Volvo EM90 is a luxury lounge on wheels

Forget IKEA – if you want the height of Swedish luxury lounge living, you need a Volvo EM90. 

The Swedes describe the EM90 as “a living room on the move” and that’s bang on thanks to six separate seats and a cabin that can switch between office, cinema, or even a bedroom on wheels. Whether you’re a captain of industry or just want to keep the kids entertained, this is the ideal people carrier for the job. 

Like the new Lexus LM luxury MPV, the EM90 has rear seats that wouldn’t look out of place in a Jumbo Jet’s first class section. As well as being heated and ventilated, the middle pair slide, tilt and adjust electrically, and they can fold flat to act as a bed. There’s also a third row of seats in the Volvo as you get in the Lexus, but in both cars they are more functional than opulent. 

Grab a chair in the Volvo’s middle row and you can sit back with a favourite film or play games on the screen that drops down from the ceiling. It’s not as generously sized as the massive 48-inch flat screen in the Lexus, but it’s still way better than scrolling on your phone. 

Up front, the driver gets a 15.4-inch touchscreen that’s much like the one in Volvo’s current line-up of SUVs, and there’s a smaller display ahead of the steering wheel for all the important driving info. With almost no physical buttons, Volvo has come up with its latest generation of voice control, which works alongside noise cancelling technology to make the EM90’s interior as hushed as possible. 

You won’t have to worry about engine noise in the EM90 either. It uses a 268bhp electric motor and 116kWh battery lifted from the Zeekr 009 that’s built by Volvo’s parent company Geely. With this motor, the EM90 is capable of 0-62mph in 8.3 seconds and up to 458 miles on a full charge. 

The drivetrain is in keeping with Volvo’s move to all-electric cars, following the recent launches of the new EX-30 and EX-90 models. Some might reckon the EM90’s styling is less in tune with these cars, but Volvo boss Jim Rowan disagrees, noting that this new luxo-MPV is  inspired by the company’s very first car, the Duett estate. 

There’s an irony there given Volvo has just stopped selling estates in the UK, but it’s also up in the air whether or not the EM90 will come here at all. At the moment, it’s only available in China, but the Swedish firm is not ruling out selling it elsewhere, particularly after the surprise success of the Lexus LM. 

If Volvo does sell the EM90 in the UK, there will be no better way to grab some meatballs and a Billy bookcase from your nearest IKEA. 

Hero image credit: Volvo