2024 Volvo EM90
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By now, we all know the Volvo EM90 isn’t really a Volvo. It is a Zeekr 009 Minivan playing the part of a Volvo. Just like actor Gary Oldman was playing Winston Churchill a few years ago. The difference is that Oldman spent hours in the makeup chair every day to look like the legendary British prime Minister. The Volvo EM90 is the equivalent of just putting a fake nose on Oldman’s face and calling it a day.
When you compare it to the Zeekr 009, you can really tell it’s just a new face. It would be interesting to see which one was actually designed first, the Volvo EM90 or the Zeekr 009. Of course, the Volvo face is much more pleasant and not as brutal as the Zeekr. The interiors are very, very similar too.
As usual, the PR BS describes the car as basically the second coming, while being very careful not to mention any Chinese connection:
“The Volvo EM90 is a supremely comfortable electric car with a smart cabin, fast charging, a competitive driving range, Volvo’s unique design language, and a high level of premium in every detail. But far more important is what it does for you. It gives you room to connect. Room to create. Room to relax. Room for you and for those around you.”
Badge engineering isn’t new at all, they’ve all done it. I even remember Saab selling GM SUVs and Subarus with Saab front ends in the 1990’s. But I think the EM90 is the first “non-Volvo” Volvo. Even in its Ford days, Volvos didn’t share designs with other Ford products.
And Volvo has done a much better job making sure the new EX30 doesn’t look at all like the Zeekr X it is based on, inside and out.