2026 Volvo EX60 review: International first drive

This is a big year for Volvo. It sits on the precipice of its 100th anniversary in 2027, and its all-electric goal is only three years away.

So far, electric sales have been slower than first thought. 

Just a few years ago, its local arm declared its petrol models would be gone as soon as 2026 – a target that was quickly revised when it became clear the uptake wasn’t great enough for that to happen.

In Australia, the EX30, EX40, ES90, and EX90 account for just over 40 per cent of Volvo’s sales, suggesting its customers are perhaps still more willing than most to make the move.

But the car that’s going to do the heavy lifting is the EX60 – the electric equivalent of its best-selling model globally, the XC60 medium SUV.

The good news for Volvo – and you if you’re in need of a mid-sized luxury electric SUV for less than the cost of a Mercedes-Benz or BMW – is it’s good, very good.

Unlike most of its models, except the large XC90, this car is made in Sweden, not in China. 

As such, initially, only two variants are available from Sweden for our market, as production is limited for now. 

For starters, we’ll get the P6 Ultra, a well-specified single-motor, rear-wheel-drive version costing $86,990.

That’s followed by the P10 Ultra, which has two motors to drive all four wheels, and that costs $101,990. Both before on-road costs.

Although not officially confirmed yet, we expect to get: a top-of-the-line P12 Performance next year, also offering all-wheel drive, but with a huge boost in both driving range and power; a cheaper variant priced under $80k; and a rugged Cross Country grade for light off-roading.

From the off, the EX60 is well equipped, featuring heated and ventilated front seats and heated rear outboard seats, a powered tailgate, a 28-speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system with Dolby Atmos, tri-zone climate control, and powered front seats as well as the ability for the rear row to recline.

The feature changes between the P6 and P10 are fairly minimal. The P6 comes with a Charcoal-coloured Nordico faux leather upholstery, whereas the P10 upgrades to nappa leather. Both have light brown Cardamom or creamy Dawn as no-cost options.

Both come with an electrochromatic glass sunroof that can switch from clear to opaque at the click of a button, offering greater sun protection and heat reflection. Twenty-one-inch five-spoke graphite wheels are standard on both cars, while six-spoke black 21s are a no-cost option.

Onyx Black will be the standard free paint colour; although, there are seven other choices available for no additional cost.

At launch, vehicles don’t come equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto yet, but by the time cars arrive in Australia they will have both via an over-the-air update.

While European examples differ more vastly on features between the P6 and P10, Australian cars are more highly specified. The real changes between the two are underneath the skin.

On the outside, the Volvo EX60 looks familiar, with many of its design cues taken from the EX30 and EX90 – although the LiDAR sensor mounted on their roofs, which is often criticised for looking like a taxi sign, has been removed. 

Badge aside, it’s still unmistakably a Volvo with its Thor’s Hammer headlights and vertical tail-lights.

Like its electric siblings, the grille is closed off, so the front end is dominated by the logo and large side air intakes, while in profile things are kept simple, allowing the five-spoke matte black diamond-cut 22-inch wheels to take the spotlight.

A side note here is that we won't get these 22s in Australia, and instead we'll get a choice of two styles of 21-inch wheels.

Important but discreetly tucked away at the bottom of the windows are the shark fin door handles, an upgrade from the EX90’s pop-out handles that lie flush when the car is locked or moving. 

I haven’t yet tried them with my little ones in tow, but on first impression they feel easy to use. There’s a little button on the underside to pinch, and the fin is sturdy to grab onto.

Unlocking this Volvo EX60, as with the other electric models, can be done via a fob, key card or the brand’s digital key, accessible through its connected services on your phone.

It’s bigger than the XC60, but not overly large. Travelling the narrow Spanish streets at its launch in Barcelona, it filled the lane, but our wider roads in Australia shouldn’t give it any trouble.

If you’ve been inside a modern Volvo, particularly one of the electric models, things will feel very familiar, too, albeit with just enough changes to make it unique.

The Volvo EX60 features a new dash design compared to the EX90, and a fresh, diminutive power-adjusted steering wheel with two joysticks that take over functions such as cruise control from an indicator-type stalk on the column.

In Europe, the P6 is decked out in rather nice wool-blend upholstery, paired with dark ash wood trim, while the snazzier P10 upgrades to soft, padded, ventilated Nordico creamy faux leather with grey ash detailing.

Both are beautiful and comfortable, making the cabin feel light and airy. If recycled materials and Scandinavian styling are more your thing, you might prefer the wool, but the leather certainly feels the more luxurious of the two.

In Australia, however, we will see some changes. The P6 will have Charcoal Nordico upholstery, and the P10 will be even more lavish with nappa leather as standard. Both will have the grey ash trimming, with dark a no-cost option, and the headliner will be Charcoal with a light Dawn colour the free-of-charge alternative.

One of the biggest points of difference in the cabin is the centre console layout. Whereas the EX90 has a floating shelf of sorts, playing home to the cupholders and wireless charger with storage space underneath, the EX60 is much more open.

There is no central storage bin. Instead, from within the armrest, a retractable shelf pops out with two regular-sized cupholders and a special slot in the middle for a slim drink can. 

You can also tuck this section back into the armrest and use the space to store small items, such as keys or a wallet.

As a result, it opens up a larger space on the floor for a handbag or takeaway bag, for example, which you could easily lift out without snagging it on the shelf. It’s hemmed in on both sides, too, so whatever you choose to put there won’t roll around.

Further doing away with convention, Volvo has taken the glovebox from its usual home on the passenger side of the dash and popped it into the middle instead. 

The space inside isn’t huge, but it’s enough, and that’s where you’ll find the two USB-C ports for charging and connectivity as well. 

It might take some getting used to, as will the neat little internal door handle switches and the section you use on the door to pull it closed. But it all makes for a cleaner look overall, and it is one of those occasions where change can be useful and not just for the sake of being different.

Space all around is very good, both in the front and in the back. There’s plenty of head room, even for taller folk, and leg room in the second row is good also. 

There are ISOFIX anchors on the outboard seats for child restraints, and three top-tether points across the back accessible via the boot. 

The bench is broad enough to theoretically fit three child seats across, but we’ll properly test this once we’ve had a chance to get the Volvo EX60 through the Drive garage.

Another option is also using the built-in boosters, which are on the outboard seats. Whereas the EX90 has one booster fitted to the middle seat that pops up when needed, the EX60 has two.

Storage for rear passengers is reasonable but not exceptional. There are fabric pockets on the seatbacks and a centre armrest with a hidden section that houses two cupholders if needed, but the door space is limited to slim bottles only.

Occupants aren’t slumming it here, though. They have a separate climate-control display, with outboard heated seats, and two USB-C ports for charging.

Every medium SUV should have a good boot, and in that regard the Volvo EX60 isn’t just ticking a box. The use of the 523 litres of space is really clever.

The floor splits into two about two-thirds of the way down, with panels that lift to reveal a channel for storage underneath. Here you can fit the retractable luggage cover if you want or need to put it away, as well as roof racks.

And it also has a nifty little square bucket with indicators showing its capacity in litres, like you might find on a watering can or measuring jug, and some little crab decorations as well.

Volvo’s safety expert, Isabelle Stockman, told me it was inspired by the Swedish pastime of crabbing, which she regularly does with her family, though probably in Australia, I’d more likely use it to store muddy football boots or bathers after hitting the beach.

But all of this is more than just underfloor storage. It also doubles up as a disposable crumple zone should your car get rear-ended, protecting the battery from damage as much as possible.

And if that’s not enough for you, there’s a copious 85-litre front storage space under the bonnet as well.

The showpiece of the Volvo EX60, however, is really the infotainment system.

The 15.04-inch screen from the other EX models is now landscape-oriented rather than portrait, and the small digital cluster situated behind the wheel is now an 11.4-inch slim unit mounted higher near the base of the window, negating the need for a head-up display.

I like the idea, as I’m not a huge fan of head-up displays, but I did find it tricky to continually view the entire screen from my seating position without jacking the seat height up.

There’s no denying it, almost everything lives within the screen. There are buttons on the steering wheel and a cute little crystal-esque volume scroller in the centre of the dash, but as with the EX90, many functions, such as wing mirror controls, have gone digital.

Thankfully, Volvo has come to its senses and reinstated rear window switches in the second row. In the EX90, they have to be controlled by the driver, who can toggle their own switch to alternate which set of windows they want to open/close.

Overall, the system is similar to what you’ll find in Volvo’s other EVs, but with the change from portrait to landscape, there have been some layout changes made.

On the left, there’s a quick control strip for things you need quick, easy access to, plus an area for widgets that change depending on what you’re doing at the time, such as listening to music or making a call. 

And then on the right is the app area, where it will display the application working in the background, such as navigation.

We’re told, however, that the control strip will flip to the right side for right-hand-drive vehicles to make it easier to reach for the driver.

The screen remains bright and crisp, with a very good camera quality, but Volvo now uses an even faster Qualcomm 8255 processor, and an Nvidia Drive AGX Orin chip drives the semi-autonomous systems and future over-the-air updates.

It says it has addressed the issues experienced by many EX30 and EX90 owners, such as malfunctioning keys, phone connection problems, and infotainment glitches and errors.

Notably, it is the first new car to launch with Google Gemini AI technology, although, as of a couple of weeks ago in the US, vehicles that have already had the capability built in can now access it via an over-the-air update.

From this point on, Volvo plans to roll out the tech across such models in its line-up.

Gemini is activated by saying “Hey Google, let’s talk…”, but Volvo is working with Google to activate more phrases. For now, it’s also set to US English, but apparently can understand when you speak in Spanish, for example.

I found it surprisingly conversational, eerily like talking to a very chirpy American customer service assistant. There can be a slight delay while it thinks of the answer to your question, but it gets there in the end. 

Just remember to tell it to stop listening, or to press the ‘X’ that pops up on the screen when it’s active, or it will think you’re still talking to it.

Mostly, its answers seemed to be accurate, but there were times, as you’d find using it on a computer or phone, where it just misses the mark entirely.

My personal highlight of the infotainment is the Bowers and Wilkins sound system. It’s the best in any car out there I’ve ever tested, having first encountered it in the EX90 last year.

It is truly an exceptional quality of sound, particularly in the 3D surround setting, and using Apple Music adds Dolby Atmos into the mix.

The sound is remarkably clear, and the bass is so strong that if you whack the volume up, you can feel the vibrations through your feet.

The Volvo EX60 has been designed from the ground up as an electric car on Volvo’s new 'SPA3' architecture, which it claims is much more efficient.

The battery uses a 'cell-to-body' construction, where the cells that contain the energy are mounted directly to the body structure, improving battery energy density by 20 per cent while reducing weight and requiring fewer raw materials to produce.

The P6 is fitted with a 80kWh (usable) battery pack, offering a claimed 610km of driving range (WLTP) and an energy consumption of 14.9 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres.

Despite having two motors, the P10 has an increase driving range of 660km from its larger 92kWh battery, but the rated consumption is higher at 16.2kWh/100km.

We don’t have it yet, but the P12 is the star of the show for range. Its claimed 810km from a 112kWh battery would give it the most driving range of any EV in Australia, even more than the new iX3 that offers 805km or the Tesla Model 3 Long Range at 750km.

I had a limited amount of driving time at the launch to test consumption, but found the average on the P10 to be 14.6kWh/100km. Winding roads increased that figure to 16.9kWh, but these were also not regular driving conditions or local roads, so I’ll reserve judgment until we can test it again in Australia.

All versions are built on 800V charging architecture. The P6 can be used at a station capable of 320kW and the P10 at 370kW.

Charging from 0–100 per cent is said to take 12 hours on an AC 31-amp charger, 4.5 hours at 22kW AC for the P6 or four hours for the P10, or as little as 16 minutes at 350kW.

The Volvo EX60 hasn’t yet been Euro NCAP tested, and the brand wouldn’t be drawn on whether it would be in the near future, but its other electric models have been and have received five stars in recent years.

It has all of the advanced driver assistance systems you’d expect of a luxury car, and for the most part they all work seamlessly. Only the road sign recognition needs work, because it constantly gets the speed limit wrong.

As a brand synonymous with safety, Volvo goes beyond the tick-box list of features required to pass the tests, evolving technology to find new ways to protect humans from harm.

It’s not the first to include an emergency stop assist and safety call function, but it’s a worthy inclusion nonetheless, as is its Park Pilot Assist, a first aid kit, and alcohol lock software.

Also included in the EX60 is Pilot Assist Plus, which enhances earlier models' adaptive cruise control and lane-centring with assisted lane changes on recognised roads at speeds of up to 130km/h.

Particularly noteworthy for the EX60 is the world-first introduction of its new multi-adaptive seatbelt. 

Inventing the three-point seatbelt back in 1959 wasn’t enough for Volvo, as it’s now built upon those foundations to pioneer a new method that uses sensors to calculate the driver’s size, weight and frame. 

While previous Volvos had three crash-scenario ‘profiles’ that worked out how best to protect you, there are now 11. The EX60 is the first to receive the new seatbelt, but it will be rolled out across the showroom line-up in due course.

Despite being the lowest rung on the ladder, the P6 is a very capable machine.

It’s powered by a single electric motor that produces 275kW/480Nm, paired with a single-speed automatic transmission that sends power to the rear wheels only.

Acceleration is swift, if not mind-boggling. Put your foot to the floor, and there’s no doubt you’ll be moving in the blink of an eye.

Stopping is handled through a handful of regenerative braking settings that return energy to the battery. If you don’t like the feel of regen braking, you can turn it off, or choose ‘Lo’, ‘High’ or adaptive, which adjusts the impact based on driving conditions.

The P6 has three driving modes: Range (essentially Eco), Standard, and Off-road, the latter of which can only be used at low speeds.

The P10, which steps up to a dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup making 375kW/710Nm, adds a Performance mode that mimics what Sport is in many new cars. 

Like a greyhound blasting out the gate to chase a rabbit on race day, the instant hit of torque gives the EX60 a fierce urgency.

When it arrives, though, the P12 will have an incredible 500kW on tap, which is frankly just nuts for a fairly hefty Volvo SUV. That’s more than a Porsche Macan Turbo, even in Overboost (470kW for those playing along at home) and a torque output of 790Nm. Wowsers.

The ride in the P6, which has a standard suspension that uses frequency-selective dampers, is incredibly comfortable. Thanks to some very well-kept Spanish roads, there was little to trouble it throughout the test drive, so only very occasionally was any impact felt in the cabin, and it was minor. You couldn’t go so far as to describe it as firm.

The main difference between it and the active suspension in the P10 is that it has continuously controlled dampers and you can choose, via a button on the screen, whether you want it to be ‘Soft’, ‘Standard’ or ‘Firm’. This is the standard setup as well for the P10, not an optional extra.

So good is the active suspension that I almost didn’t feel the impact of going over speed bumps or hitting potholes at all, even in Firm. In Soft, over large humps, it felt more bouncy but not uncomfortably so.

What’s more impressive is that all the launch cars were fitted with large 22-inch wheels clad in Pirelli Scorpion tyres. At the front, these were 255/40 R22s, while at the back they were 265/40s for increased stability.

Australian EX60s, however, will be specified with 21-inch wheels as standard wrapped in 255/45 R21 Michelin tyres at the front and 265/45 at the rear.

The grip from the rubber is good, and they hold the road well in tight bends. There is some roll from the body if you head into a corner a bit hot, but it’s nothing too pronounced, and is more apparent in the RWD than the AWD version.

The steering wheel took a little while to grow on me. I like the novelty of having a small Peugeot-esque wheel, and the steering itself is incredibly direct, but in the Soft and Standard settings, I found it too light for cornering. 

I had to switch it to Firm to add enough weight to feel comfortable on the narrow twisting Spanish mountain roads.

Soft would be perfectly fine for parking, though, and Standard is sufficiently weighty if all you’re doing is heading up and down the freeway.

Even for an electric car, the Volvo EX60 is blissfully quiet inside. Again, you should hear more from those 22-inch wheels, but you don’t, and there’s no wind noise either. The only sound to be heard is that of other cars passing you by.

It’s an impressive car with an impressive price. You can’t get the equivalent Audi, BMW or Mercedes for less. 

The critical competition will be the new BMW iX3, which will start from $109,900 before on-road costs when it arrives later this year.

The Neue Klasse iX3 is a big deal, but having spent time in the old model, I still think this Volvo EX60 is deserving of your attention.

The $87k asking price seems quite fair, given a top-spec EX40 will set you back $81,990 +ORCs. The tech, the high-quality interior, fast charging, great driving range, space, practicality, supreme ride comfort – it almost has it all.

It has the potential not just to be Volvo’s best-selling model or most popular electric car, but also scope to curry favour with more mainstream buyers who might previously have thought such luxury unattainable.

I’m excited to see how the Volvo EX60 sells when it arrives at the back end of 2026. 

A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.

Read more about Kathryn Fisk