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Follow our editor-in-chief as she goes ice-driving with Volvo in Sweden
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To celebrate the launch of the new Volvo EX90, Volvo’s first fully electric seven-seater SUV, Lizzie Gore-Grimes joins Team Volvo to go ice-driving in Swedish Lapland.
Having never travelled further north than Copenhagen, I really wasn’t prepared for just how far north we were going. Sweden sounded exciting enough, as I’d never been. But then I learnt Stockholm was a mere stop-over before we would continue north, way north, right up into Swedish Lapland. Destination, Harads, just 50km shy of the Arctic Circle.
The sound of silence
It’s hard to describe the particular atmosphere and landscape of the place. Where holiday memories of Spain or Greece might evoke signature sun-soaked smells, it will forever be the sound of the Arctic landscape that will stay with me, or rather the absence of sound.
The muffled cocoon that so much snow creates is exquisitely peaceful and otherworldly. I’ve been on snow holidays before but this is different. With the hush and crunch of the snow underfoot and swirling eddies of snow dust in the air, I definitely felt like we had emerged through the back of the wardrobe, and might well spot Mr Tumnus lurking by a lamppost up ahead.
Which made it all the more surprising that the woman who never drives on the “wrong” side of the road when I’m away, happily drove for hours around northern Sweden, in the challenging conditions of heavy snow and the twilight glimmer light of an Arctic afternoon where the sun sets at 3.30pm.
Emboldened, without doubt, by my brilliant co-pilots, Volvo ambassador Amy Huberman and Volvo Ireland’s own Maria McEnery, I felt more than up for the challenge. But let’s face it, all credit really has to go to the car.
Cocoon of safety
Not only is the new EX90 Volvo’s first fully electric seven-seater SUV, it is also being hailed as the brand’s safest car ever; and for Volvo that’s really saying something.
Thanks to what Volvo is calling its new Safe Space technology, state-of-the-art cameras, radars and sensors hooked up to the car’s core computer, form an “invisible shield of safety” around the car. This ground-breaking technology allows the EX90 to build a real-time, 360-degree picture of the world around it, as well as pick out small obstacles in the road hundreds of metres away. Day or night. At motorway speeds.
Coupled with all that tech protecting you quietly in the background, the car also just feels really safe to drive. It’s responsive and “light” thanks to the full EV smooth driving ride and yet feels “heavy” and solid where you want it to. Making you feel more than comfortable to motor along and have fun with some of the car’s many other perks. Namely the 14.5 inch touchscreen control pad and Bowers & Wilkins sound system, which features 25 separate speakers, strategically placed to surround you with pristine three-dimensional sound, processed by Dolby Atmos no less. If there was ever a way to listen to Billie Eilish, this is it.
Take the (Arctic) plunge
We arrived, just as the light was fading, to the incredible Arctic Bath hotel. With the car parked up and plugged in to charge overnight, we made our way out to the floating hotel – perched over the (frozen) Lule River. The main reception building, which looks like a circular bundle of sticks, is accessed by a short bridge and houses the dining room and spa – with an open-air plunge pool in the very centre of the circle and the heart of the hotel.
A series of six glass-fronted floating water cabins line the shore, while on land you’ll find six more “land” cabins that could each generously house a family of four. You may be out in the wilds but there is certainly no scrimping on creature comforts here.
A little pre-dinner plunge and sauna ritual had to be done, and I can report back that no amount of 40ft Dún Laoghaire dipping could have readied me for the nerve-shredding cold of the water! But it certainly helped fuel our appetites for the delicious five-course dinner that followed.
The next morning we were up early, and very glad to be kitted out by Volvo in multiple layers of thermals and proper winter snow clothing to head off to nearby Gullträskvägen to the ice track. Where the air temperature was a balmy -17C, with a wind chill that froze the snow to your eyelashes.
Naturally, both Amy and I assumed when “ice-driving” was mentioned we would be in the passenger seat while someone far more qualified would take us skidding around the track. But lo and behold, we soon discovered we could master the “pendulum ice turn” as well as the next man. Ok, that’s a lie. Our Volvo instructor was a complete pro, but we had a LOT of fun giving it a go.
Next up was ice sculpting, with Norwegian/Sámi master sculptor Elisabeth Kristensen on hand to guide us through the process. And what better model to sculpt than the refined lines of the EX90 in front of us? As Volvo designer, Örjan Sterner, talked us through the EX90’s handsome reductionist exterior profile which has done away with any fussy creases or details in favour of clean, elegant lines – which made our sculpting task a lot easier.
And as if that weren’t enough adventure for one weekend, on our drive back to Lulea, who did we meet on the side of the road? Only Sven himself. An actual real-life reindeer. Just having an insouciant mooch among the trees by the side of the road. The joy of an electric car, as we slowed and came to a completely silent stop, rolled down our windows and could literally hear him breathing as he rooted through the snow.
Earlier, while we sculpted, Elisabeth had talked about her passion for ice, and her hometown in Norway where it’s winter seven months of the year. As we prep for spring here that might sound harsh. But driving through that dreamy Arctic landscape, peppered with houses in happy pops of yellow, red and pale peppermint green, and porches twinkling with welcoming lights, it seems nothing short of magical to me.
What’s so special about the all-new Volvo EX90…
It’s fully electric
Volvo EX90 can cover up to 604 km on a single charge with no tailpipe emissions and features future bi-directional charging capabilities. With an impressive 30-minute estimated DC fast charging time (10-80 per cent).
The safest Volvo on the road
With the introduction of innovative “Safe Space” technology, the Volvo EX90 boasts cutting-edge radars and cameras to help detect potential risks inside and outside the car, providing extra support when needed.
Sustainable Scandi design
Inspired by the Scandinavian living room, the EX90 cabin showcases a modern, luxurious and uncluttered interior design with high-quality wool blend or Nordico upholstery options. The door waist rails and the instrument panel top use water-based polyurethane while its base and inlay carpets are made of 100 per cent regenerated polyamide yarn.
Space and comfort
Up to seven passengers can travel comfortably in individual ergonomically designed seats while the flat floor interior design made possible by the fully electric architecture, allows new possibilities for interior smart storage solutions. Thanks to individually foldable seats, each seat backrest on the second and third row folds separately to make it possible to combine both cargo and comfort when extra space is needed.
Sensational sound
The Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity Audio System features 25 separate Hi-Fi speakers – including the iconic tweeter-on-top – that surround you with a pristine three-dimensional sound, processed by Dolby Atmos, that feels spacious and true to life, just as the artist intended.
Photography by Henning Forsén
Explore the new fully electric Volvo EX90.
