Volvo’s next electric vehicle looks like a large sedan: the first prototype has already rolled off the line of a Geely factory in China. Teknikens Varld (Sweden) has released an official photo from the line launch event.
The car is provisionally known under the internal designation ‘V551’. The final production version could end up named ‘ES90’ to reflect that it’s an electric variant of the existing S90 model. That is, unless Lexus doesn’t like Volvo using the ‘ES’ letter combo in its naming scheme – then it may end up being something entirely different.
Like the EX90 SUV, the saloon will be based on the company’s SPA2 chassis. It is being described as the Swedish car brand’s first international car developed primarily by an engineering team based in Shanghai, China.
Thanks to a patent application submitted by Volvo in China last spring, we already know some of the tech specs. The sedan is apparently 4,990 mm (195 in) long, 1,945 mm (76 in) wide and 1,547 mm (60.5 in) tall with 3,102 mm (121.2 in) between the axles. It will ship in RWD and AWD variants weighing roughly 2,500 and 2,600 kilograms, respectively (5,511 and 5,732 lbs). The battery size will amount to 111 kWh like the EX90. The single-motor version will have around 600 km (373 miles) of range on a full charge.
According to the same source, full-scale production is scheduled to begin in May next year.