A little more battery and a little Swedish love make the XC90 PHEV the ideal car for the Netherlands.
The arrival of the first plug-in hybrids in the Netherlands coincided with a particularly pleasant tax regime. The famous 0% additional tax led to strong sales figures for, among others, the Volvo V60 D6, Outlander PHEV and Opel Ampera. Many more PHEVs followed later, but the additional tax slowly crept up.
From a fiscal perspective, the PHEVs were a resounding success, but the benefits for the environment were limited. That's because you all refused to charge the plug-in hybrids. This could partly be explained: the batteries were too small, the range was too limited and plugging in is not a hobby for most people.
I also drove a plug-in from a well-known German premium brand for a short period. My daughter had swimming lessons on the other side of Rotterdam at the time. Inland it was 9 km, the faster route over the ring was about 12 km. You can guess whether I took it back and forth electrically in the winter….
A larger battery helps
To be fair, the early Volvo XC90 T8 also had a rather limited electric range. Fortunately, in 2021, Volvo released a significant update to the Recharge plug-in hybrid powertrain for the 90 and 60 series (V60, S60, XC60, V90, S90, XC90).
The new long-range battery adds a third layer of cells, increasing the capacity from 11.6 kWh to 18.8 kWh. The WLTP range is therefore increased to a maximum of 72 km. In practice on winter tires, temperatures around 5 degrees, a mix of city traffic and 100 km stretches on the ring, the range is 50 km+. In pure city traffic this can increase slightly.
Especially for the days (or weekends) when you drive around the church, the XC90 T8 suddenly becomes a car that you can drive 100% electrically. However, there were also days when plugging in was not the first priority, strange how that works.
A little more power helps
I still remember it from the first test of the then new Volvo Under heavy acceleration, the front wheels had (too) much difficulty with the power.
More power still goes to the front wheels, but the electric motor has received a strong boost. Thanks to the more powerful electric motor on the rear axle (145 hp), the system power increases to 455 hp. The latter is relatively unimportant, but the stronger electric motor is seriously a lot more pleasant during electric driving. When the XC90 T8 was released, the electric motor on the rear axle was only 82 hp.
The XC90 helps even more
With two engines on board, the question is always which one the XC90 will use. Fortunately, they also found a solution in Goteborg. A droplet on the power meter indicates where the combustion engine should start helping. That is a dynamic factor, after all, at higher speeds the four-cylinder engine has to respond faster. With a little bit of policy, routes with not too long stretches of highway can also be easily operated electrically.
One pedal drive
A small confession: I hate one-pedal drive. It is dangerous when it is slippery, it gives you lame legs and for most drivers it leads to flashing brake lights. To explain the first and third points: releasing the throttle with one-pedal drive causes the brake lights to come on. Since most people cannot drive and certainly cannot properly use one position for the accelerator pedal, the brake lights sometimes flicker on.
Now the topic of safety with one-pedal drive: in a panic situation, most people (abruptly) release the accelerator. If it is really slippery, the car can make a good sway.
And yet I'm excited that the Volvo XC90 (and other current Volvo PHEVs) have one-pedal drive. This means that the regeneration capacity is so strong that the regular brakes are used much less. Now with subtitles: when you brake, the friction between brake disc and brake pad slows you down, the energy is converted into heat. That is of no use to you, but if you regenerate with an electric motor, the battery will be recharged. So “free” electricity.
Next step the EX90?
Just as plug-in hybrids are really becoming useful, Volvo is taking the next step and will soon replace the XC90 with the fully electric EX90. It makes sense in the bigger picture where zero-emission driving is the goal. Still, it's a shame that we won't be using plug-in hybrids a little longer. The Volvo V60 T6 and T8 Recharge already reach 92 km electrically and other PHEVs sometimes go even further.
Now just get rid of those sometimes dirty and always clumsy cables. Fortunately, Volvo also has something for that: wireless charging, which I already did with an XC40.
These cars are in the Autoblog Garage:
- BMW 530i Touring (G31) from Wouter's boss
- BMW M135i (F21) by Martijn
- BMW M2 (F87) Competition by Ruben
- BMW Z4 sDrive35is from Machiel
- Fiat Panda 4×4 from Michael
- Lexus RX 500h endurance test
- Lync & Co 01 from Michael
- MINI Cooper S Gizmo Speciale (R50) by Martijn
- MINI Cooper S from WillemE
- Peugeot 206 GTi racers
- Porsche 911 Carrera (996) from Wouter
- Jaap's Porsche 944
- Saab 9-3 Cabrio from Nicolas
- Tesla Model S by Nicolas
- Volkswagen Golf V GTI by Loek
- Volvo XC90 T8 Recharge endurance tester
This article XC90 reignited my love for the PHEV first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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