Volvo XC90 Twin Engine T8 Inscription Pro Review

We’ve all spend the last fifteen years buying diesel cars - as we believed they were cleaner for the environment - but we were wrong - apparently.

So, what are the options now? - we’ll here’s one of them, the Volvo XC90 T8.

We ‘ve spent decades mocking the Volvo driver as the practical estate models became popular with antique dealers and the man from accounts - well, now who’s laughing - as a few years ago Volvo was turned around by a multibillion-pound revival by its Chinese owners, Geely, bringing with it a new era of vehicles.

Since then, the XC90 has been reinvented for the 21st century following the 14-year success of the previous model. And now, alongside Volvo’s dedicated chauffeur programme, a twin-engine, plug-in Hybrid version, otherwise known at the T8 is now available.

Under the bonnet of the T8 is a 4 cylinder 2.0 petrol engine and combined with the electric motor it results in an impressive 407bhp, whilst producing only 49 g/km of co2.

Now, although the official MPG is around 150mpg, in real-life driving, you’re unlikely to ever see that kind of figure.

The main problem with the T8 is that if you travel long distances, then it doesn’t really make sense as the tiny 50 litre fuel tank only gives a range of around 250 miles and you’ll only be able to go 21 miles when the battery if fully charged. So, it's more suited to those city chauffeurs.

As clients step into the XC90, they’re faced with a very spacious interior with very high-quality materials - if you’ve seen my previous video’s I’ve always said the inscription interior is essential on the new range of Volvo’s, as the standard trim levels just don’t cut it for the chauffeur industry in my opinion.

The back seats are a relatively nice place to be, as there’s plenty of legroom - a nice little touch is the small recline of the second-row seating and there’s also room in the back for two more clients - albeit small ones.

However, the XC90 is ultimately a family seven-seat SUV, so there’s little in the way of equipment and luxuries for the rear passenger, Volvo has produced an ‘Excellence’ model which was designed with the client in mind but that, unfortunately, isn’t coming to the UK.

So when you don’t have clients in the third row of seats, you’ll have over 1800 litres of boot space and a convenient cubby hole to store your charging cables.

Not only is the XC90 the safest car ever tested but it's’ packed with technology that actually works and has an excellent list of equipment as standard.

XC90 range starts from £48,000 however with the vital Inscription trim combined with the T8 plug-in hybrid drivetrain you can expect a price tag of over £70,000 not including a few more options such as 360 cameras and some other safety goodies.

What are the options then if you’re looking for a 7-seat plug-in Hybrid of this ilk? Well, there’s the…. Erm… err… There isn’t any.

However, if you want a 4x4 plug-in Hybrid then, of course, you have the BMW X5, Q7 E-tron and even Porsche Cayenne - but in terms of practicality, style and safety, the XC90 T8 is certainly a vehicle prepared for changes we’re expecting to be hit within the coming years.

#volvo #xc90 #t8