After reading the pure electric Volvo XC90, Mercedes-Benz electric cars are cost-effective.

"Overtaking in a curve" is an expression that we have heard many times in the transformation of automobile electrification. For Volvo, an old second-tier luxury brand, it seems that it also wants to use pure electric strategy to achieve "overtaking in corners" of traditional first-tier luxury brands. Whether it is divesting the internal combustion engine business or turning to pure electrochemistry in an all-round way, Volvo seems to have made great strides. However, the previous Polestar tone was still a bit high. The Volvo brand that we are more familiar with was stifled by the doubt of "changing oil to electricity". A brand-new pure electric SUV product was named Volvo EX90. As can be seen from the naming, this new car is very close to Volvo XC90, one of the brand's old flagships. So is the brand-new Volvo EX90 a new wine in an old bottle or an epoch-making product iteration within the brand?

It's not oil to electricity, but is this platform really pure electricity?

First of all, it is certain that the Volvo EX90 is by no means the previous oil-to-electricity model in terms of bloodline. Because the new car and the previously launched Polestar 3 are based on the group's new generation SPA2 platform. Compared with the first generation platform, the new platform is specially built for pure electric vehicles. However, from the vehicle positioning of EX90 and Polestar 3, it can be seen that the so-called SPA2 platform is expected to continue the characteristics of the SPA platform during the fuel vehicle period, that is, it can only deal with medium and large vehicles with large body sizes.

However, the identity of pure electric platform can not cover up many design questions. First of all, Volvo EX90 is too similar to its own XC90. Do I have to change the designer to change the track? Of course not. It's just that the brand-new pure electric car is too similar to the fuel car in mentality. The first impression of consumers is always lacking in new ideas, and it is even easy to be tied up with the impression of changing oil to electricity. But this is still not the point, the point is "too similar", including its axial length ratio.

I believe that riders who are familiar with electric vehicles are no strangers to the concept of axle length ratio. In shallow evaluation, a large axial length ratio is often the primary artistic ability to judge the pure electric design of the platform. But at this point, Volvo EX90 is not in place. In fact, the clue has already been seen on Polestar 3 on the same platform, which is very close to Volvo XC90 in terms of wheelbase and length. As for the improvement of axle length ratio, it is more like the result of a slight shortening of vehicle length. Of course, this is a joke. In fact, Volvo EX90 and other models based on SPA2 platform have made great contributions to its axle length ratio, and the old Volvo XC90 is a product based on the horizontal engine platform. Lateral positioning not only solves the problem that the traditional power system occupies vertical space, but also naturally releases this pressure when it transits to the pure electric era. Even the Polestar 3 has a front storage compartment with a volume of 32L, which is one of the symbols of the pure electric platform.

However, the influence of the horizontal refueling platform on the handling of medium and large SUV bodies will not be carried out here. However, after electrification, the layout of front and rear axle dual motors undoubtedly avoids many problems left over from the era of fuel vehicles. In this way, the stacking combination of double wishbones in front of the horizontal structure in the past can play a greater role. Secondly, the air suspension used by Polestar 3 should also be released to Volvo EX90. For Volvo itself, this is definitely a big step in its own evolution. In terms of performance, the Volvo EX90, which was listed overseas in advance, offers two options: the maximum comprehensive power of 300kW and 380kW, and the official zero-speed acceleration is 5.9 seconds and 4.9 seconds respectively. This performance is basically the same as Polestar 3, but in the China market, Polestar 3 does not provide the so-called low-power version. From the previous chassis diagram of Polestar 3, the size of the rear motor is obviously larger. According to overseas news, the motor power of the front and rear axles of Volvo EX90 is 180kW and 200kW respectively. This is also the further release of the front axle, which fundamentally solves the top-heavy problem of Volvo's mid-to high-end products.

Mainstream battery life and fast charge, but no upgrade potential?

Do you feel that Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 are compared all the way, just like products with new labels? I am also very helpless, from positioning to size and performance, the two are too similar. Even the Volvo EX90 is quite similar to the XC90 that we are more familiar with. The wind resistance coefficient of the former is 0.29Cd, compared with 0.30Cd of XC90, the estimated difference lies in the closed front grille. However, in terms of body size, including the Polestar 3 built by the new platform, the width has been significantly improved compared with the Volvo XC90. From the design point of view, Polestar 3 doesn't have exaggerated side enclosures, so the improvement of car width is also based on the consideration of pure electric platform, simply for compatibility with power batteries.

Due to the development standards of power batteries, especially square batteries or square bags, the requirements for the width of the loaded car are higher. Therefore, we can find that as long as it is not an oil-to-electric vehicle, the width of the car body will often be greatly improved. Polestar 3 is like this. The ternary lithium battery with physical capacity of11kwh coincides with Volvo EX90 again. It is worth mentioning that Volvo adopts a similar modular layout scheme, and through the characteristics of high-strength steel materials and battery structure, the overall rigidity of the vehicle is improved. This is in line with Volvo's continuous improvement of security personnel. But also objectively increase that capacity of the portable battery. After all, in the same class, it is rare that the capacity exceeds 100.

Schematic diagram of Polestar 3 chassis

However, the large battery capacity does not seem to be well transmitted to the battery life. Take Polestar 3 as an example, the maximum endurance under the domestic CLTC standard has not passed the 700km mark, which is the result of the relatively low power adjustment version. As for Volvo EX90, according to overseas information, it has a battery life of 600km in the European WLTP test. This achievement is about the situation that the high-performance version is used up. It is expected that under the influence of streamline and load characteristics, the endurance performance of domestic high-performance version is weaker than Polestar 3. However, we can hope to launch a low-power version to obtain longer endurance performance.

The voltage of the power battery "betrayed" the fact that Volvo's new pure electric platform only has a 400V voltage platform. Although it can also support DC charging power up to 250kW, it can charge the power from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes. However, this current mainstream achievement is likely to become the ceiling of Volvo's brand-new pure electric platform during this period. As for the 800V technology, including Porsche that Polestar is aiming at, and new power models such as Tucki in China, I don't know when Volvo can follow up.

In a word, Volvo EX90 is really aimed at the pure electricity market, but the advantages of various electrification transformation can only be said to be more than its own XC90. For example, the layout of Ford and rear axle cars fundamentally optimizes the characteristics of counterweight and power output of the lateral structure of Volvo fuel vehicles. However, Volvo's "haste" can also be found from the aspects of axle length ratio, battery conversion and endurance efficiency, and even internal and external design. Perhaps Volvo, which has been overwhelmed by the end of the fuel age, needs to be more determined than other luxury brands on the road of transformation. However, the volume and historical burden can not be ignored, thus creating a technical route of "small steps and quick steps". Only the "small step" has been seen, and whether it can "go fast" is still testing Volvo.

But does the market pay for this behavior? At least from the pricing of Volvo EX90 in some European markets, the pressure is still great. After conversion, the price is about 800,000 RMB. Even after domestic production, how much lower can it be? At the same level in China, Tucki G9, Oita 1 1 and so on, the price is only about half of it. Even if it is BBA's pure electric products, I am afraid that I will sigh that I am selling cheaply after reading this pricing.

This article comes from Luca Auto, the author of Easy Car, and the copyright belongs to the author. Please contact the author if reproduced in any form. The content only represents the author's point of view and has nothing to do with the car reform.