Volvo gives first look at the EM90’s ‘Scandinavian living room’ interior ahead of debut
Volvo’s first electric minivan will be revealed in less than two weeks. Ahead of its debut, Volvo is giving us our first glimpse of the EM90’s “Scandinavian living room” interior, designed to make the most of time spent in the car.
Volvo has been teasing the EM90, its first all-electric minivan, for several months. It started with a video clip showing a lounge-like area as the camera zooms out to reveal the EM90’s boxy exterior.
A few weeks ago, the first images of the Volvo EM90’s exterior surfaced online, revealing the electric minivan in full. The images, published by China’s MIIT, revealed a Volvo EV unique from what we have seen so far.
Based on the ZEEKR 009, the Volvo EM90 shares many of the same design features. Volvo’s electric minivan will use parent company Geely’s SEA platform, the same used for the Polestar 4.
Although they share the same platform, Volvo included several new design features. Up front, you can see its unique signature “Thor hammer” LED headlights, which will debut on new electric SUVs.
It will also wear an illuminated Volvo badge. Meanwhile, the boxy rear features a new light strip. Compared to the ZEEKR, the EM90 features a simpler front grille, more of what you would expect from Volvo.
According to the filing, the EM90 will be 205″ (5,206 mm) long, 80″ (2,024 mm) wide, and 72″ (1,859 mm) tall, slightly bigger than the Mercedes EQV.
The electric minivan will be offered with a 272 hp rear electric motor, though a four-wheel drive option is likely. ZEEKR’s 009 is offered with either a 116 kWh battery pack with up to 436 miles (700 km) of CLTC range or a 140 kWh that can travel up to 510 miles (822).
Volvo teases EM90’s ‘Scandinavian living room’ interior
In its latest tease, Volvo gave us our first look at the EM90’s promised “Scandinavian living room” interior.
Volvo previously said it designed the EM90 to “make the most of the time spent in the car” rather than be a means of getting from point A to point B.
The EM90 has the most spacious and flexible interior of anything it’s ever offered, according to Volvo. The interior is a “premium 6-seater that provides everyone with their own zone and space.”
This includes personalized entertainment, an “elegant touchscreen,” and comfort settings. Volvo says various options can be controlled through the armrest.
Second-row passengers will be treated with “all the amenities they could wish for.” Volvo included features such as massaging seats, individual heating and ventilation, and built-in tables and cupholders to make the EM90 suitable for work or pleasure.
Sophie Li, head of design at Volvo Design Studio in Shanghai, explained:
In creating the EM90 interior, we focused on a car that works just as well when you’re on the move for work as when you travel with your family. This was an exciting assignment for the entire design team.
The second-row lounge seats will also feature zero-gravity cushions. Meanwhile, third-row seating can be easily accessed by sliding the rear doors and second-row seats.
To provide a “genuine Scandinavian mood,” the panoramic sunroof covers the entire cabin. It also includes a curtain and several ambient light settings to fit any mood.
Li added:
Whichever interior room you choose, you can be sure that you’ll travel inside a premium, stylish and calming interior that reflects modern Volvo Cars design.
Volvo included genuine Scandinavian design details throughout the interior. Features like Orrefors crystal used in the gear shifter to back-lit wood panels on the dash, doors, and back of front row seats give it the true Volvo feel.
The upholstery and patterns are inspired by a blend of Scandinavian nature and Asian art. For example, the seat upholstery patterns are inspired by mountain ranges.
Volvo’s EM90 is set to make its official debut on November 12. Pre-orders will start for customers in China on the same day. Check back for more details as we approach the launch date.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
GreenPower Motor Company says it’s received three orders for 11 of its BEAST electric Type D school buses for western state school districts in Arizona, California, and Oregon.
GreenPower hasn’t made the sort of headline-grabbing promises or big-money commitments that companies like Nikola and Lion Electric have, but while those companies are floundering GPM seems to be plugging away, taking orders where it can and actually delivering buses to schools. Late last year, the company scored 11 more orders for its flagship BEAST electric school bus.
As far as these latest orders go, the breakdown is:
- seven to Los Banos Unified School District in Los Banos, California
- two for the Hood River County School District in Hood River, Oregon
- two for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Casa Grande, Arizona
Those two BEAST electric school buses for Arizona will join another 90-passenger BEAST that was delivered to Phoenix Elementary School District #1, which operates 15 schools in the center of Phoenix, late last year.
“As school districts continue to make the change from NOx emitting diesel school buses to a cleaner, healthier means of transporting students, school district transportation departments are pursuing the gold standard of the industry – the GreenPower all-electric, purpose-built (BEAST) school buses,” said Paul Start, GreenPower’s Vice President of Sales, School Bus Group. “(The) GreenPower school bus order pipeline and production schedule are both at record levels with sales projections for (2025) set to eclipse the 2024 calendar year.”
GreenPower moved into an 80,000-square-foot production facility in South Charleston, West Virigina in August 2022, and delivered its first buses to that state the following year.
Electrek’s Take
Since the first horseless carriage companies started operating 100 years ago (give or take), at least 1,900 different companies have been formed in the US, producing over 3,000 brands of American automobiles. By the mid 1980s, that had distilled down to “the big 3.”
All of which is to say: don’t let the recent round of bankruptcies fool you – startups in the car and truck industry is business as usual, but some of these companies will stick around. If you’re wondering which ones, look to the ones that are making units, not promises.
SOURCE | IMAGES: GreenPower Motors.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
While some recent high-profile bankruptcies have cast doubt on the EV startup space recently, medium-duty electric truck maker Harbinger got a shot of credibility this week with a massive $100 million Series B funding round co-led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for fledgling EV brands like Lion Electric and Canoo, but box van builder Harbinger is bucking the trend, fueling its latest funding round with an order book of 4,690 vehicles that’s valued at nearly $500 million. Some of the company’s more notable customers including Bimbo Bakeries (which owns brands like Sara Lee, Thomas’, and Entenmann’s) and THOR Industries (Airstream, Jayco, Thor), which is also one of the investors in the Series B.
Other prominent investors include Tiger Global, the Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, and ArcTern Ventures.
As for what makes Harbinger such an attractive investment prospect, Dipender Saluja, Managing Partner of Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund explains that, “Harbinger has demonstrated a remarkable ability to reach significant milestones far quicker than other EV companies … the market has been impressed by their ability to develop large portions of the vehicle in-house to drive down unit costs, while remaining capital efficient.”
The company plans to use the funds to ramp up to higher-volume production capacity and deliver on existing orders, as well as build-out of the company’s sales, customer support, and service operations.
“Harbinger is entering a rapid growth phase where we are focused on scaling production of our customer-ready platform,” said John Harris, co-founder and CEO. “These funds catalyze significant revenue generation. We’ve developed a vehicle for a segment that is ripe for electrification, and there is a strong product/market fit that will help fuel our upward trajectory through 2025 and beyond.”
The company has raised $200 million since its inception in 2021.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Harbinger.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
There is no state more associated with cars and car culture than Michigan – and the state that’s home to the Motor City has just taken a huge step into the future with the deployment of its first-ever all electric police vehicle.
The 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E patrol vehicle is assigned to the Michigan State Police State Security Operations Section, and will be to be used by armed, uniformed members of the MSP specializing in general law enforcement and security services at state-owned facilities in the Lansing, MI area.
“This is an exciting opportunity for us to research, in real time, how a battery electric vehicle performs on patrol,” says Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP. “Our state properties security officers patrol a substantially smaller number of miles per day than our troopers and motor carrier officers, within city limits and at lower speeds, coupled with the availability of charging infrastructure in downtown Lansing, making this the ideal environment to test the capabilities of a police-package battery electric vehicle.”
The MSP’s Precision Driving Unit is nationally renowned for its annual Police Vehicle Evaluation, which our own Scooter Doll participated in last year, driving the then-new Chevy Blazer EV Police Pursuit Vehicles in a game of “cops and robbers.”
In those tests, the EVs have impressed – but the MSP has been hesitant to commit to a BEV until now. “We began testing battery electric vehicles in 2022, but up until now hybrids were the only alternative fuel vehicle in our fleet,” said Lt. Nicholas Darlington, commander of the Precision Driving Unit. “Adding this battery electric vehicle to our patrol fleet will allow us to study the vehicle’s performance long-term to determine if there is a potential for cost savings and broader applicability within our fleet.”
Michigan joins other states like Wisconsin and California in deploying electric patrol cars and saving big money on fuel and maintenance, with many more out there and many more to come.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Michigan State Police.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports10 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway