I saw the new Volvo EX90 for the first time against the backdrop of South Australia's sun-beaten, scrubby hills.

Volvo invited a handful of journalists to test drive the newest member of brand's electric fleet in the heart of the Barossa Valley. Parked on a grassy outcrop outside of The Kingsford Hotel for us all to examine, the new EX90 is not what you'd expect.

It's more than five metres long, with plenty of head height and seven impressively spacious seats. Yet, it's not at all weighty in appearance. And it's certainly not cumbersome to drive. You wouldn't expect that Volvo's new 7-seater was a performance vehicle. But it is. A fully-electric, 7-seater SUV with the soul of a sports car.

The display model is set up with a car tent atop and accompanying ladder to let us know that this is far more than just a family vehicle. It's built for road trips, camping adventures and memories.

On the first evening of the trip, the Volvo team takes our group through the briefing; that the EX90 is designed to be the safest car Volvo ever made. Its new state of the art sensors can detect objects hundreds of metres ahead, giving you more time to act and avoid. Cameras and radars are connected to the car's computers to create a real time 360-view of the world. Plus there's new steering support for changing lanes and an improved PilotAssist from previous models.

But Volvo's safety paradigm extends far beyond sensors and airbags – looking towards what's next for humanity and the Earth.

Sustainability and conservation are at the heart of this brand. Volvo has reinvented and reconsidered almost every aspect of its business and supply chain to push for some of the most ambitious sustainability goals of any car company. Because true safety is a healthy planet.

After a luxurious dinner, a sleep and a glorious sunrise at The Kingsford Hotel, it was finally time to drive.

If you're familiar with the brand's compact all-electric EX30, the interior layout will be familiar to you. A centre screen that powers all the comfort and drive features of the car, and a spacious storage area where the gear shift would ordinarily sit on a petrol car. But of course, the EX90 is a step up in luxury and safety. There's the new addition of a driver display that shows you all the most pertinent information without you needing to take your eyes off the road.

It has elegant timber-like trims, a metal-detailed Bowers & Wilkins sound system and the Ultra model even has massaging seats. Little touches that were missing from the EX30 like the light up mirror in the window shade and lumbar support in the passenger seat are all clear and present. It's hard to find an option that has been spared.

Whether you choose to set the car to one-pedal or two-pedal drive, when you first place your foot on the accelerator, it's important to remember that this is classified as a performance vehicle for a reason. It's fast. It does 0-100km in 4.9 seconds. If you need the context on that, this is the same acceleration of a Ford V8 Mustang GT – a sports car that is a tonne lighter than the EX90.

With its speed and 2.2 tonne towing capacity, the EX90 serves as a teachable moment for anyone who sneered that electric cars would "kill the weekend".

Quiet as a whisper, it feels at odds to be driving a car so fast yet so silent. Our drive took as through the winding roads of the Barossa Valley, through the heart of wine country. Sharp turns and narrow roads were no problem as the EX90 took every corner with the grace of a much smaller car. The braking abilities of the car are noticeably smoother than just about any other car I've driven. I had to come to a reasonably sudden stop and the EX90 slowed quickly – but with no jolting or disturbance to the passengers. It's impressive given how much momentum a car of this weight would have – all those batteries aren't exactly light.

After an hour of venturing through the hills, we took a rest stop at coffee shop before getting back on the road to the airport. When we pulled up, we were at just over 80 per cent battery remaining, a feat given how far we'd driven and how winding the drive had been. The EX90 comes with a whopping estimated 570km of battery range, more than enough to quell the fears of just about anyone with range anxiety. The 110km of range we'd used that day was almost exactly how far we'd driven.

Volvo's elegant and refined design language is consistent across its fleet and the EX90 is no exception. It bears all the classic design touches the brand is so known for, like the 'Thor's Hammer' headlights, the sleek line of the bonnet, the gentle curve of the boot and the panoramic glass roof. It's never ostentatious. Instead its quiet sophistication that helps you understand why Volvo-ownership is a cult that one rarely leaves.

Mia Steiber travelled as a guest of Volvo Australia.