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Volvo XC90 successor EV might have been outed in patent images

Motor1 found a trademark application Volvo filed at the EU Intellectual Property Office on June 13 to reserve the name "EXC90." A month later, the Worldscoop Forum for European car fans posted these images, sourced from the same government agency. We can't be certain the two filings are related, but circumstantial evidence points to this being the full-sized XC90's battery-electric successor that will be called the EXC90. Another circumstantial log for the fire is that Volvo ex-CEO Hakan Samuelsson said the coming family transport would start with a vowel. Based on yet another trademark filing from last year and Samuelsson saying Volvo would "give cars a name as you give a newborn child," we've been looking out for the name Embla. But hey, EXC90 Embla would cover all the bases, and it could differentiate the battery-electric XC90 from the hybrid version we know will continue to sell. Rolling with the possibility, the drawings show a crossover taking clear cues from both the current XC90 and the Volvo Concept Recharge design study from November of last year. The headlight design, sold grille and vertical lower intakes look traced from the Concept Recharge. The hood is much more upright, a la the retail XC90, as are the horizontal roof and full-figured sides. In back, the drawings diverge from the XC90 and the concept. The backlight is more raked than that on the XC90, meaning it's far more angled than the upright hatch on the concept. The C-shaped lights are more like units on Volvo sedans, unconnected to the upright light elements beside the hatch glass in the same way the XC90's and concept's are. Below that, there are no visible exhaust outlets, but the ICE-powered XC90 hides its outlets, too. Not long after posting these exterior shots, Worldscoop posted interior shots as well. These represent designs that differ from every Volvo interior save for the inset where the portrait-oriented infotainment screen goes. The left and right steering wheel spokes feature floating inserts. The instrument panel stretches a single vent across its width, removing the vertical vents next to the infotainment screen, and might be reminiscent of the unit in the Polestar in placing the HVAC controls at the bottom of the touchscreen.

Volvo's plan for China: sell them on the clean air inside the car

Large Chinese cities aren't known for having clean air. Just this week, the Chinese city of Harbin filled with record levels of smog after starting the city's coal-fired heating system, according to CNN. But Li Shufu, the chairman of Geely, Volvo's parent company, says the automaker's astute attention to cabin comfort in areas such as air filtration is a selling point for the Swedish automaker in China, Forbes reports.
Shufu says when he is inside a Volvo, he feels like he's in Northern Europe, but when the door is opened, he feels like he's in Beijing. The chairman made the remarks at the fourth annual Global Auto Forum (GAF) in China (which also happened to be attended by Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, which was Volvo's owner until 2010), where he emphasized Geely's hands-off approach to managing Volvo, saying, "Geely and Volvo are brothers, not father and son."
While good filtration contributes to cabin comfort, the way we see it, Shufu also is allowing Volvo to play to its most well-known strength: safety. Smog protection via air filtration might not seem like the most important safety feature for a car in the US (unless you live in Los Angeles), but when you consider that Harbin's level of fine particles was up to 30 times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended standard on Tuesday, we'd think twice about that. Fine particles, which are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less, are considered to be the most harmful to health.

Sunday Drive: Taking a gaze into the automotive crystal ball

Mankind has long been fascinated by the future. So it makes sense that this past week's top stories were all about cars, trucks, and SUVs that won't be hitting the market until the 2019 model year. And right at the top of the list is the Ram 1500. We've come to know Ram as the truck maker that styles its pickups with cues cribbed from big rigs, but that look has slowly evolved over time into something uniquely its own. The next Ram 1500 continues this trend, with a newly refined look that we can't wait to see in person. Up next is the 2019 Chevy Silverado. Pickup trucks have been, continue to be, and will remain the best-selling vehicles in America. And General Motors is a leader in the field, with two distinct offerings with which to entice buyers, one from the bread-and-butter Chevrolet brand and one wearing the slightly more upscale GMC badge. The Chevy looks to get LED lighting elements for 2019, which ought to keep the truck from looking dated when compared to the Ford F-150 and the previously mentioned Ram 1500. From there we move past pickup trucks and into SUVs and sedans. The 2019 Jeep Cherokee looks to get toned down a bit with its next refresh, and the '19 BMW 3 Series continues its slow evolutionary journey at the top of its aspirational sales pedestal. Finally, spy shots give way to official production reveals for the 2019 Audi A7 and Polestar 1. This pair of European luxury cars won't compete with one another – one is a rakish hatchback and the other a sports coupe – any further than for the eyeballs of our readers, but both proved popular enough to merit inclusion in our weekly roundup. As always, tune in to Autoblog next week for a front-row seat to all the happenings worth following in the automotive industry. 2019 Ram 1500 spotted without the classic crosshairs 2019 Chevy Silverado spied with new LED accents 2019 Jeep Cherokee reveals a much more normal face 2019 BMW 3 Series spy shots reveal production lights, new interior details 2019 Audi A7 revealed: More torque, refined styling Polestar 1 First Look | The 600 horsepower hybrid Scandinavian Green Audi BMW Chevrolet Jeep RAM Volvo Truck Hatchback SUV Future Vehicles Hybrid Luxury Performance Sedan sunday drive polestar 1