Could we see this approach on other models?
“First, we look at it from a user perspective. This isn’t a styling exercise for us. This is about fundamentally understanding our users and our customers. Whatever’s best for that particular car that we’re focusing on will inevitably come out through the research that we do.
“We’re not a company that starts with a sketch, it’s very much about starting with those fundamental user requirements and then building on that.”
The Lidar sensor is really prominent in the design. Are we wrong to say it’s not aesthetically pleasing?
“Design is a series of compromises, and it’s about creating beauty where there wasn’t anything before.
“There is a design adage: if you can’t hide it, make a feature of it, and that is very much true of these early iterations of Lidar. But the fundamental requirements of Lidar being able to see the road, it needs to be high up. These are challenges that we as designers relish when we come to find solutions for. But, yeah, the size of it is kind of non-negotiable.”
Is this a more premium car than the Volvo S90 before it?
“There are some cues from, from the S90. But this is about creating a new vernacular for premium, for Volvo. What is premium when it comes to EV and what can we do that extols the virtues of a premium experience? Light, space, leveraging the flat floor, premium electric proportions.
“That’s something that’s really interesting to play with, rather than sticking with the more skeuomorphic representation of what came before. For me, there isn’t any place for that.
“People talk about premium proportions being one thing, but predominantly those proportions have been defined by the fact that it’s got a freaking great engine up front, and when you remove that, then, frankly, there is no need to compromise the interior space simply to give you premium proportions.”
Your premium rivals have even larger saloons. How can this go up against those?
