00:00the best laid schemes of mice and men gang after day kind of like volvo's plans to become a fully
00:07electric brand by 2030. as uncertainty about the future of the automotive segment is growing car
00:14makers are revising their strategies focusing on what the customers actually want to pay for
00:19in volvo's case it's things like plug-in hybrids like this volvo xc90 t8 and to help us better
00:26understand this decision volvo took some car journalists skiing in the alps at least here we
00:31still get something that resembles winter global warming my friends is not a joke
01:00this is the second facelift of the second generation xc90 which is about to turn 10 years old this year
01:07the first generation was on sale for 13 years so this one still has a few years left in it
01:12before
01:12volvo decides how to persuade its clients to the fully electric ex90 under its revised strategy volvo
01:21wants up to 100 of cars sold by 2030 to be electrified this means hybrids as well as evs
01:28the xc90 is currently offered as a 455 horsepower plug-in hybrid or 250 horsepower mild hybrid if
01:35nothing else sheer power may steer customers towards the plug-in the main change beside the new grille is
01:44the new infotainment system and the new cockpit layout new air refreshed anyway the infotainment
01:51system is android automotive here also with the driver's display i mentioned this because in the
01:56ex30 we only get the central display other changes include redesigned cup holders and a smartphone cradle
02:05with a wireless charger after several hours driving from the airport to the hotel i have several
02:11observations firstly for a relatively large by european standards seven-seater suv volvo's cockpit
02:18feels rather tight and it's not only me my colleague with whom i shared this test car got the same
02:23impression secondly regardless of what i just said about the cockpit being rather tight the seats are
02:30hard but comfortable don't expect a tv armchair but your spine will not complain if i were to complain about
02:38something it'd be that some of the seat and massage settings are on the central display thirdly beside
02:45the seat settings everything else is relatively easy to use but then volvo hasn't updated much since
02:502015 when the second generation xc90 launched storage under the armrest is modest there are usb-c ports
02:59and a 12 volt outlet in there the glove box which for some reason you open with a button on
03:05the
03:06dashboard is rather large the door pockets are just sufficient
03:21in the b5 mild hybrid all-wheel drive is a traditional drive shaft solution however the t8 ph ev powers
03:29the
03:29rear wheels with an electric motor using the transmission tunnel to store the traction battery
03:35in electric mode the car is rear wheel drive and in hybrid mode it uses all-wheel drive and don't
03:40worry even if you deplete the main part of the traction battery there is still a small buffer
03:46for all-wheel drive to work in hybrid mode now placing the battery within the transmission tunnel and
03:53powering the rear wheels with an electric motor means volvo can offer the xc90 as a seven seater
03:59also in phd form the bmw x5 which has similar external dimensions to the xc90 can be ordered
04:06as a seven seater only with a regular ice powertrain because the traction battery and the phd occupies
04:13much of the space under the boot floor
04:18according to volvo the boot in the seven seater has 302 liters to the window line in seven seat
04:24configuration 680 liters to the window line in five seat configuration and 1856 liters to the roof
04:32in two seat configuration according to my measurements these figures are accurate
04:37the boot width is about 112 centimeters by the floor between the wheel arches the height is around 45
04:45centimeters to the window line but only 37 centimeters under the cargo cover case and the length by the
04:51floor behind the third second and first row is 60 130 and 200 centimeters respectively seats in the second
05:00row slide about 15 centimeters at the expense of passenger legroom
05:04i like the folding divider which prevents shopping from rolling deep into the cavernous boot
05:10unfolding the third row requires you crawling inside at least the third row should be electrically
05:15operated access to the third row from the passenger compartment is easy during the 2015 launch event
05:23volvo said the third row is comfortable for passengers up to 170 centimeters tall and that's about right
05:30third row passengers get some cup holders and air vents there is no isofix anchor points in the third row
05:36though and the only two isofix anchor points in a seven seater family volvo suv are in the second row
05:43granted there is a fold-out booster seat in the middle i'm 175 centimeters tall and behind the driver's
05:51seat set to my driving position i have around 17 centimeters legroom or less if i slide the seat
05:57forward to give third row passengers some space i also have around 10 centimeters headroom
06:03the door pockets are tight there are cup holders in the armrest the backrest splits 40 20 40 so there
06:11is a
06:11pass-through to the boot like i mentioned earlier the battery lives where the drive shaft would normally be
06:16so the tunnel is still here there are air vents climate control for two rear zones
06:23side seats are heated the doors cover the sills
06:35the traction battery capacity is just under 19 kilowatt hours of which just under 15 kilowatt hours
06:41is usable ac charging at 5 kilowatts from a two-phase outlet takes three hours claimed electric range is
06:49around 70 kilometers a bit more around town a bit less in the combined cycle while this is less than
06:55the bmw or mercedes suv plugins they also have much bigger batteries
07:04in the mountains with temperatures just below freezing real life range was below 50 kilometers
07:10on the way back to the airport i turned on battery charging to see how it works
07:14it's possible to recharge the battery to about 80 capacity fuel economy is comparable or even better
07:21than in the mild hybrid more about that in a moment the xc90 can tow up to 2.4 tons
07:27regardless of the
07:28powertrain promised 0 to 100 kilometers per hour time for the phcv is 5.4 seconds which i was unable
07:35to
07:35verify during the short time i had with the car
07:41the driving experience is largely dictated by the driver aids and you can feel it especially
07:47on mountain roads now let me explain yesterday i drove the b5 250 horsepower mild hybrid now even
07:54on flat roads it's not an engine for dynamic driving it's not an engine for city driving and
07:59it's not really an efficient engine either it's an engine you choose because you really want an xc90 and
08:05you really don't want a phcv on motorway with cruise control set to between 110 and 130 kilometers per
08:12hour the car used more than 9 liters per 100 kilometers now in order to minimize emissions
08:16the car is programmed to always use the highest gear possible which is not ideal in the mountains
08:21and here we get to the intelligent speed assist or isa volvo is the first car i've driven which
08:27offers a choice of sound warnings which are annoying or haptic feedback through the accelerator pedal
08:34so before you exceed the speed limit the car stops accelerating and you have to press the
08:39accelerator much harder to go over the speed limit so far so good unless you're driving up a twisty
08:46mountain road where you need more gas for the gearbox to downshift and of course you can use the manual
08:53mode but it's something worth noting in the phcv it's easier to maintain momentum because the electric
08:59motor helps you driving up the hill and one more thing regarding isa when using adaptive cruise control
09:07you get audible warnings regardless of selecting the haptic gas pedal feedback because with cruise control
09:13you're not pressing the accelerator pedal other than that the xc90 is very well soundproof visibility is
09:24fine and the suspension is deceivingly comfortable even on the 21 inch rims so be careful not to cut the
09:30tire in a pothole price of the refreshed volvo xc 90 start at 79 890 euro for the mild hybrid
09:38and 87 490
09:41euro for the ph ev this test car with options costs 105 249 euro the refreshed volvo xc90 has been
09:52improved
09:52rather than made worse which unfortunately is no longer an obvious statement with all the new mandatory driver
09:58rates the only problem in my opinion is the engine lineup 250 horsepower may not be enough for a
10:05five meter long suv for some buyers and the plug-in hybrid is an extra cost which may or may
10:11not pay off
10:11depending on where you live and how do you like the refreshed volvo xc90 let me know in the comment
10:17section
10:20below if you like my sarcastic down-to-earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me every friday
10:273 pm central european time and don't forget to subscribe and like this video as it helps me
10:33with the youtube algorithm thanks for watching and i will see you in the next one
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