Turn left, away from LA, past the tempting line of shops at Crystal Cove, where American stalwarts like Banana Republic and Trader Joe’s serve a wealthy breed who park their Tesla Cybertrucks, Mercedes G-Wagons and Aston Martins in the carpark. Continue on towards Laguna Beach, a smart hippyish settlement of weatherboarded shops and cafes. We passed some cool surf shacks en route, serving smoothies, lobster rolls and coffee, pastel umbrellas fluttering in the hot breeze.
The EX90 is equally at home gliding slowly through bustling towns and speeding down empty highways. It’s powerful, and utterly silent, with its big, heavy battery sitting low in the car, pinning the huge wheels to the tarmac through the corners. It feels smooth and safe, and so it should: Volvo is a brand built on a phenomenal safety record. It invented the three-point seatbelt and then released the patent free of charge to the rest of the world; it’s estimated that that act has saved over one million lives since. It was also one of the first brands to get its head round climate change; in 1972, they joined the UN’s first environment conference, recognising the damage cars did to the environment and pledging to do something about it. Critically, they invented the catalytic converter with a Lambda sensor, which remains one of the most important inventions for controlling tailpipe emissions.
The EX90 is the embodiment of both these pillars, with more safety systems than you’ll ever have experienced on a car before, including a sensor that tracks how many people and pets are in the car and won’t lock the car if there is anyone left inside.
The interior is also full of intelligent materials, from Kvadrat, a responsibly sourced wool, to bio-based Nordico, a new soft alternative to leather, and regenerated yarn for the carpet. Volvo also gives each owner a battery passport, allowing the buyer to see the car’s carbon footprint, where it was made, and with what critical raw materials.
But perhaps the best feature, which we indulged in as we climbed inland, through the rugged Santa Ana mountains, towards Temecula and Fallbrook, is the 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins Audio System, which processes the sound via Dolby Atmos. The result is the best music system ever invented for a car. It lifts the whole experience into a new realm: it’s as if you’re sitting in a top-class recording studio. We didn’t want to get out for lunch at Callaway Winery, and sat in the shade for a while, watching a hare lolloping through the vines as Paolo Nutini enveloped us.
