Starting with the EX90, Volvo’s future electric cars will be based on the same fundamental core of systems, modules, software, and hardware, known as the Volvo Cars Superset tech stack.
It is a single tech and software base that contains all modules and functionalities that Volvo will use in its future product line-up. Like a set of building blocks, it can be configured in many different ways. Each of Volvo’s new cars will be a selection, or a subset, of building blocks from the Superset tech stack, and Volvo will continuously improve and grow the tech stack.
This approach ensures that the cars truly get better with time, as all engineering work will focus on improving and enhancing the one tech stack. It means that work on the EX90 will directly benefit the ES90, and the development for the ES90 will carry on—both into the development of the EX60 coming after it and into improving the EX90 already in the hands of customers, and so on.
“The Volvo Cars Superset tech stack is a true game changer: it allows all of our engineering effort to be channeled into one single direction that powers all our products, instead of working on specific car projects,” says Anders Bell, Chief Engineering & Technology Officer at Volvo Cars. “Our engineers will work on one superset, constantly improving, growing, and expanding its capabilities and features. This allows for dramatically improved quality, increased speed-to-market, and continually better cars for our customers.”
Closed-loop development
The Superset tech stack approach, which enables Volvo to deliver one brand in many different product flavors, is emblematic of their overarching idea of how to make cars.
Volvo is now implementing closed-loop development based on data, connectivity, software, and core computing. This shift to core computing is at least as significant as the shift to electrification. It impacts anything connected to the cars’ electrical system, and the potential benefits are limitless.
By creating a closed-loop development process, Volvo will be able to endlessly and relentlessly improve every aspect of their cars, thanks to real-time insight and advanced compute capabilities inside the cars, as well as by engineers in development centers.
Volvo’s next-generation SPA3 platform
One of the key building blocks for any Volvo car is the electric technology base: a combination of the latest propulsion, electric, and electronic systems upon which the car is built.
To position itself as a leader in next-generation mobility, Volvo is developing a new electric technology base, called SPA3, which will be underpinned by the Volvo Cars Superset tech stack. The first car to be built on SPA3 will be the forthcoming all-electric EX60 midsize SUV.
SPA3 builds on many of the building blocks of SPA2 and introduces several key upgrades. It will, for example, have enhanced core computing capability, which will allow Volvo to secure higher performance and improve features through its tech stack.
The most important change is that the SPA3 architecture has been built to be far more scalable than its predecessor. This means that Volvo could continuously develop and build cars of all sizes—larger than the EX90 and smaller than the EX30—using the same technology base. The modularity and upgradeability of SPA3 will allow for lower investment costs—with lower variance as well—in relation to sales, which in turn should lead to stronger future cash flow.
Lower production costs
By having a scalable SPA3 architecture, Volvo creates increased synergies and improves technology efficiency regarding core computing, batteries, e-motors, megacasting, and modular manufacturing—all factors that significantly drive down the costs of producing cars.
The Torslanda plant and its preparation for the production of SPA3 cars showcase Volvo’s approach to future manufacturing, with all capabilities needed to produce a car located in the same area.
This approach becomes especially powerful when Volvo is able to use the same key components across all cars built on SPA3, meaning that complexity goes down and flexibility goes up.