First local look: Volvo ES90 land in Australia on a mission to make sedans cool again. Targeting BMW i5 with BMW i4 pricing will help

A prototype Volvo ES90 liftback sedan landed on Aussie shores last week, and I think I have a new crush.

At a local media event, Volvo Australia showcased the large five-door EV in left-hand-drive guise, and in the metal, there’s serious design appeal to go with a sumptuous and quite giant cabin.

Sedans may generally be wildly out of favour, but Volvo’s trying to swerve that by making the ES90 something of an in-betweener. There’s a hatchback rear and quasi-SUV vibes to ensure it won’t be fully tarnished with the “boring sedan” tag.

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But as Stephen Connor, Managing Director of Volvo Cars Australia reminded us, EV sedans aren’t complete pariahs thanks to the Tesla Model 3.

Year-to-date Aussie have bought 5416 Model 3s, while sedan rival BYD Seal has shifted 2955.

In the proper premium space where the ES90 will play when going on sale very early in 2026, BMW’s sold 718 i4 sedans this year already.

Thing is, this new Volvo ES90 is priced line-ball with BMW’s i4, but is closer in size to the i5 large sedan. Ergo, there’s solid value by going with the Chinese-built Swede.

An entry-level BMW i4 eDrive35 RWD is $87,800. The Volvo ES90 is a grand more at $88,800 plus on-roads for the cheapest Plus model.

Eagle-eyed EV spotters will note that’s below the Luxury Car Tax threshold for efficient vehicles, therefore the ES90 is eligible for FBT-exemption. Alas not so the ES90 Ultra grade, weighing in from $107,990.

But that looks solid value when the similar-sized Mercedes EQE sedan is $132,500, the BMW i5 $155,900 and the Genesis Electrified G80 $155,000. Go Sweden.

“I think it’s got great potential,” Connor said of the ES90, “probably maybe 700 to 1000 cars a year,” he said of potential sales. “We believe it will be a halo car in the segment.”

The rear-wheel-drive ES90 uses a single e-motor delivering 245kW and 480Nm, while its sizeable 92kWh battery delivers a mighty 650km range on the WLTP cycle. It’ll hit 100km/h in a fair 6.9 seconds.

The battery can charge at up to 300kW, while standard equipment includes 20-inch alloy wheels, a 14.5-inch infotainment system with built-in Google, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 14-speaker premium sound system and 9.0-inch digital instrument cluster.

Then there’s a head-up display, four-zone climate control and air purification system, heated rear seats, a digital key, panoramic sunroof and a LiDAR long-range scanner.

Having a prod around this prototype, the driver and passenger are faced with quite a minimalist dash and driver display, but the design’s superbly executed and it feels every inch the luxury offering.

There’s more Scandi-cool seen on cabin design contours, real wood trim and soft touch surfaces. The show-off car was a top-grade Ultra, so light-coloured perforated Nappa leather was welcomed, while the full-length glass roof is electrochromatic, which means it can instantly shade at the touch of a screen button.

The wheelbase is massive, making up 3102mm of the ES90’s 5000mm total length. So no surprise the back seats are limo-like with massive walk-through leg room and decent headroom below the glass roof.

Rear seats are actually more cushioned than the fronts, but I noted the ES90’s high floor meant bulkier folk didn’t have under-thigh support when seated. I’m a bit smaller and had no issues – it’s a spoil-yourself back row complete with giant fold-down central armrest.

The liftback makes loading more practical than in a conventional sedan, but the space isn’t huge. It’s a 424L boot, while with rear seats folded flat, this climbs to 733L.

For the more traditional buyer, or simply those not wanting to be an SUV sheep, the ES90 is a decent looking thing. Its sheer size gives an imposing impression. It shares platforms with the EX90 large SUV, and the front ends of these two vehicles are fairly similar.

The flanks and rear end will please Volvo aficionados. There are shades of those boxy sedans and wagons we so loved in the 1970s through to the 1990s – this ES90 looks equally robust, tough and safe.

In fact, Volvo currently has no sedans or wagons in Aussie showrooms: the V60 Cross Country wagon and S60 sedan breathed their last earlier this year.

Until the ES90 arrives, Volvo’s lineup is purely SUV: the EX30, EX40, XC40, XC60, EX90 and XC90. An electric version of the XC60 (the EX60) is due in the middle of next year.

The large liftback sedan will be Volvo’s noted point-of-difference. And on first impressions, if the ES90 drives as well as it looks and feels, it deserves to do well.