Photo: KDesign AG / Behance
Volvo has offered new details on its upcoming SPA3 architecture that will underpin the EX60 compact SUV from 2026. What is likely to become the most popular model in the Swedish automaker’s lineup will adopt many of the advances pioneered by Tesla, including one-piece megacasting and a structural battery pack.
At its annual Capital Markets Day, Volvo outlined a new electrification strategy that takes the shine off its Electric vehicle program. Despite the extended lifecycle of the combustion engine, including mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, Volvo is still committed to launching new EV models.
Five of these will be launched over the next decade, based on the automaker's most advanced vehicle architecture. Among them will be a rival to the Tesla Model Y, which Volvo has confirmed will be called the EX60. The Volvo EX60, due in 2026, will use Volvo's SPA3 architecture, a significant development of the current SPA2 that underpins the flagship Off-road EX90. The SPA2 will also be used for the planned ES90 electric sedan.
The SPA3 will bring major upgrades over its predecessor, including new, more efficient in-house developed electric motors. Volvo is targeting 93 percent efficiency with the new motors, up from 85 percent for its early EVs (such as the CMA-based EX40) and 91 percent for the EX30 and EX90. New batteries using high-density cells will allow the EX60 to compete with the best in the industry in terms of range. The new batteries will be integrated into the vehicle’s body structure, similar to Tesla’s structural battery packs in the Model Y and Cybertruck.
The structural battery isn’t the only technology Tesla will borrow for the SPA3 architecture and vehicles built on it. The Swedish automaker also plans to optimize manufacturing efficiency by using megacasting to cut costs and increase production rates. These manufacturing improvements are expected to yield up to a 10-percentage point increase in gross margins compared to the CMA-based EX40/EC40 electric crossovers.
SPA3 will build on the optimizations already achieved with the SPA2 architecture, allowing Volvo to accelerate development and save money. Volvo engineers explained that all future electric vehicles will use the same fundamental core of systems, modules, software and hardware, called the Volvo Cars Superset tech stack. This modular approach will allow Volvo to introduce new features more quickly, while using existing features as building blocks for future models.
The Volvo Cars Superset tech stack and SPA3 architecture will underpin three more future Volvo electric vehicles in addition to the EX60. As Volvo explained, SPA3’s versatility allows the automaker to use it for models of all sizes, from the smallest EX30 to the largest EX90.
Volvo has doubled down on its partnership with Nvidia and will use the next-generation Drive Thor computing platform in future models. The in-car computer is capable of performing more than 1,000 trillion operations per second, four times more than Nvidia’s Drive Thor system that powers the EX90.