Audi management is keenly aware of recent missteps and aims to quickly rectify issues in rapid succession based on feedback seen and heard from around the world at every level. The first salvo in this offensive? Filling a family-sized hold in the lineup with the new Q9 SUV.

On Monday, the 2027 Audi Q9 three-row crossover SUV’s interior was revealed with upscale materials, life-sized cup holders, what can only be described as truly over engineered technology, and seating for the entire family. The Q9 will be unveiled on July 28 ahead of arriving in the U.S. near the end of the year. It will take aim at the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class and BMW X7, the former of which was just facelifted and the latter of which is about to be redone in similar fashion as the BMW 7-Series.

While the exterior hasn’t been revealed, yet, I can say visually and while standing next to the Q9 the thing is large. Long, wide, and tall, this is easily the largest production Audi in history and should measure right up against the GLS and X7.

All four doors can open electronically with a pull of a real exterior door handle. The driver’s door can be setup to shut when the brake pedal is pressed, when the driver’s seat belt is fastened, or it and any other door can be electronically opened or closed at the push of a button on the touchscreen, though it takes three taps to get there and you must hold the digital button until the door’s opened or closed, and the doors each have sensors in them so they won’t open into anything. Safety first!

Those doors also feature electronic controls from inside the cabin. A button opens and releases the door. There’s no mechanical backup like in a Porsche Cayenne Electric, rather, each door has a small capacitor that stores energy. That capacitor can open the door in case of an emergency to ensure no matter what, unless the door’s no longer on the vehicle or is so smashed it can’t physically open, it has the ability to unlock and open regardless of the vehicle system’s power supply.

Inside the Q9 feels like a return to form in many ways for Audi. There’s basically almost no shiny piano black plastic anywhere (hallelujah!). Trim on the center console ranges from open-pore wood to carbon fiber weave, which all look and feel lovely. Most plastics are matte instead of shiny to minimize finger prints like the old days. Stitched leather lines the dashboard, and is augmented with wool-like cloth trim that spans the lower section of the dashboard to hide inset speakers that are part of the 4D surround-sound system. A strip of ambient lighting arcs across the base of the windshield and acts as a communicator changing colors in various situations. If automatic emergency braking where to kick in it would flash red to alert the driver, and when turn signals are engaged the corresponding side will flash green to keep your eyes up away from the gauge cluster and closer to the road. It can even be synced to the beat of the music, if you are into that kind of thing.

The triple-screen setup pairs a digital gauge cluster with a touchscreen canted slightly towards the driver all under one curved piece of glass that looks right out of the A6 E-Tron. It’s accompanied by a standard front passenger touchscreen display with YouTube, web browsing, and video watching capabilities including the ability to pair Bluetooth headphones. There’s a real volume knob on the center console alongside, unfortunately, a only a handful of key function buttons that are all one single piece of plastic. The rest of the controls including climate control, vent controls, and infotainment functions are all housed in the touchscreen display. There are two cooled wireless smartphone chargers at the front of the center console, each with Magsafe compatibility and up to 100 watts of power output along with two USB-C ports. Perhaps above all else, the front cup holders, which have a flip away cover, are American sized and can hold a Stanley cup for those in need. In fact, the rear-seat cup holders can hold Stanley mugs as well, which my daughter will be thrilled to hear (feel my pain, please).

Audi’s trick, and highly over engineered yet functional, one-piece stalk that incorporates the gear selector, turn signal, and wiper controls into one unit is here in the Q9 (and is still fantastic).

Families will take note that the rear doors open a full 90 degrees. The Q9 will be available in six- and seven-seat configurations with the ability to hold up to three car seats across when optioned with the second-row bench seat thanks to three tether anchor points. The outboard second-row seats slide and tilt forward making it so car seats (that are unoccupied, of course) don’t have to be removed to access the third-row. The third-row is adult sized with plenty of room for my 5-foot-10 frame to sit (albeit a bit knees up) comfortably behind a 6-foot-5 adult in the second row. While we don’t have final measurements, yet, there’s real cargo room behind the third row, and with that row folded the space for cargo (or activities) looks immense.

The available Bang & Olufsen 4D surround-sound system has 24 channels, 22 speakers, and 2 actuators in the front seats. Those actuators induce motion and vibrations into the seats to make it so you physically feel the music. It’s like the sound vibrations are being put into your body.

Everyone seated in the Q9 will have quite the view of the sun and the stars. Most of the roof is glass to the tune of 16 square feet. An electrochromatic-like function using Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC) technology can be optioned, and it can make the entire panel of glass, or just certain sections, opaque to block the sunlight and up to 99.5% of UV rays. Further, embedded lighting can be optioned with 84 LEDs placed inside the glass panoramic roof to make it a true statement piece.

Audi provided The Drive with travel, accommodations, some German pretzels, and access to the vehicle for the purpose of writing this story.

2026 will be a year of resets. Car companies have learned some painful lessons on the road to electrification, and this year, they are finally applying them to new cars.

BMW is resetting its electric model line with the new iX3 and Neue Klasse platform. Mercedes is introducing both the CLA-Class and GLC-Class EVs, both of which are huge leaps forward for the brand. And now, Volvo is launching the 400-mile EX60, its attempt to change its own fortunes as EV technology becomes increasingly competitive and faces an uncertain near-term future in the United States.

Photo by: Volvo

But Volvo may just prove any doubters wrong with this one. “The EX60 is a game-changer, setting a new standard,” Volvo CTO Anders Bell said in Stockholm today. “The longest range, the fastest charging of any electric Volvo, and born smart.” Let’s get into why.

2027 Volvo EX60: Specs And Features

Volvo has launched two generations of EVs. The first were adapted from gas cars and had relatively small ranges, carryover software and middling specs. The EX30 and EX90 were supposed to fix those issues, but reality was less rosy: Both cars were plagued with problems, and in the China-built EX30’s case, it ran into an unfortunate tariff situation that diminished its value proposition in the U.S. 

Either way, those cars’ rocky starts have eaten up a lot of Volvo’s goodwill in the space. It can’t afford another also-ran. Not when the competition keeps getting better and better, and when its CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, returned to a second tour of duty at Volvo to deliver an all-electric future. 

Photo by: Volvo

Photo by: Volvo

Photo by: Volvo

Photos by: Volvo

The EX60 is a natural solution. It’s in the heart of the compact/midsize luxury crossover market, going head-to-head with not only the Tesla Model Y but all of the next-gen European competitors listed above. 

To make it a winning proposition, Volvo has reworked its whole strategy for building EVs. 

The EX60 is the first car built on Volvo’s updated SPA3 platform. It boasts a more efficient cell-to-body battery design, a streamlined architecture that’s lighter and more efficient, and an 800-volt electrical system. It is available in three variants: the P12 AWD with dual-motor power and 400 miles of range, the P10 AWD with 320 miles of range and the rear-wheel-drive P6 with 310 miles of range. No matter which one you go with, the EX60 is a distance runner. 

Photo by: Volvo

It’s good for more than just range, too. The EX60 gets charging speeds of up to 370 kilowatts, or more than double your average EV in the U.S. All of that, plus a Tesla-style North American Charging System (NACS) plug, bidirectional charging, a 19.2-kilowatt onboard charger and 670 horsepower in its top trim.

It is, in every way, a cutting-edge EV. Perhaps most importantly, it shouldn’t cost much more than a gas-powered XC60. Volvo says a well-equipped P10 AWD Plus model with a 21-speaker sound system and Volvo’s Pilot Assist driving assistant will cost around $60,000.

2027 Volvo EX60: Tech & Software

Photo by: Volvo

The EX60 gets the same Nvidia Drive AGX Orin chip as the EX90, powering the company’s Pilot Assist advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). In my experience, it’s a perfectly adequate setup, but it does not support any form of hands-free driving.

And like all new EX90s, it also won’t get a lidar sensor. Despite making a hubbub about the EX90 being the first car with standard lidar, the company phased it out without ever turning it on. The company that supplied the sensor, Luminar, filed for bankruptcy last year after losing Volvo’s contract. 

Still, Volvo says the EX60’s ADAS systems will get better over time. The vehicle was built from the start to support over-the-air updates, and Volvo controls all of the software in the vehicle. Executives stressed that the company will keep updating its products to introduce new features, a perhaps oblique reference to the fact that while many vehicles today claim to support over-the-air updates, actual feature additions remain rare.

Photo by: Volvo

Volvo is also adding Google’s Gemini AI assistant not just to the EX60, but to all of its cars with Android Automotive OS-based software systems. That means you’ll be able to say things like “find me a charging stop along the route with good food options nearby” or “search my email for the address of the hotel I’m staying at tonight,” and the car will figure it out.

All of that software lives in a new, landscape-oriented touch display that dominates the cabin. It’s the first Volvo since the 2015 XC90 to ditch the integrated, portrait-style touchscreen Volvo uses in every other car it makes.

Photo by: Volvo

2027 Volvo EX60: Design

It’s also the first Volvo since the 2015 XC90 to get a genuinely fresh interior design.

While the EX90 and EX30 certainly evolved Volvo’s interior design language, the EX60 is the first real top-down redesign in a long time. The new setup looks like a cross between a Rivian and a Volkswagen ID.4, with an upright center console, few buttons and a floating driver display.

Photo by: Volvo

Outside, things look a bit more familiar. The EX60 lands squarely where it belongs: somewhere between the EX30 and EX90 in design, borrowing the former’s stubby charm and the latter’s poise. Like all modern Volvos, it looks good, though I think the chunky floor makes it look less svelte than the gas XC60. Either way, with an available panoramic roof, light upholstery and Volvo’s famously lovely seats, I think the EX60 will be a great place to spend time.

Photo by: Volvo

And speaking of seats, this is the first vehicle to use Volvo’s new multi-adaptive safety belt. It uses interior and exterior sensors, as well as AI features, to customize your seating position and level of protection in a crash. “For example, a larger occupant in a serious crash will receive a higher belt load setting to help reduce the risk of head injury,” Volvo said in a news release. “While a smaller occupant in a milder crash will receive a lower belt load setting to reduce the risk of rib fractures.” Fascinating, right? 

2027 Volvo EX60: Range And Charging

Volvo says the range-topping EX60 P12 AWD will offer 400 miles of EPA range, courtesy of a gargantuan 117-kwh battery. Those are huge figures even by today’s big-battery standards. Most people will be more than fine with a P6 RWD or P10 AWD, but the top model shows how much EV range is evolving past the onetime 300-mile benchmark.

Photo by: Volvo

Volvo says a 10-minute top-off on an EX60 P12 AWD should add 173 miles of range in 10 minutes, thanks to its 370-kw peak charging rate. As Bell put it today, the car promises “an end to range anxiety” thanks to the overall range and charging performance. Regardless of which model you choose, you’ll be able to charge from 10-80% in 19 minutes or less.

Even the slow-charging specs are impressive: The onboard charger can handle up to 19.2 kW speeds, provided you can find a Level 2 plug capable of such power. This is more of a benefit to European customers for now. 

2027 Volvo EX60: Price And Availability

Volvo has not announced full pricing for the EX60, but says a mid-grade P10 AWD will cost “around $60,000.” That should make it comparable to the BMW iX3 and Mercedes GLC-Class with EQ Technology, both of which are expected to start at around $60,000. Deliveries start this summer.

That means that by the end of the year, you’ll be able to buy three midsize electric luxury crossovers with AI assistants, massive ranges, all-new software stacks and gobs of power. It’s a great time to be an EV fan. 

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Source: Volvo

Contact the author: mack.hogan@insideevs.com