Compare the2025 Volvo EX90VS 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

The EX90’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the EX90 are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Volvo EX90 (except 6-Passenger) offers an optional built in child booster seat. It’s more crash worthy than an added child seat because of its direct attachment to the seat. Toyota doesn’t offer the convenience and security of a built-in child booster seat in the Grand Highlander. Their owners must carry a heavy booster seat in and out of the vehicle; EX90 owners can just fold their built-in child seat up or down.

The Volvo EX90 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The EX90 has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, Full-Time Four-Wheel Drive is standard on the EX90. But it costs extra on the Grand Highlander.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the EX90 has standard Cross Traffic Alert with Braking Intervention, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the EX90 and the Grand Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

The Volvo EX90 weighs 1290 to 1912 pounds more than the Toyota Grand Highlander. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

The EX90 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Grand Highlander’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The EX90’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Grand Highlander’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the EX90 for 1 year and 5000 miles longer than Toyota pays for maintenance for the Grand Highlander (3/30,000 vs. 2/25000).

The EX90 has more powerful engines than the Grand Highlander:

On the EPA test cycle the EX90 gets better mileage than the Grand Highlander:

The EX90 can travel with zero emissions for 300 to 310 miles (dependent on model). The Grand Highlander can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

Regardless of its engine, regenerative brakes improve the EX90’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. Toyota only offers a regenerative brake system on the Grand Highlander Hybrid.

The EX90, as a pure battery electric vehicle, has no need to “idle” its motors in traffic: they only burn power when moving. The EX90’s climate control systems still work completely when the vehicle is stopped. The Grand Highlander still runs its internal combustion engine whenever it’s stopped, burning excess fuel.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Volvo EX90 higher (10 out of 10) than the Toyota Grand Highlander (7). This means the EX90 produces up to 11.8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Grand Highlander every 15,000 miles.

For better stopping power the EX90’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Grand Highlander:

For better traction, the EX90 Ultra’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Grand Highlander (F:265/45R21 & R:295/45R21 vs. 255/65R18).

The EX90’s standard 255/50R20 front and 285/45R20 rear tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series front and 45 series rear profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Grand Highlander XLE’s 65 series tires. The EX90’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the EX90 has standard 20-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Grand Highlander XLE. The EX90’s optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum.

The EX90 offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Grand Highlander’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the EX90’s wheelbase is 1.4 inches longer than on the Grand Highlander (117.5 inches vs. 116.1 inches).

The EX90 is 3.1 inches shorter than the Grand Highlander, making the EX90 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the EX90 uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The EX90 has 2.7 inches more front headroom and 1.4 inches more rear headroom than the Grand Highlander.

The EX90 has a much larger cargo volume than the Grand Highlander with its rear seat up (67.6 vs. 20.6 cubic feet).

The EX90 has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the EX90’s third row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

While the Grand Highlander Hybrid can only tow 3500, any EX90 can tow a minimum of 4850 pounds.

The EX90’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Grand Highlander’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The EX90 has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The EX90’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Grand Highlander has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The EX90 has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum.

The EX90 offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Grand Highlander.

The EX90’s Park Pilot Assist can parallel park by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automated parking system.