Subaru Forester 2025 review
Subaru’s long-standing family SUV comes in for a makeover, but don’t expect drastic changes to the Toyota RAV4 rival
The new Forester is a big deal for Subaru Australia. It’s the company’s best-selling car and, since the first generation arrived in 1997, has been providing reliable and capable mobility to Australian families.
We’re finally getting a proper spin in the new, sixth-generation car nearly two years later than its North American reveal and after a brief test locally back in May.
The first new Forester in seven years sits on the latest iteration of the Subaru Global Platform (SGP) boasting 10-percent body rigidity improvements, improved greater cabin space, and more technology.
Big news is that — at the cost of a full-size spare tyre and between $3000-$6500 — Subaru has fitted a new so-called ‘strong’ hybrid system to rival its mid-size, five-seat family SUV.
The first new Forester in seven years sits on the latest iteration of the Subaru Global Platform (SGP) boasting 10-percent body rigidity improvements, improved greater cabin space, and more technology.
Big news is that — at the cost of a full-size spare tyre and between $3000-$6500 — Subaru has fitted a new so-called ‘strong’ hybrid system to rival its mid-size, five-seat family SUV.
Chasing Cars jetted over to Christchurch, New Zealand, to sample both hybrid and petrol models on testing tarmac, dirt roads and even a few muddy tracks to challenge the symmetrical all-wheel-drive system.
Front of mind are two main questions: where does the new Forester land among rivals such as the Toyota RAV4, Nissan X-Trail E-power, Hyundai Tucson hybrid, Haval H6 hybrid and others; and, has Subaru done enough to entice existing Forester owners to upgrade into its new, electrified model?
What are the Forester’s features and options for the price?
Subaru has not been ambitious in the Forester’s exterior or cabin redesign. It’s only 15mm longer and wider, not changing in height or wheelbase.
And yet, the new Forester has moved a fair way up the price scale. The old, all-wheel-drive Forester 2.5i base model cost $4800 less than the new AWD entry grade.
The base AWD gets tactile cloth upholstery for its four-way manual-adjust heated seats. A wireless charging pad is standard, as is a large 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen along with full exterior LED lighting.
You get the usual full-time AWD system Subaru’s known for, plus 18-inch alloy wheels with chubby, 55-series sidewall tyres. For $3000 more, Subaru will add the hybrid system — taking the AWD hybrid to $46,490, before on-road costs. A petrol-only Premium trim sits between, but it’s the Sport and Touring grades Subaru says are proving popular at launch.
The mid-spec Sport is the visual stand-out in the Forester range. Petrol models are paired with green highlights and contrast stitching; the hybrid’s easy to spot as it has ‘Stylish Bronze;’ accents on the lower body trim and matching 19-inch alloys, which may or may not be to your taste.
The petrol specification is quite different, so we’ll focus on the Sport hybrid, at $54,990, for this review. It moves to water repellant upholstery, gets power-adjustable heated seats, power-folding mirrors, a kick-to-open power tailgate, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, and a generous panoramic sunroof.
The flagship $55,990 (before on-road costs) Touring hybrid scores grey 19-inch alloys, and Black or Brown leather-accented and Ultrasuede upholstery on the heated and ventilated seats.
To illustrate the Forester’s increased price, we’ve provided a non-exhaustive list of key rivals below:
- GWM Haval H6 Ultra hybrid – $43,990 (driveaway)
- Hyundai Tucson Elite hybrid – $52,600
- Nissan X-Trail Ti e-Power – $53,265
- Toyota RAV4 Cruiser AWD hybrid – $54,410
- Subaru Forester Sport hybrid – $54,490
- Kia Sportage HEV GT-Line – $60,370
How does the Forester hybrid drive?
At the core of this family SUV is a new hybrid powertrain. The 2.5-litre petrol flat-four is mated to a pair of electric motors, and a 1.1kWh lithium-ion battery under the boot floor.
One 90kW/246Nm electric motor is mounted before the ‘E-CVT’ transmission which uses planetary gears — not unlike Toyota’s RAV4 hybrid — and the second electric motor-generator works to harvest energy while decelerating, and as a starter motor.
The Forester hybrid makes a combined peak power of 145kW, which is good for a 0-100km/h sprint around 9.5 seconds — though Subaru does not make an acceleration claim. It’s vocal doing hard acceleration, too.
Out on the road, the Forester can take off from the lights and spin up to around 30km/h in electric quietude. The powertrain can be locked in ‘EV’ mode but don’t expect to get very far — the Forester hybrid’s battery is good for a lap around a small carpark before the petrol motor kicks back in.
A few niggles at low speeds included a spongy and grabby brake pedal. The accelerator is touchier than we’d like, too. The Forester’s hybrid has a bit more kick once you’re up and running with the electric motor adding noticeable pep to step-off performance.
With a revised CVT transmission that has lower launch and higher cruising ratios, the petrol Forester makes a fair case for itself. With about 100kg less weight to lug around the performance difference between petrol and hybrid is smaller than you might expect, too.
Towing credentials are not strong for either powertrain, with the petrol rated to tow up to 1800kg braked and the Forester hybrid limited to 1200kg.
The Forester Sport is a bit of an odd-one-out in the range. Heavier steering and firmer suspension helping it resist roll through corners. The trade-off is stricter damping that can make the hybrid Sport’s ride busy.
Other variants feel closer to the classic Forester recipe, and this is for the better. Softer suspension with more body movement (sometimes excessive at high speed) makes for a comfortable ride.
Despite not feeling sporty, the Forester has strong passive safety credentials. It corners well with a predictable balance, the ESC is tuned expertly for both sealed and unsealed surfaces, and it has a sure-footed stance on the road.
Subaru has hard-mounted seats to the chassis in the new car, rather than using brackets. It limits head-toss and gives the new car a more keyed-in feel than its predecessor.
All of this means the Forester really is a pleasant car to lope through the countryside in — providing the road isn’t too tight and technical. It may carry speed, but the Forester doesn’t exactly pile it on.
Subaru’s signature symmetrical AWD means exploring off the beaten track can be a reality. Our route took in some private access roads which varied from freshly-surfaced to muddy and rutted.
Compliant suspension absorbed sharp-edged rocks and pot-holes well and with its X-Mode off-road traction control in Normal, the Forester wasn’t bothered by small streams or slippery hills. The Dirt/Snow program also proved useful, upping traction control and softening throttle response to limit unwanted wheelspin — Deep Snow/Mud did not come in handy.
Coming down the other side of hills is a cinch thanks to X-Mode’s automatic hill-descent control. Approach/departure/breakover angles are 19, 19.3 and 24.7 degrees, respectively, and minimum ground clearance in 220mm. The Forester remains more capable than your average soft roader.
Subaru’s focus on cutting cabin noise has been fruitful as well. The Forester is not quietest in class — the Nissan X-Trail and Mitsubishi Outlander are more hushed — though it is a big improvement on the old, more tinny-feeling generation.
All this comes without sacrificing the Forester’s greatest strength: visibility. It retains remarkably thin A-Pillars, for a modern car, with a high roof and low belt line giving huge windows for a fishbowl-like experience in the cabin — handy when the 360-degree camera isn’t very clear.
What is the Forester hybrid’s interior and tech like?
Just like on the outside, the Forester’s interior is familiar. It has improved in its layout, with the roof-mounted array of switches gone in place of a central touchscreen as the command centre.
The 11.6-inch portrait-oriented screen supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and when you’re doing so it keeps key shortcuts for the HVAC and driver assistance at the bottom of the screen.
The Forester’s touch targets are large, too, making screen interaction fairly intuitive, if a little slow to respond. Annoyingly, the touchscreen picked glare from New Zealand’s low winter sun, making it occasionally difficult to see navigation directions.
The steering wheel keeps all of its buttons physical, which is nice, and there’s a bar atop the touchscreen with customisable widgets, including water temp, acceleration position, fuel economy, X-Mode, and more.
The base AWD’s six-speaker sound system is impressive. Functions for bass boost and clarity feature so you can tune it in nicely, while the 10-speaker Harman Kardon unit in Sport and Touring brings greater power and clarity.
Material quality feels family friendly — not luxury. Hard-wearing plastics, with squidgy dash-top and front doors are appreciated, but just don’t expect a Mazda CX-5 or Nissan X-Trail style premium glow-up.
The Forester’s cabin is practical without being outstanding. Door bins will take a one-litre camping bottle, there are two cup-holders in the centre and a covered storage cubby under a squishy armrest. We’d prefer to see rubber bumpers for the wireless charging pad as phones repeatedly slipped out of the charging area even when driving gently.
Catering to those who haven’t jumped on the USB-C or Bluetooth bandwagons yet, Subaru fits both A and faster C ports in the front and back seats and has even kept an AUX port on the new Forester.
The seating position feels tall thanks to the low bonnet, even though really the front seats are set quite low. They’re comfortable, too, having been reprofiled to improve lower back support.
In the back seat, the Forester remains typically excellent, building on the great front visibility. Generous leg, tow and headroom for 180cm adults remains, as do large, square door apertures and vents for all trim levels.
The door caps are hard in the back, though, even in top-spec Touring. Additionally, no grade gets seat heating or sun-blinds, and the middle seatbelt is roof mounted. Only growing 15mm in width, the back seat is cosy for three adults.
A fold-down armrest with two cup holders comes back in to save the day, and the second-row seat backs split fold 60/40 with remote power operation from the boot.
Cargo capacity is listed at 484L in the hybrid, growing to 1162L with seats folded and 1655 to the ceiling. The petrol-only Forester has a marginally larger boot at 496L, but all numbers are competitive in the class.
In a very strange move, though, behind the Sport/Touring’s standard power tailgate, no hybrid model features a temporary or full-size spare tyre. This is a big departure for a brand like Subaru that prides itself on rugged dependability and surety provided during long mixed-surface road trips.
There are dealer accessories available, including an awkward tow-ball mounted spare. We’re told more offers are on the way, and Subaru Australia general manager Scott Lawrence seemed generally interested to hear input on other solutions to combat this issue.
Other amenities in the boot extend to four shopping bag books, a roll-back cargo cover, two LED lights and a 12-volt socket.
Is the Forester hybrid a safe car?
The Subaru Forester was recently awarded five stars in ANCAP safety testing. It scored 83 percent in Adult Occupant Protection, 91 percent for Child Occupant Protection, 86 percent in Vulnerable Road User Protection and 75 percent for Safety Assist.
One of Subaru’s pillars is safety, and along with passive features such as strong ESC, AWD grip and predictable road-holding, the Forester features Subaru’s latest camera-based Eyesight suite.
We were impressed by the natural adaptive cruise control that has a much more realistic follow distance than Toyota’s effort.
The lane-trace assist semi-autonomous function worked well, too, with speed sign detection able to automatically adjust cruise speed by seeing signs, if you want it to.
Not all was rosy, though. The lane-keep assist can be intrusive but it was the driver-attention monitoring we reached to turn off for every drive. It seemed to struggle with polarised sunglasses, and took a frustratingly long time to clear a distracted driver warning.
Subaru Forester active safety features:
- Nine airbags
- Forward collision warning
- Forward AEB with pedestrian, cyclist, junction detection
- Reverse AEB
- Driver-attention monitoring
- Lane-keep assist
- Lane-departure warning
- Adaptive cruise control
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Safe-exit assist
- Front, rear and side cameras
What are the Forester hybrid’s ownership costs?
How fuel efficient is the new Subaru Forester hybrid, then? The answer is better than the petrol, but still not by as much as we’d hoped. The official ADR combined rating is 6.2L/100km, a long way off an AWD RAV4 hybrid (4.8L/100km).
Subaru claims that the RAV4’s figure is unrealistic, but Chasing Cars long-term testing found Toyota’s numbers to be very close to the truth, regardless of driving style.
The Forester’s real world performance was disappointing on the first drive. Our first 50km of mostly suburban and motorway driving was showing 7.2L/100km, and after a 150km mix of flowing country roads and some gravel, the trip computer was at 7.5L/100km.
On the same run, petrol Foresters returned 8.5L/100km. So it is an improvement — just not by much. Ignoring the improved drivability, it would take around 200,000km of driving (about 13 years for the average Aussie) to offset the initial, higher purchase price as a buyer.
Subaru has improved its capped price servicing offer for the Forester following customer feedback. For all variants, maintenance is due every 12 months or 15,000km and will cost $2299 over five years — a circa $500 saving over the old car. The price is solid, though rivals including the RAV4 ($1350) and X-Trail ($1995) are cheaper.
The Subaru Forester is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty in Australia.
It’s also worth noting Subaru’s mid-size SUV doesn’t come with modern smartphone integration and digital key systems that are becoming increasingly prevalent, and add an extra layer of interaction with the vehicle.
The honest verdict on the Forester Hybrid
The new Subaru Forester hybrid is capable, comfortable, spacious…and slow. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this new-generation model is roughly the same recipe of every Forester that’s come before, only this time you get a mild improvement in efficiency.
This could be seen as a bad thing, but we don’t mean it as such. None of this is to take away the truth, that the Forester hybrid is a very good, well-developed, polished family vehicle.
Unlike so many other things in the world, the Forester hasn’t abandoned its roots — it hasn’t started again from scratch and thrown out all the good.
The Forester doesn’t instantly jump to the top of the class, though. And we think the pricing — at launch — is optimistic. Perhaps rivals will jump in cost over the next few months and years and make the Forester a better value proposition on paper.
Our pick is the most affordable Forester AWD hybrid, it stays truest to form and has the lowest mark-up attached to going electrified.
Overall rating
Overall rating
7.5
Drivability
7.0
Interior
8.0
Running costs
Good
Chasing more Forester?
Volvo EX90 Ultra Performance 2025 review
2 months ago
The fastest and most expensive Volvo you can buy happens to be a seven-seat electric SUV championing dynamic agility, slick design and premium equipment
Good points
- A wolf in sheep’s clothing
- Unexpected handling agility
- Beautifully refined
- Impressive electric range
- Seat-folding flexibility
Needs work
- Huge wheels can thump loudly across bumps
- Electronic key a bit glitchy
- Flawed storage in all doors
- Lacks some XC90 luxury
- No wool-blend trim option
For an all-new electric SUV packing both rapidity and agility, the Volvo EX90 Ultra Performance doesn’t shout its credentials.
Perhaps this is in keeping with the Swedish brand’s long-held pragmatism – built on a reputation for rock-solid ‘apartment blocks on wheels’, as people used to say – though the contemporary Volvo vibe is very much about tastefully minimalist design and slickness of operation.
Visually, the electric EX90 is clearly an evolved version of its still-handsome, combustion-engined XC90 predecessor, which remains on sale in freshly updated and facelifted MY26 form. But the EX90 adds a level of futurism with its grille-less visage, smoother flanks, and more dynamic silhouette with kicked-up window line.
Dimensionally, EX90 is remarkably close to the decade-old XC90 – a near-identical 2985mm wheelbase, similar 5037mm length (+87mm) and 1964mm width (+41mm), and slightly lower 1747mm height (-28mm) – which delivers a substantial wedge of large SUV.
But proportionally, the EX90 is a bastion of conservatism, especially compared to its main seven-seat electric rival, the Kia EV9, as well as its sportier five-seat cousin, the Polestar 3. The Kia is slightly shorter than the Volvo but features a much longer wheelbase (3100mm), gifting it a nuggetty stance on the road and an advantage when it comes to interior packaging.
Yet the EX90 still has presence – especially our top-spec EX90 Ultra Performance test car wearing standard 22-inch alloys with staggered-width Pirelli Scorpion tyres, broad 265/40R22s at the front and frankly enormous 295/35R22s at the rear.
With adaptive air suspension and a unique torque-vectoring dual-clutch rear axle, this dual-motor EX90 possesses the mechanical hardware to deliver a premium driving experience to match its premium price, which should elevate it beyond other seven-seat EV rivals.
What are the EX90 Ultra Performance’s features and options for the price?
From launch, Volvo Australia offers two dual-motor AWD versions of the electric EX90 – the Plus ($124,990 before on-road costs) and the Ultra Performance ($134,990 before on-road costs).
A single-motor rear-drive base model – as per its twin-under-the-skin, the Polestar 3 – will come later, likely to be priced around $105-110K.
Standard equipment on the dual-motor EX90 Plus includes:
- All-wheel drive
- 300kW/770Nm powertrain outputs
- 20-inch alloy wheels
- Headlight washers
- Panoramic glass roof
- Keyless entry/start
- Four-zone climate control
- Third-row air-conditioning
- Heated steering wheel
- Power-adjustable steering column
- Nordico upholstery
- Heated electric front seats with driver’s memory
- Electric four-way front lumber support
- Heated rear seats with 2nd-row booster cushion
- Head-up display
- 14.5-inch portrait centre display
- DAB+ digital radio
- Wireless Apple CarPlay
- Wireless phone charging
- 360-degree camera
- Electric tailgate
- 14-speaker Bose premium audio with subwoofer
- Volvo Cars app remote functions
- Over-the-air (OTA) updates
To that, the $10K more expensive EX90 Ultra Performance adds:
- HD Pixel headlights
- 22-inch alloy wheels
- 380kW/910Nm powertrain outputs
- Performance mode
- Dual-clutch torque-vectoring rear axle
- Adaptive air suspension
- Ventilated and massaging front seats
- Electric side bolsters
- Puddle lighting
- Laminated side and rear windows
- Tinted rear windows
- 1610-watt Bowers & Wilkins 25-speaker audio with subwoofer
Nearest seven-seat price competitors to the EX90 Ultra Performance include the Kia EV9 GT-Line ($121,000 before on-road costs), Volkswagen ID.Buzz GTX ($109,990 before on-road costs), and Mercedes-Benz EQS 450 SUV ($198,200 before on-road costs).
The EX90 is offered in six colours: Crystal White, Onyx Black, Denim Blue, Mulberry Red, Vapour Grey and Sand Dune.
The interior comes in Dawn (off white) with Light Ash inlays, Charcoal with Birch inlays or Cardamom (milk-coffee brown) with Birch inlays.
How does the EX90 Ultra Performance drive?
Featuring adaptive air suspension with dual-chamber air springs, as well as an excellent torque-vectoring dual-clutch rear axle, the dual-motor EX90 flagship undoubtedly has the mechanical hardware to achieve a premium level of dynamic sophistication and cohesion.
And with powertrain outputs of 380kW and 910Nm, as well as an impressively lusty 0-100km/h claim of 4.9sec (despite having to shift a buxom 2736kg), the EX90 Ultra Performance promises to deliver on what its name suggests. And it most certainly does.
Indeed, performance is supreme. The EX90 is effortlessly rapid and anyone who feels like it needs more thrust should perhaps check themselves in with a therapist to mitigate their power lust.
But you do need to press a ‘Performance’ button in the centre screen to get genuinely snappy off-the-line punch and the startling rolling acceleration that EVs are capable of. Otherwise, it’s all slightly muted and softened off, so as not to offend too many passengers.
Same goes for the handling. Without Performance mode activated, the EX90 isn’t as dynamically animated and doesn’t engage its back axle much when turning into a corner. It will also run a bit wide if you don’t have its nose properly pointed into a corner, at least when pressing on.
Why? Because it doesn’t have very strong regenerative braking, and therefore lacks any meaningful trail-braking assistance when demanding it change direction.
Selecting Performance mode alters the way the electric drive split works between the wheels and amps the effect of the dual-clutch back axle. It makes the EX90 shrink around you and feel a lot smaller than it is. It wakes the Volvo up, like a slap in the face, to the point where it can be handled quite aggressively when pushed hard – certainly for a lardy seven-seater.
The suspension and steering each have two settings – Soft and Firm. The adaptive air suspension is best left in Soft, even though it’s surprisingly tolerable on tight, bumpy country roads in Firm – feeling nicely connected and not too crashy or stiff.
But Soft is still disciplined enough to complement the Volvo’s clever rear axle, if not plush enough to iron out stuff like deep manhole covers, which the huge wheels thump into quite loudly.
The EX90’s alert steering feels really good in Firm – especially combined with Volvo’s excellent three-spoke wheel – though steering movement is a lot easier in Soft mode, while still happily and effortlessly capable of threading its way confidently through corners, especially in Performance drive mode (which doesn’t change the steering and suspension settings).
There’s a hidden level of dynamism in the EX90 Ultra Performance that is, in some cases, very much hidden because to get to all these adjustable modes, you must select the car symbol, then ‘settings’, then ‘driving’, and then ‘view all’ underneath Performance drive.
For a vehicle so reliant on the right setting for the right situation, this stuff should be a lot more easily accessible.
What is the EX90 Ultra Performance’s interior and tech like?
The top-spec Volvo EX90 isn’t quite as premium inside as its five-seat Polestar 3 relative, yet there’s still a lot to like thanks to its tactile surfaces, classy digital screens, and very Scandinavian wood inlays.
The Australian EX90 doesn’t get the lovely Wool Blend upholstery option offered in other markets, but the leather-like Nordico perforated alternative looks and feels suitably luxe, especially when combined with a light-coloured two-tone steering wheel in the off-white ‘Dawn’ interior (there’s also Charcoal and Cardamom light brown).
And there’s a neat trick with the classy wood trim that miraculously transforms into a backlit yellow fishnet pattern at night.
For the most part, the EX90’s hushed interior (the Ultra Performance gets laminated glass) is a suitably serene, impressively soothing place to spend time. The heated/ventilated electric front seats are very comfortable and Volvo’s single-dial seat adjuster defines minimalist cleverness.
Once mastered (with relative ease), the EX90’s tactile switchgear is highly functional, its centre-console storage is useful, and its interior aesthetic is refreshingly light and airy.
But in a few areas, the EX90 isn’t quite everything it could be.
The oddly designed door pockets are limited to 600ml plastic bottles (where the decade-old XC90 can handle up to 1.5-litre bottles) and the EX90 lacks proper door grab handles, as well as overhead grab handles (which even feature stitched upholstery in an XC90).
The second row gets three individual seats, each with a fore-aft slider, that makes third-row entry super-easy from either side of the car. There’s a fully flat floor, dual-zone climate control (with centre and B-pillar vents), outboard heating and door sunshades, as well as excellent all-round vision and a standard all-glass roof.
The third row is acceptable for adult passengers but intended for children, offering USB-C ports and C-pillar air vents. You can electrically lower each third-row seat via buttons in the rear door frames, and when you do, that delivers up to 697 litres of expansive boot space (with 324 litres, including under-floor storage, with seven seats in use, plus 46 litres in a front boot).
If you’re an audiophile, paying $10K extra for the Ultra Performance could be justified by its outstanding 25-speaker, 1610-watt Bowers & Wilkins audio with sexy Remington Steel-esque speaker grilles. Surround-sound heaven.
Is the EX90 Ultra Performance a safe car?
The Volvo EX90 is yet to be independently crash-tested by any global NCAP organisation for its safety performance or rated for its electronic active-safety features. But its close cousin, the Polestar 3 – featuring the same wheelbase, powertrain and underbody structure, and near-identical safety-assist equipment – received a five-star score in 2025.
Individually, the Polestar 3 scored 90 percent for adult occupant protection, 93 percent for child occupant protection, 79 percent for vulnerable road user protection, and 83 percent for its safety-assist systems.
Standard safety equipment on the 2025 Volvo EX90 includes:
- Driver’s knee airbag
- Adaptive cruise control
- Lane-keep assistance
- Emergency lane-keep assist
- Forward cross-traffic alert
- Front AEB with forward collision warning
- T-junction AEB
- Lane-departure warning
- Driver attention monitoring
- Adjustable speed-limiter
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Rear collision warning
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Rear AEB
- Front and rear parking sensors
- 360-degree camera
- Tyre-pressure monitoring
As you might expect, the EX90’s active-safety systems are subtle, yet highly effective in operation, and can be clearly and easily customised via the portrait touchscreen.
What are the EX90 Ultra Performance’s ownership costs?
The official WLTP range claim for the twin-motor EX90 Ultra Performance is 570km compared to 567km WLTP for the closely related five-seat Polestar 3 Performance, 505km WLTP for a seven-seat Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD and 450km WLTP for a seven-seat Volkswagen ID.Buzz GTX AWD.
On test, sometimes driven hard, our EX90 Ultra Performance used 25kWh/100km, which translates to a real-world distance of 428km. In urban driving, the EX90 should comfortably achieve 500km before charging.
Using a DC ultra-fast charger, the EX90’s 10 to 80 percent charging time is 30 minutes, with a maximum DC charging rate of 250kW. That compares to a charging time of 24 minutes for the 800-volt Kia EV9 GT-Line AWD.
Service intervals are every 12 months or 30,000km, with the Volvo’s five-year/150,000km servicing cost being included in the vehicle price.
Volvo’s new-vehicle warranty in Australia is five years/unlimited kilometres for private buyers, including roadside assistance, as well as an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty.
The honest verdict on the EX90 Ultra Performance
We drove the Volvo EX90 Ultra Performance at its international launch in California in 2024 and came away quietly impressed but not completely convinced that the electric newcomer was a better luxury SUV than its decade-old XC90 predecessor.
Having now properly tested it on Australian roads, we’re pleased to say that the longer you drive the EX90 and the more you ask of it, the better it gets.
There are a few areas in its cabin where it’s inferior to the XC90, and those huge 22-inch wheels can make their presence known with an occasional loud thump, but for the most part, the EX90 Ultra Performance is a roomy, super-quiet, impressively comfortable and satisfyingly premium-feeling electric SUV.
Aside from its superb stereo, what really sets the EX90 Ultra Performance apart are its hidden talents when it comes to performance, handling and overall driving enjoyment.
The Ultra’s ‘Performance AWD’ mode really does transform this large electric SUV from capable to truly engaging – well beyond what anyone could expect.
That’s what justifies the $10K premium for this top-spec version over the regular EX90 Plus, and potentially also the Kia EV9 GT-Line, which can’t quite match the Volvo for range, nor brand cachet. And at this price point, for many people, that will matter.
Overall rating
Overall rating
8.0
Drivability
8.0
Interior
8.0
Running costs
Good
Chasing more EX90?
