Volvo’s software-defined, electric ES90 powered by NVIDIA

The ES90 is the first Volvo car to be equipped with a dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin configuration, making it the most powerful car it has ever created in terms of core computing capacity. This allows Volvo to further raise the bar on safety and overall performance through data, software, and AI.

DRIVE AGX Orin is NVIDIA’s core computer for intelligent cars that orchestrates various essential systems and processes inside the car at ultra-fast speeds. With a high level of computational power – around 508 trillion operations per second (also known as TOPS) – it manages functionalities such as AI-based, active safety features, car sensors and efficient battery management.

The NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin-powered primary core computer provides an eightfold improvement in AI compute performance compared with DRIVE AGX Xavier, enabling Volvo to gradually increase the size of its deep learning model and neural network from 40 million to 200 million parameters. This will happen over time as it collects more data and continues to develop the model, with the overall goal of improving customer experience and – most importantly – safety levels.

A truly software-defined car designed to improve with time

The ES90 is built on Volvo’s SPA2 architecture and is the second car based on the Volvo Cars Superset tech stack, following the EX90. The Superset tech stack consists of one single set of hardware and software modules and systems that underpin all Volvo upcoming electric cars.

It represents a radical transformation in how we can develop and use software to improve levels of safety, technology, and overall performance throughout the car’s lifecycle. With the Superset tech stack, Volvo can make such improvements more efficiently and roll them out even faster via over-the-air updates and across all models based on the Superset.

Such updates might include new connectivity features, safety improvements and other enhancements that can elevate the performance of the car, such as a better battery range for your car for certain driving behaviours. Continuous improvement via regular over-the-air updates now comes as standard on your Volvo car.

And since the Superset tech stack underpins all upcoming electric cars, Volvo can boost the performance of each car in the lineup simultaneously, so that ES90 customers benefit from EX90 software upgrades and vice versa. That means software now replaces hardware as the primary driver of innovation and value creation for customers.

“The Volvo ES90 is one of the most technically advanced cars on the market today and is designed to be improved further with time,” says Anders Bell, our Chief Engineering and Technology Officer. “Built on our state-of-the-art Superset tech stack, the ES90 puts safety at the forefront.”

Safe Space Technology designed to protect and care for you

The ES90 combines an understanding of its surroundings through an advanced array of sensors, which includes one LiDAR, five radars, seven cameras, and 12 ultrasonic sensors, as well as an advanced driver-understanding system inside the car. These safety systems are designed to help keep you safe by detecting obstacles, even in darkness, and activating proactive safety measures, such as collision avoidance.

It’s what Volvo call Safe Space Technology – everything put in a car is meant to build a safe space for everyone in and around the car, and technology helps make that happen. The Safe Space Technology is designed to help avoid accidents and hazards on the road, with the aim of making your everyday journey safer and more enjoyable.

“We innovate in all areas of technology to become a leader in software-defined cars, and we’re channelling all our engineering efforts into one direction: making great cars that get even better over time,” says Bell. “By combining the power of core computing and our Superset tech stack, we can now make safer cars more efficiently than ever before.”

Future implementation for existing customers

The dual NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Orin configuration will also be implemented on EX90 cars, upgrading its current version which includes DRIVE AGX Orin and DRIVE AGX Xavier.

This is a tangible example of how the Superset tech stack approach allows Volvo to upgrade the hardware of its cars as new technologies become available. Existing customers of the EX90 will get an upgrade of their cars free of charge.

The all-new Volvo ES90 will be revealed to the world on 5^th March 2025.