• The Volvo ES90 will be Volvo’s new flagship EV-only sedan.
• It will be the next to use Volvo’s software stack that includes two Nvidia Drive AGX Orin chips to manage semi-autonomous driving features.
• Existing EX90 vehicles with the single Orin chip setup will get upgraded to the dual setup to be used in the ES90, free of charge.

It’s been proven that we’ve already reached “peak” gas sometime a few years ago. Volvo may be one of a few brands that recently announced its intention to somewhat slow its transition to full EV, but the EV full revolution at the brand is still marching onward. Next up at Volvo is the ES90 — a sedan that aims to be one of the market’s most software-driven offerings.

Of course, software-driven cars are sort of a big hot-button topic in the era of EVs, that may or may not mean anything to the average buyer. Brands like Tesla have won customers because of it’s lightning-fast interface that does more than the standard radio or heating controls of a standard car. Tesla’s full-self-driving and autopilot semi-autonomous driving software is a big draw for customers and stockbrokers alike, who see the software as the next big frontier in vehicles. Still, it’s a tall ask to get a car company to also act as a software developer, something that a lot of them struggle with. Hardware-wise, though, Volvo should in theory be okay as the ES90 will use two of Nvidia’s AGX Orin chips. Interestingly, the EX90 currently only uses one Orin chip. Volvo says it will upgrade new EX90s and ones already on roads to the dual chip setup, free of charge. 

I suppose that for most Americans, the ES90 and EX90’s computer hardware announcements may be hard to contextualize. However, all of these smart, connected systems in your car need strong chipsets to make it all run. The ES90 is advanced, not only will it have a highly computerized infotainment system, but it will come with one lidar, five radars, eight cameras and twelve ultrasonic sensors for its safety-oriented collision avoidance systems and future semi-autonomous driving systems. That’s a lot of computer stuff to run. 

In China, these chipsets from Nvidia, Qualcomm others are the backbone of this so-called smart driving revolution.  For the ES90, it will include two of the Nvidia Drive AGX Orin chip. Volvo says this chip will “[manage] functionalities such as AI-based, state-of-the-art active safety features, car sensors and efficient battery management.” The Orin series can be found in cars like the Nio ES6, Onvo L60, and more than a few Zeekr products, all of them offering similar smart driving features to the forthcoming ES90. Nio, in particular, uses four, Orin chips to make both the car and and its NOA+ semi-autonomous driver assistance tech work.

Now, having strong hardware is only one piece of the puzzle. The software itself has to be good, too, which we arguably haven’t quite seen yet from Volvo. Deputy Editor Mack Hogan drove an EX90 SUV, only to have an experience that could be described as buggy and unfinished. The ES90 and EX90 will have over-the-air updates available to continually refine the experience, but it would be great to get something right on the first try.

Alongside the announcement of the ES90’s software and hardware stack,  it sent over a few more teaser images of the ES90. We still can’t see much aside from the roofline, but it looks like a natural evolution of the ICE-only S90 sedan. An aerial photo does reveal an interesting treatment of the rear fascia. Like its bigger SUV EX90 and EX30 siblings, the ES90 appears to have split its taillights, with a portion of them integrated right next to the rear glass, and the other portion on the trunk decklid itself.

The official reveal of the ES90 will happen on Mar 5.

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