I spend a great deal of time in the car. More than I’d care to calculate, if I’m honest. A few years ago, I swapped Sydney for the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, determined to make country living and a city career coexist. It means long days on the road, often spent crawling along the highway in painfully slow traffic.
But it also means my daughters are growing up with star-filled skies, crisp country mornings and a pace of life that feels a little slower for them (hopefully). The kilometres, however, quickly add up.
School runs, work meetings, sport and the endless logistics of family life mean my car is rarely parked for long. Fortunately, I’ve been driving an EV for four years, which has insulated me from the sting of petrol prices. These days, I pull into a service station only for a sugar hit or, on the odd occasion, a quick charge. Over the years I’ve become fiercely loyal to my car. That was until I arrived in Barcelona to drive Volvo’s new all-electric EX60.
First up, Barcelona is not a city for nervous drivers. Scooters dart between lanes. Cyclists appear from nowhere. Drivers negotiate impossibly narrow streets with a confidence I’ll never possess. It is beautiful, chaotic and mildly (OK, majorly) terrifying.
Which is why standing outside the ME Barcelona hotel one bright morning, digital key to the EX60 in hand, felt like being thrown in at the deep end. If Volvo wanted to prove its newest electric SUV could handle modern life, there was no better place to start.
The plan was simple enough. Drive through the city, head north into the Catalonian countryside and finish at Oller del Mas, a centuries-old winery surrounded by mountain views. On paper it sounded idyllic. The only complication was that I would be the driver. I won’t pretend I wasn’t nervous. I also won’t pretend I wasn’t having visions of sideswiping a car.
Back home, my driving record is fairly respectable, save for two expensive lessons involving holding a mobile phone at traffic lights. Before you judge, I was stationary. But there is a considerable difference between navigating familiar Australian roads and threading your way through Barcelona while attempting to evaluate one of the most important cars Volvo has launched in years. Fortunately, the EX60 seems determined to lower your heart rate. Exhale. This car has your back.
The model I was driving was coloured Forest Lake, a sophisticated green that felt very much at home beneath the plane trees lining Barcelona’s boulevards. Inside, Volvo had paired it with a Dawn interior, a soft cream palette that felt less like a family SUV and more like the lobby of a beautiful Scandinavian hotel. The combination perfectly captures Volvo’s particular interpretation of luxury – everything is elegant and considered.
The dashboard stretches across the cabin in clean architectural lines, anchored by a large touchscreen. Natural textures replace glossy embellishments, while tailored materials and subtle details create a calming atmosphere. Sustainability has become central to Volvo’s identity, and the use of bio-based Nordico upholstery, recycled materials and wool-blend textiles demonstrates that environmental responsibility need not come at the expense of elegance.
Above, a panoramic glass roof floods the cabin with Mediterranean light (adjust the shade with the flick of a button). As Barcelona gradually dissolved into vineyards, olive groves and distant mountains, the landscape felt almost as though it had become part of the interior. You start to wonder why every car doesn’t feel this open.
Volvo describes it as more dynamic than its larger sibling, the EX90, although that shouldn’t be mistaken for an attempt to turn it into a performance SUV. The EX60 has little interest in pretending to be a sports car. Instead, it feels engineered around a far more useful ambition: making long (and short) journeys seem effortless.
Within minutes of setting off, my nerves vanished. The visibility is excellent and the safety systems reassuring without being intrusive (translation: the car makes you feel safe without beeping continuously). Despite its size, the EX60 never feels cumbersome. It slips through traffic with an ease that feels at odds with its proportions.
Built on Volvo’s new SPA3 electric architecture, the EX60 offers up to 660 kilometres of range in the version I was driving, while the flagship variant extends that to 810. More impressive, however, is how little you think about charging. Volvo says drivers can add up to 340 kilometres of range in 10 minutes at a fast charger, transforming charging stops into little more than an excuse for a coffee and a stretch of the legs. So to all the electro-sceptics ridden with range anxiety, relax: you’re not running out of charge anytime soon.
The roads to Oller del Mas are wonderfully varied. Some stretches are smooth and easy to navigate, while others are more rugged. The EX60’s active chassis system monitors road conditions and continuously adjusts the suspension, resulting in a consistently smooth drive. That becomes particularly valuable when on unfamiliar roads, in an unfamiliar country, while repeatedly reminding yourself that no, don’t drive on the left. Right is right!
Volvo’s obsessive attention to aerodynamics has created its most efficient SUV yet, with flush glazing, frameless doors and clever detailing. The result is a cabin that feels less like a vehicle and more like a carefully designed living space. Practicality, however, remains a priority.
As a parent, I have developed an almost irrational appreciation of a generous boot (yes, this is where I am in life – car boots seriously excite me). There is ample cargo space, smart storage areas and other thoughtful touches.
Naturally, safety is central. The EX60 introduces the first ever multi-adaptive safety belt, which adjusts its response based on occupant size and crash conditions. Cameras, radar and sensors monitor both the environment outside and the people inside.
One of the best bits? The Bowers & Wilkins sound system (on upgraded models). It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, with 28 speakers (28!), including in each headrest, creating a seriously impressive audio experience. Even the base model has a high-spec Bose system with 21 speakers. What feels particularly Volvo, however, is that everyone benefits. Rear passengers receive the same level of attention as those in the front. It is an important detail, one reflecting a broader philosophy: Volvo has always understood that family cars are rarely about the driver alone.
Another highlight? The EX60 integrates Google’s Gemini conversational AI, allowing drivers to interact with the vehicle naturally rather than memorising commands.
Volvo has positioned the car cleverly, and it focuses on the things that matter when you actually live with a car every day: comfort, refinement, practicality, safety and thoughtful design. The qualities that made the XC60 such a success in the petrol era have been translated for the electric one.
And if, 10 years from now, I find myself climbing into a well-worn example with kids’ fingerprints on the windows, dog hair embedded in the carpet and charging cables rattling around in the boot, I’ll know Volvo has got it right. Because the greatest compliment you can pay any family car isn’t that it still feels new. It’s that nobody wants to get rid of it.
