In a video message, Volvo CEO Jim Rowan introduced the brand’s new flagship EV SUV the Volvo EX90, set to debut on November 9. The company is calling it the safest Volvo ever and it will come with many industry-first features, especially in terms of the safety of the occupants. Volvo claims that its safety tech features can help avoid fatal collisions by up to 20 percent, which may have caused serious injury or death to the occupants.
CEO Jim Rowan further added:
“The EX90 is the start of a new era for Volvo Cars, taking our legacy of safety, quality, and innovation into the future. All Volvo EX90s will come with an invisible shield of safety, a unique combination of the latest technology, powered by the understanding of the car’s outside environment and the state of the driver inside.”
Volvo’s brand value is synonymous with top-notch safety features and in the new flagship EX90, the safety features are of the next level. EX90 comes with an invisible shield of safety which includes an array of sensors, lasers, cameras, radars, and a LiDAR sensor powered by Volvo’s algorithms. The invisible shield of safety on the EX90 and Volvo’s own software bring it all together to create a 360-degree real-time view of the EV even at highway speeds, which can prevent accidents due to the outside environment.
EX90’s shield of safety can also reduce crashes due to drivers’ distraction or inattentiveness, tiredness, and drowsiness. It has a real-time interior sensing system that gauges the overall awareness of the driver and if the system detects that the driver is not alert, it starts giving a warning sound. If the driver still does not responds to the warning sound, it will safely stop the EX90 by the side of the road, turn on the hazard lights automatically and call for help.
This is for the first time, a Volvo is fitted with an advanced LiDAR sensor supplied by Luminar, it is one of the most advanced systems available. This advanced sensor has a setup of 5 radars, 16 ultrasonic sensors, and 8 cameras for scanning the surroundings of the vehicle. It can detect non-reflective items like a tire on the road from a distance of 120 meters and pedestrians from 250 meters, even when the vehicle is traveling at a speed of 75 mph. LiDAR sensor will come standard across all variants of the EX90 and will be inbuilt into its roofline.
The industry-first, real-time interior sensing system provided in the EX90 comprises special sensors and cameras powered by Volvo’s core computing platform. The system observes the driver’s eye-gaze patterns, and steering behavior and measures the time the driver looks at the road ahead. Based on this, if the system finds that things aren’t normal, it alerts the driver to focus. It starts with a soft beep but it can get louder looking at the severity of the moment. If while driving the driver falls asleep or becomes ill, the system can take control and bring the vehicle to a stop and call for help.
The EX90 will be built on a new purpose-built platform and is seen as an electric replacement for the Volvo XC90. Well, nothing has been disclosed about the battery specifications and powertrain yet and we suppose it will be revealed in full on November 9. In the press release, the automaker has given clues about the vehicle’s design and it closely resembles the recharge concept car shown last year. Last month as well a set of patent images of EX90 surfaced online which also displayed similar design language. The EX90 is expected to go on sale in the US in 2024.