The All-Electric Volvo ES90 Might Just Be the Car That Turns Our Annual Holiday to Puglia into a Road Trip
My first time driving an all-electric car
Do we switch to fully electric or not? That is the question my husband and I have been asking ourselves for the past six months. As I write this, I am sitting on an aeroplane on my way to Puglia in southern Italy, where I spend every summer holiday with my family. To date, we have always preferred to fly, especially with a young child. However, with the ever-rising cost of travel — not to mention expensive car hire fees — we have started to consider upgrading our family car to a fully electric vehicle and driving to Italy each summer instead. Now that my daughter is seven years old, we finally feel bold enough to attempt the journey, which totals approximately 24 hours of driving. The plan would be to break it up with a couple of overnight stops along the way, giving us time not only to recharge the car but also to discover some of the many beautiful places in Europe and Italy that we have yet to explore.
Enter the Volvo ES90, the Swedish manufacturer's latest all-electric saloon, which I was invited to test drive for a weekend in North Yorkshire while staying at Saltmoore Hotel in Whitby.
I'll admit, I had never driven — or charged — an electric car before getting behind the wheel of the ES90. I was slightly sceptical, not only about its quoted range of up to 435 miles but also about whether stopping to charge it would become an inconvenience on long journeys. That said, any seven-hour drive, electric or otherwise, usually requires at least one comfort break, so perhaps charging wouldn't be as disruptive as I'd imagined.
One of our biggest priorities when choosing a new family car is space. If we really are going to drive across Europe every summer, generous leg room and a sizeable boot are essential — the Russo-Bah family certainly don't travel light.
Although our trip to Yorkshire was only for two nights, the drive took place during one of the hottest weekends of the year, with temperatures reaching almost 40°C. The ES90's spacious cabin, luxurious leather seats and panoramic glass roof, which can instantly shade itself at the touch of a button, were all very welcome features.
While I had naturally been looking at SUVs like the Volvo EX60, the Volvo ES90 offers something that few cars in its class can match: exceptional space for both front and rear passengers. Rear leg room is particularly impressive and quickly became one of the car's biggest selling points for me. Another unexpected highlight was the fully reclining front seats. After five hours on the road, being able to properly stretch out whilst my husband took over at the wheel, was such a treat and would be a real win when taking turns driving all the way to Italy.
The Bowers & Wilkins sound system is another standout feature, transforming long motorway miles into a fun family experience singing along to our favourite songs, while the large central touchscreen controls virtually every function in the car. I had read one review describing the interior as too minimalist, but for me, that simplicity is exactly what makes it so appealing. The clean, uncluttered design immediately stood out and feels both modern and timeless.
In terms of the driving experience itself, I genuinely didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by how intuitive everything felt. On the motorway, its adaptive cruise control and driver assistance systems monitored the traffic ahead, maintaining a safe distance by gently slowing the car when needed and making long stretches of driving noticeably more relaxing. Rather than taking over, the technology makes the car adapt to what is on the road in front and helps you understand when you’re distracted, or tired, prompting you to have a rest.
Of course, one of the biggest questions surrounding any electric car is charging. While it did require a little more planning than simply pulling into a petrol station, I quickly realised that charging slots naturally fitted into the breaks we would have been taking anyway and are actually far more present that I realised. 20 minutes later, after a quick lunch stop to eat and stretch our legs and we were ready to continue the journey. It certainly challenged many of the assumptions I had about owning an electric vehicle.
The ES90 is longer than many of the SUVs I had been considering, and that extra length would undoubtedly take a little getting used to when manoeuvring or parking. However, the payoff is the generous interior space, exceptional comfort and smooth driving experience that few rivals can offer.
By the time I returned the car to Volvo, it had firmly established itself as one of the front-runners on our shortlist. More importantly, it answered the question I had been asking myself before the weekend began: could I realistically drive an electric car all the way to Italy every summer? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. The Volvo ES90 didn't just convince me that driving across Europe in an electric vehicle is possible — it made me wonder why we hadn't considered making the switch sooner.
