First Drive of the Fully Electric Volvo EX60 — CleanTechnica Field Trip

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Volvo dove into electric vehicles early on, and with the EX90, it launched an all-out assault to design and build its first EV from a blank sheet of paper. The Volvo EX90 pushed a lot of boundaries for the automaker, but it hit more than its fair share of software snags that plagued early owners.

Instead of backing down, Volvo doubled down on the promise of the software- and energy-defined vehicle, squashing all of the bugs in the EX90 by late last year. They came up for air and set a cautious eye towards the future, with the planned launch of the EX60 scheduled for January 2026.

The Volvo EX60 was aimed at the largest segment of vehicles in the US — midsize SUVs. They designed it to be a mainstream, high volume SUV that would drive some serious volumes for the brand. If successful, it would serve as the de facto leader of the mass adoption of Volvo EVs. At the same time, Volvo hoped it would be the first software-defined vehicle to be delivered to customers with all the bells and whistles they had promised with the EX90.

Volvo invited CleanTechnica out to Barcelona, Spain, to be some of the first people outside of the company to drive the EX60.

Disclaimer: Volvo paid for the author’s travel and accommodations to attend this event.

The Volvo EX60 P6

The Volvo EX60 P6 variant comes equipped with a single motor in the rear, kicking out 369 horsepower and 354 ft-lb of torque. On the EPA test cycle, the 83 kWh battery (80 kWh usable) boasts a total range of 307 miles of range per charge.

We took it out into the canyons behind Barcelona and found it to be a well rounded EV in the midsize electric SUV segment. Cruising along the highways winding up towards Montserrat, the EX60 P6 had plenty of power whether we were just cruising or looking to overtake at highway speed.

Wide sweeping turns at 120 km/h (75 mph) were a blast even with the P6’s static suspension setup. The EX60 benefits from its wide wheelbase that makes the vehicle feel planted. The heavy battery sitting underneath the floorboard further anchors the vehicle to the road. While the 83 kWh battery is hefty, the P6 with its single motor and smaller battery is noticeably lighter and more nimble than its more well equipped P10 (and presumably P12) sibling.

In narrower canyons, we pushed it hard and couldn’t even get the tires to complain, let alone the vehicle itself. Slamming the brakes, the hefty calipers clamped down while continuing to provide predictable feedback to the driver.

The Volvo EX60 P10 AWD

Taking the Volvo EX60 P10 out, the additional weight of the second motor and larger battery were immediately apparent. The extra power from the second motor is hiding just under the surface, ready to come out and play at a moment’s notice in the form of a special performance driving mode.

The mode is only available with the P10 and P12 variants of the EX60, and selecting it uncorks more power from the motor and a bit more top end power when you’re ready to play. The additional overhead is noticeable without being overwhelming, as a clear reminder that as fun as it might be, the EX60 still isn’t a sports car.

The P10 AWD variant we tested boasts 503 combined horsepower from its dual motors, which is a noticeable bump up from the 369 horsepower in the P6. Volvo also plans to offer a P12 variant of the EX60 that will bump the output up to an impressive 670 horsepower from its twin motors.

On the handling side of things, the P10 and P12 variants of the EX60 come equipped with Volvo’s adaptive suspension. In contrast to the static suspension in the P6, the adaptive suspension system works a bit harder to keep the vehicle horizontal, maximizing traction on all four corners.

Accelerating rapidly from low speeds pushes hard from the rear initially, kicking the nose up for the first second. After that, acceleration is more balanced, with an even push from both the front and rear motors, letting the vehicle level off even when pushing out max power.

Similarly, the nose bobs down under heavy braking and even tips to the corners when you’re really laying into a corner. That’s not surprising for a vehicle designed to be a family car that just happens to enjoy ripping it in the canyons on the weekends.

One Pedal Driving is a really neat setting that allows you to throttle the amount of regen up, effectively allowing the car to go from full acceleration to a complete stop with only the accelerator pedal. Setting One Pedal Driving to high translates to maximum regen for the most sensitive One Pedal Driving experience.

You can scale that down a bit by changing the One Pedal Driving setting to low. The EX60 also lets you set One Pedal Driving to Auto, which lets the vehicle determine the optimal balance of regen depending on how you’re driving. High regen felt the most natural, but Auto is likely a better setting for drivers less familiar with driving an EV.

If you’re looking for a more spirited drive, you can also turn One Pedal Driving off completely, which eliminates regen and lets the car roll freely. The P10 and P12 variant let you turn on the Creep setting, which means the vehicle won’t come to a complete stop even with One Pedal Driving set to high. It’s a little bit of a carryover setting from the days of internal combustion engines when an idling petrol engine would still carry the car forward unless the brake was applied.

To each their own, and we found the Volvo EX60 to be well equipped to let us custom tailor the driving experience, performance, and comfort to our needs in a wide range of conditions. Everything from casual city driving to hitting the dirt roads through the vineyards to high-speed highways were comfortable and easily managed in both variants of the EX60 we drove.

A Cross Country Variant, Eventually

The Volvo EX60 will come in three standard variants eventually: a P6 single motor, a P10 all-wheel drive, and a P12 all-wheel drive, each with their own power, battery, and performance specs. For model year 2028, Volvo will offer an EX60 Cross Country that buyers will be able to configure on top of either a P10 or P12 package.

They showed off an early preview of the exterior of the EX60 Cross Country at our event, which looked great. The Cross Country aesthetic is far more subtle than its bolder EX30 sibling, but without compromising on functionality.

The EX60 Cross Country spec will be unique in that it will come equipped with air suspension that will allow for a bit of extra ground clearance when you are in adventure mode. When it’s time to hit the highway to head home, the air suspension will drop the car back down for better safety performance, optimized aerodynamics, and maximum efficiency.

Overall

The Volvo EX60 is a well-balanced vehicle that has clearly been designed from the ground up to strike at the middle of the market. It comes with essentially no compromises and lets Volvo’s existing customers and even customers new to Volvo step into a fully electric car that’s very comfortable and familiar to drive.

It comes with the aerodynamics of an EV while still boasting many of Volvo’s signature design features, like the stepped shoulders in the rear. The Thor hammer lights up front add to Volvo’s signature Scandinavian design elements.

Volvo opened up orders for the EX60 this week for customers in North America, so head over to its official website for all the juicy specs or to order one for yourself.