What is it" Plug-in hybrid version of well-received new SUV.
Key features: Seven driving modes, 27-mile electric range.
Our View: The Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine is perhaps the version of the Swedish brand?s range-topping SUV that many have been waiting for.
CarandVanNews tested the second-generation XC90 on its UK launch in July 2015 (click here to read review) and along with almost all of our media colleagues we were very impressed with the all-new model. Sales have since proven the car?s qualities, with 2,800-plus ordered.
The new XC90?s SPA (Scaleable Product Architecture) platform and Drive-E engine were specifically designed, however, to accept a plug-in hybrid system, and in the T8 that technology arrives on the market ? with much to attract particularly the business user. The packaging is neatly achieved. The 16-cell 400-volt lithium-ion battery pack is housed in the central transmission tunnel, where on a normal XC90 the propshaft would run. There are in fact two electrical systems, the 12-volt one separated out for general car functions such as lights, but not in this case the starter motor or alternator ? these use a clever extra motor dubbed the Crankshaft Integrated Starter Generator.
Despite the lack of a propshaft the T8 retains its all-wheel-drive capacity, because while the four-cylinder 315bhp petrol unit drives the front wheels, the 87bhp electric motor, know as ERAD (Electric Rear Axle Drive) powers the rears.
All of which means that this XC90 can be ...