‘Carbon Footprint Report’ Volvo EX90

Now, be honest!

Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and becoming a circular company by 2040 are two of Volvo’s key sustainability goals. The gradual conversion of the model range to fully electric vehicles plays a central role in achieving these goals. Volvo is committed to transparency and is making the life cycle assessments of its new electric vehicles public.

The analysis identifies the most important materials and processes that contribute to a vehicle’s emissions. The report focuses exclusively on greenhouse gas emissions and covers the entire life cycle of the vehicle – from the extraction and refinement of the necessary raw materials to the end of the vehicle’s useful life.

The life cycle assessment of the Volvo EX90 now presented compares the carbon footprint of the brand’s new all-electric top-of-the-range model with that of the Volvo XC90 with plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid drive – vehicles that are similar in size and orientation but use different drive technologies. One key finding is that the Volvo EX90 has a carbon footprint of 36.7 tonnes based on an average European electricity mix – only about half that of the Volvo XC90 mild hybrid, which comes in at 72.8 tonnes. And it is around 20 per cent smaller than that of the Volvo XC90 plug-in hybrid at 47.8 tonnes. This makes it clear that electrification can lead to a significant reduction in the climate impact of vehicles, even with the current European electricity mix.

The climate footprint is even better when the Volvo EX90 is charged exclusively with wind energy or with electricity from other renewable resources such as Swiss hydropower. In this case, the CO2 footprint is reduced by 35 per cent compared to the global electricity mix and by 17 per cent compared to the European mix. This also highlights the need to accelerate investment in renewable energy infrastructure worldwide for electric cars to realise their full climate potential. Overall, the Volvo EX90 has a lower carbon footprint than the Volvo XC90 with plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid for all electricity sources considered. All figures are based on a total mileage of 200,000 kilometres.

You can find the full ‘Carbon Footprint Report’ here. This is one of the stories from our Volvo supplement in our print edition radical #2. You can find the table of contents here.