as improved core computing capacity.

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According to Volvo, the SPA3 platform is much more scalable than SPA2 and can support cars of all sizes, including vehicles smaller than the EX30 and larger than the EX90.

According to the company, this modularity ensures lower investment costs, leading to stronger cash flow in the future.

It is part of Volvo’s drive to create greater synergies in parts and production, in order to reduce production costs.

Volvo says that all future electric cars, starting with the recently launched EX90, will use the same fundamental core of systems, modules, software and hardware that the company calls the Volvo Cars Superset tech stack.

Vehicles will use a selection of the ‘building blocks’ that make up this tech stack.

The EX60 is built at the company’s plant in Torslanda, Sweden, although Volvo rarely builds vehicles in a single factory these days.

With the EX60, Volvo enters the heart of the EV market with a mid-size SUV. It already offers small electric SUVs in the EX30 and the XC40 and C40 (soon to be renamed the EX40 and EC40), and has introduced a flagship electric SUV called the EX90.

In China, the company offers the EM90, a large passenger transport vehicle closely related to the 009 from the Zeekr brand, also managed by Geely.

Volvo also previewed its first electric sedan, the ES90, which will arrive before the EX60.

The company announced this week that it is aiming for sales of 90 to 100 percent electric vehicles by 2030, with the new target also including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

This is a weakening of the target the company announced in March 2021, when it said it would sell only electric cars globally from 2030.

Volvo has left a buffer of up to 10 percent for its 48-volt mild-hybrid models, which offer small fuel savings compared to pure internal combustion engines (ICEs).

This could mean that existing petrol and plug-in hybrid Volvo models could get updates to keep them fresh. Volvo this week revealed an updated XC90, which represents the second facelift for the flagship model.

“Charging infrastructure rollout has been slower than expected, government incentives have been withdrawn in some markets, and additional uncertainties have arisen due to recent tariffs on electric vehicles in several markets,” the automaker said in a press release.

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

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

Volvo expects electric and PHEVs to account for 50-60 percent of global sales in 2025. This target is on track, as 48 percent of vehicles sold in the second quarter of 2024 were plug-ins, while fully electric accounted for 26 percent.

Volvo Car Australia announced in 2022 that it plans to transition to an all-electric offering by 2026, four years ahead of its global parent company.

There’s still work to be done, though. In the first half of 2024, Volvo delivered 2,024 EVs in Australia, accounting for just under 43 percent of the 4,741 total sales to date.

“Our ambition to be fully electric by 2026 remains a key focus,” a spokesperson for Volvo Cars Australia told CarExpert.

“As the global transition to electrification will not be linear, with customers and markets moving at different rates of adoption, we must be pragmatic and flexible, while maintaining our industry leadership in electrification and sustainability.”

Speaking to CarExpert in May, Volvo Car Australia managing director Stephen Connor said all new cars coming to Australia would be electric and that PHEVs may only be introduced on existing models through facelifts.

“Every new car we bring out will be a battery electric car. So every new model that comes into the range will be battery electric,” Mr Connor told CarExpert.

“It’s crucial that I emphasise that. If it’s a new model, it will be purely battery electric; if it’s an existing model or facelift, then it’s the current XC60 or XC90 (where there’s room for non-EV launches before 2026).”

MORE: Volvo is latest brand to scale back ambitious EV targets