Volvo Ex90 vs Genesis GV60

What's the difference?

The electric car world has seen a few seven-seat SUVs hit the ground running recently and for good reason. The dream of lowering your emissions without sacrificing space for the family is a tempting one. But let’s be honest, there still aren’t a whole lot of options out there.

Enter the flagship Volvo EX90 Ultra Twin Motor Performance. It brings together the elegant design and thoughtful functionality Volvo is known for, now paired with a premium tech offering and a powerful new electric drivetrain.

Will it be enough to tempt buyers over the line? I've spent a week with it to find out.

Genesis has been in Australia for seven years, which in car industry terms is ancient (given the rapid pace of new arrivals). But the Hyundai-owned luxury brand has yet to make a real dent on challenging the likes of BMW and Mercedes-Benz and is now facing growing threat from the likes of Zeekr and Omoda-Jaecoo.

So it has opted for the tried and tested method of appealing to Australian customers - more performance. Australians have always had a soft spot for the likes of BMW M and Mercedes-AMG, so Genesis is hoping its new performance sub-brand, dubbed Magma, will help give it a sales boost as well as an image enhancement.

The Genesis GV60 Magma has just arrived in Australia and is the first member of what is planned to be an entire family of Magma halo vehicles. 

An electric performance small SUV is an unusual choice for a hero model, but there are some good reasons why this has potential and why it makes sense to be the first Magma offering. And both those reasons are largely the same, because the GV60 Magma is based on the same underpinnings and features and much the same powertrain as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and Ioniq 6 N. 

Just like Hyundai N has three core elements - Corner Rascal, Racetrack Capability and Everyday Sportcar - Genesis has created a trio of pillars for Magma. These are Design: Unspoken Dominance, Driving Sensation: Captivating Control and User Experience: Sharpened Immersion. 

Or to put it another way - slightly different, but fundamentally the same premise given the shared mechanical DNA. But Genesis has definitely put its own spin on it, so read on to find out if Magma is hot or not.