After ten full years and a mild facelift in between, the second-generation Volvo XC90 has finally come in for a substantial makeover. As previously reported, the car retains the original Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) and body structure of its predecessor, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been a heavy reworking both cosmetically and under the skin.
Let’s start with the looks. The current XC90’s sharp suit was a breath of fresh air back in 2014, but familiarity as a result of its resounding success – especially in Malaysia – made it look a little tired as the year wore on. Thankfully, this latest design has mostly banished that, even though it’s still obvious it’s the same XC90 you know and love.
The front of the car is where almost all of the changes have been made. It bears plenty of similarities with the electric EX90 and EX30, even though it’s not quite as fashion forward as those cars. Volvo’s iconic Thor’s Hammer LED headlights have a more pronounced T shape and finally dispense with the awkward “tail” on the trailing edge – plus they’re now visually connected to the wider grille.
The said grille may be the most controversial part of the redesign, maintaining the Iron Mark logo and diagonal chrome bar but adding a new criss-cross slat pattern similar to the latest BMW 1 Series and X3. The bumper has also been re-profiled with a wider central air intake and slimmer vertical corner inlets for a sleeker yet no less imposing look.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all the sheetmetal tweaks you’ll find on the XC90. Even the vertical taillights have been carried over, albeit with what appear to be smoked internals that do give the car a cleaner look. Volvo is at least offering an all-new range of alloy wheel designs, ranging from 20 inches in diameter to the massive 22s you see here.
The changes go quite a bit further on the inside. The dashboard is all new – although it doesn’t look it, given that you still have vertical air vents, a chunky physical volume knob under the touchscreen, a tall and wide centre console, an Orrefors crystal gear selector and an optional Bowers & Wilkins sound system (still with 19 speakers, but with a reduced output of 1,100 watts).
The seven seats are also unchanged, but given that the outgoing car still had some of the most comfortable ones in the business, it’s surely no hardship to anyone who will buy this thing. Instead, it’s the little things that have been added, mostly for the sake of practicality – incorporating feedback from customers.
These include as a smaller third cupholder in the centre console and the repositioning of the Qi wireless charger to the front – separate from the main storage area – for added convenience. You also now get textured decorative trim made from recycled materials, as well as upgraded ambient lighting.
Of course, one cannot overlook the biggest change of them all – the much larger 11.2-inch portrait infotainment touchscreen, now standing proud of the dash, 2025 Proton X70 style. This not only has a 21% higher pixel density but also receive the latest user interface from the EX90 and EX30, now with Google Maps front and centre and phone and media controls permanently down below – meaning you won’t have to leave the navigation system to, say, skip songs.
Underneath all that is a contextual shortcut bar that changes depending on the situation, on top of showing your most recent apps. It also includes an icon for the drive modes, which used to be controlled via a physical roller dial before disappearing into the menus. The best part? Volvo has confirmed that the new interface will also be rolled out next year to cars with Android Automotive OS made as early as 2020, involving around 2.5 million customers.
The plug-in hybrid XC90 T8 AWD has been wildly successful for Volvo, especially over here. The new model retains largely the same setup, pairing a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with a 145 PS/309 Nm electric motor and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. However, the four-pot mill has actually been detuned slightly, producing 310 PS at 6,000 rpm and 400 Nm of torque from 3,000 to 4,800 rpm.
As such, total system output has also been reduced to 455 PS – still enough to get this 2.3-tonne behemoth from zero to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds. Battery capacity is unfortunately unchanged at 18.8 kWh (introduced in 2022, up from 11.6 kWh in the 2019 facelift and just 10.4 kWh in the original T8 Twin Engine), resulting in a subpar pure electric range of between 63 and 71 km – far below what the BMW X5 xDrive50e offers (up to 110 km). A full charge using a 6.4 kW AC charger takes three hours.
Volvo still offers the XC90 with two 48-volt mild hybrid options. They both use the same 2.0 litre engine minus the PHEV gubbins – the B5 produces 250 PS and 360 Nm, getting it from zero to 100 km/h in 7.7 seconds, while the B6 bumps up the power output to 299 PS.
Beyond the mostly-untouched engines, the new XC90 rides on upgraded suspension, equipped with new dampers that are able to “adapt mechanically” to changing road conditions – this sounds an awful lot like the increasingly popular frequency selective dampers. Adaptive air suspension is available as an option, just like before. Additional sound deadening has been added to reduce road and wind noise.
As befits a Volvo, the XC90 continues to come chock full of driver assistance features, including autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist, oncoming vehicle and large animal detection, Pilot Assist Level 2 semi-autonomous driving, Run Off Road Protection, emergency stop assist, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert with auto brake. Some markets also receive vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication.
The new Volvo XC90 is now available to order in Europe, with production and deliveries due to start at the end of this year.
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