The first images of the EM90 minivan from Volvo leak out

The MIIT has done it again, nearly a month ahead of schedule, spoiling the official unveiling of Volvo’s first electric minivan, scheduled for 12 November. As you probably already know, any vehicle intended for sale on the Chinese market must first be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology – known in the West by its acronym MIIT.

This body has a habit, quite frequently, of publishing information in advance on its website about vehicles it has been evaluating, and even images. And this is precisely what has just happened with Volvo’s EM90.

The images you can see in this article, published by the MIIT, leave little room for imagination, unlike those recently released by the Swedish manufacturer itself. As can be seen, the new Volvo minivan appears to share many similarities with the Zeekr 009 sold in China, which will not reach the European market. The position of the vehicle’s three pillars, the exterior rear-view mirrors, the door handles, and the cameras located next to the wheel arches all suggest as much.

The front of the new Volvo electric minivan is, however, completely different and integrates lighting units more in keeping with those we have already seen on other models from the Swedish brand. Meanwhile, the Scandinavian design of the rear makes it perfectly clear that we are looking at a new Volvo model.

What else do we know about the new minivan from the Swedish manufacturer?

Beyond what we can see in the images, the MIIT has also published some technical data about the EM90. According to this body, it measures 5,206 mm in length, 2,024 mm in width and 1,859 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3,205 mm, exactly the same as that of the Zeekr 009. It will be available with 19- and 20-inch wheels and can accommodate up to six occupants and their luggage. Its weight, on the other hand, is 2,763 kg.

Additionally, the MIIT reveals that the unit it has been testing is fitted with a single electric motor on the rear axle delivering 200 kW of power. Nevertheless, we should not rule out a dual-electric-motor, rear-wheel-drive version, as is the case with the Zeekr 009.

As for the battery pack capacity, the MIIT has said nothing on the matter; but again, if we look at the Zeekr 009, the latter is equipped with a 140 kWh unit with cells from the Chinese company CATL, with which it is capable of covering 822 km under the overly optimistic Chinese CLTC homologation cycle. There is also a version with a smaller 116 kWh battery pack and 702 km of CLTC range.