I’ve never looked forward to charging an EV more than during this past week.

Tesla might allow you to play games on the centre screen when parked, and many other cars’ infotainment systems now come with YouTube – and that’s all well and cool.

But Volvo’s new EX90 takes in-car entertainment to a whole new level – thanks to its Bowers & Wilkins sound system.

In the doors, roof, floors, and even in the headrests, are a combined total of no fewer than 25 speakers.

Count them down: five “tweeters”, seven “mid-range speakers”, four headrest speakers, four “3D speakers”, four “woofers” and one enormous subwoofer. Output? 1610 watts, or enough to power a decent microwave.

They then partnered with UK’s Abbey Road Studios – of Beatles fame – to “capture the essence of the iconic recording studio’s unique environment”.

There’s a mode to make it sound like you’re seated in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra Hall, with the deep reverb you’d expect from a concert hall. I used it on all my podcasts, as well as Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

The end result of all this is crystal-clear clarity at the top end, enough bass at the bottom it makes your eyes quiver in their sockets, and so much oomph everywhere else, it makes hairs you didn’t even know you had stand on end.

Time flies at the charging station when every song you’ve ever loved sounds like new again.

I’d almost say the sound system alone makes the car’s $135,000 price worth it.

Built on its own electric platform, the EX90 is essentially the battery-powered sibling of Volvo’s best-known SUV, the XC90 – the model that’s eventually won the respect of every family that’s driven it since 2002. And we’ll explore all the ways it remains deeply practical shortly.

Volvos have also always been famous for being solid, reliable vehicles that, in a crash with a wall of actual solid bricks, would come off better. That’s still true too.

For instance, one of the car’s Easter eggs is a seatbelt buckle etched with “Since 1959” – a nod to the year Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point seatbelt. And if you misjudge your braking and come up behind something a little too quickly, the EX90 will not only stop itself but also tighten your seatbelt.

This is just one of 25 speakers scattered around the EX90’s cabin. Photo: James Coleman.

The petrol-powered XC-90 still exists and is cheaper, at $104,990 plus driveway costs – you’ll just have to ‘settle’ for a 19-speaker B&W system.

Either way, you are getting a true seven-seat SUV – one you could comfortably fit two normal-sized adults in the very back of.

If the EX90 were any other $134,990 car, you’d have things to say about the quality of the interior surfaces, but almost all of them were once upon a time plastic bottles or fishing nets – so while they’re a bit scratchy to the touch, they’re meant to be warming to the heart.

It’s a big and heavy car, but you almost can’t feel this due to the way it glides along. It’s a very calm and relaxing EV. Coming out of my previous test car, the frantic and frenetic Toyota GR Corolla, it took a few trips of deep breaths to settle into the Volvo’s groove.

Press the ‘Performance’ button on the touchscreen and it can be hustled from rest to 100 km/h in 4.9 seconds – with some tyre scrambling thrown in for good measure – but you almost don’t want to do that. It’d be like installing a wave machine in your candlelit, rose-petal-sprinkled bath.

There’s also a one-pedal mode, with ‘on’ and ‘auto’ options, but I found ‘auto’ too unpredictable when it would bite, and ‘on’ too rough.

I was handed a physical card, instead of a physical key, to my car, which apparently can be added to your Apple Wallet so that the car unlocks when you walk up to it with your phone in your pocket. Good, because holding the card against the driver’s door handle was a bit hit-and-miss for me.

Oh yes. Photo: James Coleman.

The rest of the tech will definitely please the family.

Like the doors that pull themselves closed if you don’t happen to shut them with enough force. And buttons in the boot that electronically raise or lower the two rear-most seats – saving you an uncomfortable trip into the boot on your knees. They also lower the entire rear of the car on its air suspension to make loading and unloading easier.

And while we’re in the boot, a little diagram etched onto the hatch gives you all the dimensions for when different seats are folded up or down – so you know precisely how much IKEA you can stow away.

All the EX90 is missing, then, is a cinema screen.

The shape – very unmistakably Swedish. Photo: James Coleman.

2025 Volvo EX90 Ultra Twin Motor Performance

• $134,990 (including GST and LCT)
• Two electric motors, 380 kW / 910 Nm
• Automatic, all-wheel drive (AWD)
• 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds
• 570 km estimated range
• 2815 kg

Thanks to Volvo Car Australia for providing this car for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with Volvo Car Australia.