is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
Volvo’s EX60, with fast-charging capabilities and a brand-new electric architecture, made its official debut today, with the Swedish automaker positioning the crossover EV as a new direction for its battery-powered lineup. With up to 400 miles of estimated range and an 800-volt architecture for ultra-fast charging, the EX60 feels like a concerted effort by Volvo to address some of the most common pain points of EV ownership. But it also represents Volvo’s effort to reshuffle its supply chain and production process for a better chance at earning a profit on its EV lineup.
At first glance, the EX60 looks a little familiar, with an exterior design reminiscent of Volvo’s other EVs and hybrids, like the EX90 and XC70. But the new crossover SUV is built on a totally new platform, Volvo’s SPA3 (Scalable Product Architecture 3), which comes with a raft of new capabilities and features that have been absent from the company’s lineup.
SPA3 is designed for modularity, meaning its hardware and software can be continuously improved. It’s also the first vehicle to benefit from Volvo’s new megacasting production process to reduce weight and improve manufacturing efficiency. And it will utilize a structural battery pack, in which the high-voltage cells are actually part of the structural chassis.
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