• Volvo is said to be working on an electric SUV named EX60, to be ready in 2026 or thereabouts.
Things are happening at Volvo these days, what with official debut of the EX90, a number of announcements concerning future models and adjustments to the company's electrification plans.
Today, we hear the Swedish automaker is working on a new electric model, the EX60, set to eventually be the battery-powered replacement for the XC60. That SUV is the brand's best-selling model worldwide, making of the future EX60 a crucial model for Volvo.
Autocar reports that this EX60 EV is scheduled to hit the market in 2026. It will be the brand's first model to use a new platform for electric vehicles, a structure called SPA3. Volvo's Executive Vice President Björn Annwall had this to say at this week's presentation of the XC90 2025:
“The XC60 is a fantastic vehicle, and many people are waiting to buy it in a fully electric version. The day we get it, we'll see a big change in electrification.”
Here’s more proof of how fast things are moving in the industry. Volvo has just introduced a new platform (SPA2) with the EX90. It succeeds the SPA platform, launched 10 years ago for the XC90 and designed to accommodate both gas-powered vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Now the automaker is already readying an SPA3.
This SPA3 structure will be based on the SPA2 (software and electrical architecture), with the major difference that it will be scalable, so it can be used with a numbers of vehicle formats, from sub-compacts to full-size models.
Above all, the SPA3 platform will enable the mega-casting production process, in which several components of the body structure are replaced by a single component. This reduces weight and makes production more efficient.
In 2022, Volvo announced its intention to introduce the process at its Torslanda plant in Sweden. This plant currently produces the XC60.
For all that, however, we can expect the popular XC60 to survive the arrival of the EX60, for some time anyways. Volvo said this week it’s adjusting it strategy and will offer hybrid and plug-in hybrid models for longer than expected, in order to meet customer demand.
Original content from auto123.
