The Luxury Hybrid That Has It All: The 3-Row Volvo XC90 R-Design
Connie Peters
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When you want a luxury hybrid that does it all, you want the AWD 2020 Volvo XC90.
Did you know you can get a 3-row SUV built for safe family mobility, with the fuel economy of a sedan, and the luxury of plush euro design? Now you do.
The 2020 Volvo XC90 T8 R-Design plug-in hybrid—called the “Recharge” the United States—has perfected the formula to create an SUV that you won’t ever want to get out of. It’s that nice.
Everything about this SUV screams luxury
This car shouts “luxury” from the moment you spot the Bursting Blue metallic color and the Blonde Nappa leather interior. When you step inside, the Bowers Wilkins stereo sound is clean and beautiful, and when you select Polestar Engineered drive mode, the car lowers with air ride suspension to provide maximum aerodynamic efficiency.
It is all luxe while seating up to seven with the second-row bench seating, and it has all the advanced safety features you could possibly want in a family car.
Unfortunately, if you opt for the second-row captain’s chairs, they will not come equipped with armrests, and apparently, this is quite a talking point amongst owners and buyers. What do you think? Do you want your second-row seats to have armrests?
The armrests, though, are the only big hang-up. It has an elegant feel, both aesthetically and physically, and there’s tons of room for anyone hopping in the second and third rows. It’s a little bit like if your favorite pair of designer heels became a family-friendly SUV.
The instrument cluster is fully digital. ?: Connie Peters
What about the electric range?
You would think that 12-25 Mile / 20-40 KM range doesn’t sound like much, but how far are you really driving every day if you’re hauling kids to school and playdates? I know for me, the 22 Mile / 35 KM average per day range I experienced in the XC90 is plenty for my needs, and most weeks I wouldn’t need to put gas in this car.
If you’re making a longer commute, that range is a little less impressive than some of the 2020 Volvo XC90’s competitors, so if you’re really looking to cut down on your gas consumption, the XC90 may not be the SUV for you. But if you’re someone with a short commute or who makes a lot of frequent but short drives in a day, you’ll find this Volvo suits your needs just fine.
Related: 5 Very Real Reasons, Starting With Care By Volvo, That This May Be the Right Car For You
The classic Volvo rear end. ?: Connie Peters
The Volvo XC90 has all the technology, too
The semi-autonomous driving features of the Volvo XC90 feel pretty great on the highway. The adaptive cruise control keeps you exactly how close or how far you are from the cars in front of you and slows and stops when necessary. Another driver assist feature even keeps you centered in the lane around turns. Take your hands off the wheel though, and it will notify you to ‘take steering’. It can also sense if you’re drowsy or start taking your eyes off the road too much, where it’ll remind you to stay alert.
Related: 9 Things I Loved About The Lexus UX 250h, An Urban Hybrid Crossover
The panoramic sunroof and Blonde Nappa leather makes a beautiful interior. ?: Connie Peters
The Volvo On Call App has everything on your phone including phone as key, starting and locking, plus information about the car itself like battery life, and maintenance needs. That makes it really handy to monitor your vehicle and make sure everything is in order, especially since we always have our phones on us these days.
In addition, there’s a whole suite of standard safety features—like airbags—that are augmented by automatic collision features. If you hit something, the XC90 will automatically brake and unlock your doors in case emergency responders need to access the inside of the car. It also has an automatic braking feature if it detects an object in your blind spot or senses you’re coming up to a four-way intersection. It makes for extra peace of mind when you’re taking the kids somewhere.
Three rows of luxury in the Volvo XC90. ?: Connie Peters
Being that it’s Volvo, and known for a full safety suite, you won’t be surprised to learn that the XC90 has all of the advanced safety features you would expect. The digital cluster display lights up with the full list of features when you start up the car (see TikTok video below!) including Park assist, front and rear emergency braking, road sign assist, blind-spot monitoring, and driver alert.
@xoconniepetersNot even counting the fact that it’s a plug-in hybrid, the Volvo XC90 T8 R-Design is tech loaded. ##techcar ##luxurycars ##carsoftiktok ##shedrives♬ Coño (feat. Jhorrmountain x Adje) – Puri
Beautiful, capable, and powerful
Not only is the XC90 extremely beautiful to look at and comfortable to drive, but it is also AWD with the rear wheels powered by the battery motor, and powerful with a combined electric and gas engine powering 400 horsepower and 472 lb-ft of torque.
Driving the 2020 Volvo XC90, you can tell it’s an SUV, but it’s not too heavy. It’s a comfortable ride—maybe not one that will blow you away, but one that will get the job done.
Related: The 2020 Volvo XC90 Luxury 3 Row SUV Just Got More Elegant
The 7-seat version with second-row bench seating. ?:: Connie Peters
What does all this luxury cost?
- The base XC90 starts at USD $49,645 / CAD $61,250
- The T8 R-Design that seats 7 starts at USD $63,450 / CAD $84,100 as shown
- The additional Premier Package is CAD $2100, which is the heated seats and steering wheel
- The Premier Plus Package is CAD $2800
- The premium Bowers & Wilkins sound system CAD $3,750
- The carbon fibre inlays are CAD $1,000
- The Bursting Blue is $900 in Canada and not available on the US website.
This brings this XC90 as shown to CAD $98,475 The similarly equipped US luxury hybrid version would be $74,840.
Disclosure: The Volvo XC90 T8 R-Design was provided for a week by Volvo Canada to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.