During their spent time on manufacturer’s press fleets the cars we motor-noters are privileged enough to be lent must inevitably lead a hard life. All those miles; all those different drivers; all those different driving styles…
So far, so good. In over thirteen years of borrowing myriad motor cars from myriad marques (some now defunct), fortunately – touch wood and all that – I’ve never damaged a press car while it’s been under my tenureship. I’ll admit, I did once kerb an alloy on a Bentley Continental: I was mortified. An error of judgement. It was late at night, in an airport carpark. My flight had been delayed; I was tired. I’d just returned from driving the then all-new McLaren 570GT on Tenerife. I’d barely been there 24 hours. You know how it is… First thing the next morning I very nervously rang Bentley’s HQ, only to be told “Don’t worry, we’ve got hundreds of wheels… Relieved, I promptly went back to bed.
I mention such things because just the day before I was due to take delivery of the Volvo XC40 that I’d booked to arrive the week before the Volvo XC90 you see here was due to be delivered, Volvo’s very charming PR man called to say the XC40 had been involved in some kind of accident. It happens. At least it wasn’t me calling him. Presumably my wait to sample a new Volvo would be delayed by another seven days?
Not quite. It turned out they could have the XC90 delivered the next day instead. Better still, the PR man didn’t need it back for a fortnight. Well, every cloud…
I’ve long been a fan of the XC90, and even now, as it approaches its twilight years – eventually Volvo’s recently introduced all-electric EV90 will take its place – if I was in the market for a sizeable premium/luxury SUV the XC90 would most likely be first on my shopping list.
Yes, I know the XC90 will never challenge a Range Rover off road, but neither can I ever imagine spending over £100k on something from Solihull and then deliberately plunging its lustrous paintwork and diamond-cut alloys deep into the undergrowth. How many Range Rovers drivers will ever need a 900mm wading function, multiple driving modes, and myriad locking differentials; how many of them even know their Range Rover have them? And unless I really needed to tow 3.5 tonnes (an XC0 can haul up to 2.4 tonnes) on a regular basis I’d spend my hard-earned on the Swedish badged (albeit now Chinese owned) seven seater 4×4 instead. I’d save myself over 20 grand in the deal too.
The XC90’s cabin may now be beginning to look a little dated, the 9 inch infotainment screen looks small when compared today’s more fashionable whoppers, nevertheless it’s still a spectacularly comfortable and sophisticated feeling place to be. Award winning attention to detail, premium feeling materials – the gear selector is made from Oresfor Crystal – and seven individually adjustable and superbly comfortable seats – why can’t other manufacturer’s make seats as supportive as Volvos?, even the third row all is capable of accommodating adults up to the height of 5’ 7”- are all present and correct.
There are few buttons, just 8 in fact. All of the major control functions are instead handled by the aforementioned I-pad-esque Senus touchscreen: heater, DAB radio navigation, phone, apps…the list goes on, are all just a left or right swipe away. Operation becomes pretty intuitive, eventually, and Volvo say you can even use the system to book your XC90 in for a service -with your gloves on! Handy, if you’ll pardon the pun, in a bitter Swedish winter. The dashboard dials, speedo, rev-counter, fuel, battery, etc are, naturally, all electronic too.
As too, in the plug-in hybrid we have here, is the initial getaway. You pull-off using the electric powered rear-wheels alone (petrol drives the front axle). Push the accelerator a little harder and the 2 litre turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder lump almost seamlessly joins in. Working together with the motor it gives XC90 T8 surprising pace: 0-62 takes just 5.1 seconds; peak power is 401bhp; peak torque is 472 lbft
The XC90 though promotes a more relaxed driving style than those figures might suggest.
Better then to just sit back, soak up the miles, and let the 8-speed gearbox and elec-trickery controlling what power source does what, do their thing.
Overall the handling is safe and secure, but due to its size the XC90, in any guise, is no sports car. I also still maintain my opinion that if your budget stretches to it the optional air-suspension is a must, the standard fit steel springs make for ride that’s not quite as smooth as you’d expect that of a now £80k-plus super-safe Scandinavian’s to be.
Neither is this sophisticated Scandinavian as frugal as might be expected.
If you’ve the facility to charge the XC90 both at work and at home, you might, just might, be able to commute on battery power alone, smug in the knowledge that you’re producing, Volvo claim, somewhere between 28 and 34g/km CO2 – and avoiding any congestion charges whilst doing go. There’s even a slim chance that you may not need to trouble a forecourt attendant for a week or two. However…
After just 30 miles into my cross country trip the XC90’s batteries were all-but flat and it instantly reverted back to being a petrol powered only SUV; one that’s laden with a heavy battery and a not exactly what you’d call dainty electric motor too.
Quite where Volvo dreamt-up their claims of over 200mpg on the combined cycle from I’ll never know. I did nearly 700 miles in two weeks of mixed road driving, I charged-up regularly, and I’m not exactly Stig Blomqvist. I averaged 38.7 mpg. Not bad for a 2.3 tonne SUV perhaps, but nowhere near what those official figures say. Still, if your commute is flat, less than 15 miles each way, and you can plug-in every night…
As with any plug-in hybrid, the amount of petrol you end-up using in entirely down to how you use it, plus your daily access to a charging point.
The XC90 may not the best four-by-four, by a long-shot, it’s expensive, and all things considered it’s probably nowhere near as eco-friendly as its makers claim it is either. Nevertheless, if the Volvo PR man had have called and said I could’ve hung on to it for another five years or so, fuel-bills aside, I’d have had no complaints at all.
Volvo XC90 Recharge Ultimate, T8 AWD plug-in hybrid
Engine: 1,969cc 4Cyl 16V Petrol. Super-charged, turbo-charged, and with electric motor
Transmission: 8 speed Auto, All wheel drive.
Power: 401 bhp
Torque: 472 lbft
Electric Motor: 87 hp
0-62MPH: 5.1 Sec
Max Speed: 112 mph
CO2: 28-34 g/km
MPG: 188-235 (WLTP combined)
Weight: 2297kg
Price: from £81,925
Many thanks to Joe at Volvo’s UK press office for the loan of the XC90
@bird_liam
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