2023 Volvo XC90 review – The stylish Plugin-hybrid SUV showing its age
Hello there I sound like chiro I know what’s up everybody back with another video this is the 2023 Volvo XC90 th recharge and what the what the T8 recharge simply stands for is that it’s a plug-in hybrid and Volvo used that essentially for their electric speak so
That is the T8 recharge this gray color I think really stands out I’ve seen why but I think this really stands out I’ve noticed it now obviously as I’ve had this contest throughout this week but let’s just go through the front at the front you’ve got a really nice grill
With the integrated Volvo badge on there as well as an a camera just some nice airflow components on there no jeez I thought it had oh so we don’t have fog lamps but we’ve got these beautiful full active LED high beams which are brilliant at night I think Volvo is up
There with Audi when it comes to lighting at night and obviously what Volvo is known for the Thor hammer this essentially everybody knows the Thor hammer headlights this is the signature headlighting daytime running lights at Volvo you come across here you’ve got these in Alloys byone Alloys cleared in
Pilot pilot Sports pilot spot fors I think this has been such a pretty interesting time this is quite cool and you come here you’ve got this Black Mirror housing with an integrated indicator in it some roof rails that go all across the entire silhouette of the car you’ve got also keyless entry into
The car and keyless go the entire car just looks really really good your fuel cap on here so your your electric charging cap is on the other side I’ll show you guys now but I think the entire silhouette from the side I like it quickly let me know in the comments are
You going X5 or are you going GLE but yeah because of the pricing though will obviously um determine that we’ve got these portrait headlights also the same way that those headlamps are known at um Volvo in terms of th this is also known with Volvo you will know for fact that
This is a Volvo let me turn it around for you guys show you the rear and then we can take it from there all right so at the rear I mentioned the synonymous Volvo tail lamps xt90 badging on there Volvo Bing as well as your T8 all-wheel drive
Recharge so this is a all-wheel drive variant power s sent all to the wheels all wheels and you’ve got a massive over 1,300 or so liters um I’ve got my changing gear because I was shooting something earlier on please Don’t Judge Me you have okay oh okay what’s going on
What’s going on what’s going on okay you’ve got this I don’t know what this is meant to be and then you’ve got your charging cables on there 3 three pin for the home and you close that you can lower your suspension on here to help you is access
Into the boot or essentially you can rise it You’ got a nice pesel shelf that extend and goes all the way to the back another nice trick that I’ve noticed with this Volvo is that so that this doesn’t happen right it doesn’t bother you the seat belt what you can do is
That you can just hook it on to here and then that’s it like it’s the little things man I’m not fussy it’s literally the little things um you have to lift up your seats manually and this is 1.7 million and I must lift my seats manually my Ford Ranger Platinum is 1.1
Million my long termer and I’ve got buttons to lift the seats up so come on if you’re going to be premium or luxurious brand then do it you also have uh TOA but I mean as you know if you have got this button in your car it
Means that you chose the wrong option po spec so I don’t have the electric Tober on here or a TOA at all ah man I like this frustrates me with these Brands this is 1.7 million Rand 1.7 million Rand at 1.2 million Rand more give or take for my long-term afford Ranger
Platinum you’ve got these things so like I enough with the boot it’s fine at least it can close oh also it doesn’t close check it does it doesn’t imagine if there’s a child there if there’s a child there your child is crushed because obviously it’s a hydraulic
System so I’m not sure if it’s just this unit but I’ve been trying my best every time cuz I know with other cars obviously you put your hand and it will stop or you know but this just keeps on going and that will essentially kill me
So like I don’t know if this is just this unit but I need somebody at Volvo to tell me what’s what there let’s get inside and then we’ll go for a drive so jumping inside I think this interior let me just get this out of the way it is
Dated it does feel dated as opposed to your GLE and your x5s obviously the X5 in the JF there massive TVs across whatever it is and that’s all good and well but I think Volvo has stuck to their guns which is his portrait display it’s functional fit clear and concise so
Is the digital driver’s display clear concise displays any everything that you need to know so this is a Google Assistant infotainment so essentially Apple carplay there’s no Android auto though however because obviously it’s Google powered it can run most of your stuff that are Android powered because
This is also powered by Android anyway so you’ve got your Google Maps everything that you need to know in here there’s also a nice feature on here which is the in in car quality which essentially you know shows you if someone has farted in your car or
Not um you know everything is on here you’ve got heated seats on here these are really really nice I think nice seats bolstered quite well on on on on the under thigh on the side everything is just really in reach you know obviously electrically operated and memory function as well heated for this
Front and the rear I like the fact I’m going to get into the rear later on but voo got in and he was sitting comfortably as opposed to what he was in the Puma got a crystal ball glass on here which I think I love a lot quite
Expensive obviously to fix if your child decides to mess around an engine start button on here so the beautiful part about this interior vix and I both agree everybody who’s been this car agrees is the Bowers and Wilkins sound system the best audio sound I’ve ever heard in any car hands
Down hands down I obviously haven’t been in obviously in the likes of the bentle whatever but for this it trimes the competition hands down there’s bows and Wilkins surround sound you’ve got Jazz rooms you’ve got a um what is this sound thing called again you’ve got um this concert hall sound system which
Essentially singles out every little thing every little base or treble or whatever it is into giving you proper instruments on like it’s a it’s a audio gasm Yeah so it’s quite cool you’ve got a wireless charger on here you’ve got a USBC as well as a two USB C’s in in
Front as well as at the rear a panoramic sunroof which is yeah it lets a lot of sight in here a lot of light in here I quite like that a lot it goes all the way to the back and at the back passengers also get sun shad I mean
Should you feel that you’re important you want you know um peasant blockers they have peasant blockers here and yeah everything else is just really well laid out it’s a comfortable place to be in it’s a beautiful interior there’s nothing to really take away from it let
Me get in the rear and I’ll show you just how it is in the rear and then I’ll show you how vix sits so that’s my standard driving position Nova was sitting here hence it’s like a golf driver who was sitting here but check this knee room check this head room like
Guys come on you can’t even complain in Brazil like you can’t and then you’ve got some cup holders on here and they made it fancy they made like a covering for it then you can just open it then you can put your drinks there I don’t think that can
Fit yeah I don’t know maybe the drinks in Sweden are like that small who knows anyway there’s that these are also heated by the way got some storage there some storage there which is decent and then you’ve got a touchcreen here that you can control your your airor controls as well as your
Heated seating so yeah that is the interior of the Volvo xc40 XC90 my bad that was a joke XC90 T8 recharge anyway I’m going to take it for a drive now and give you my thoughts but yeah so you joined me inside the Volvo xt90 T8 recharge and obviously it’s
Quiet in here let me just put the airon off let me burn for you guys um because obviously in hybrid mode so you hear every single thing basically so yeah Volvo x98 recharge powered by a 2 L turbocharged and supercharged petrol Engine with an electric assist um in the
Electric mode only you can get up to 80 km of pet electric only range which is quite cool I think I’m a huge believer in plugin hybrids um if you guys obviously watched my Range Rover Sport plug-in hybrid if you haven’t please click on the link above or in the description below to
Watch that and you will know that I love plug-in hybrids I do believe that they are what we need for South Africa or for the African continent really um obviously because of the infrastructure and with this although it does have somewhat but a bad thing for me because
In this one I don’t have DC charging I can only AC charge it and that takes obviously forever so you only always have to charge at home so maybe for me because I love quick stuff it’s a it’s a bit of a worry um but I mean obviously
At home it’s not really much of a fa but I mean I don’t stay in a in in a house I stay in a sectional title so I parked the car downstairs and I all on the third floor for me to so I can’t really
Charge in my garage at night but I mean for people who who um stay in G houses with garages I mean those are the people who afford this cars to be honest I mean I’m staying in an apartment so makes sense why I am complaining but anyway um
No DC charging oo no DC charging on here just AC and it will charge overnight and get you maximum about 85 km of range or so which is not bad I mean for your daily commute you you can literally just use that for you to go to work and back
And whatever that you need to do really which is I think such a nice thing um it’s a it’s a nice car it’s a nice drive it’s over 2 tons and it does get fast or you know doesn’t doesn’t feel heavy I think the Swedish Engineers have
Really done it and I’m happy with that but My worry is this car is one .7 million right same power output as the Volvo XC60 T8 recharge so I’m like do you need to spend that money for the same amount of power you know decently sized cabin
Or you can just go for the x60 recharge you know so there is that but I mean this is um three rows in here which are quite decent to sit in you’ve got four USB ports in this entire car this Google Android assist thing is is quite cool um
This digital driver’s display is also quite brilliant very clear and concise when you’ve got your Maps going on it shows you right in there which I think is a is a very you know nice thing however while this portrait 9in portrait infotainment is cool it is out
Starting to show its age now compared to the competition it’s really starting to show his age and you can definitely see it it’s like you can see it uh you look at the Mercedes-Benz GLE you look at um the BMW X5 with obviously their big screens and all that stuff you can
Definitely see that this is starting to show its age and I think they need to do something about it the other thing is that everything is housed in here so my driving modes I have to select but I have to get into the settings and then select my drive modes
But I can’t do that while I’m looking at the road so for a Swedish brand that’s synonymous with safety and how safety such of so much par on to them why would they choose to do that why not a you know a driving mode selector somewhere
But I mean that’s about it in terms of safety they that’s only little niggle that I get but everything else it’s freaking on it I mean even the brake assist and all that stuff all the cameras around the parking assist the 360° cameras very clear very contact
Very very helpful Al also because this car feels quite long so it’s easy to you know to have a little mesap but because of the systems you’re very well taken care of I do enjoy obviously the burst okay I don’t have any um electric range right now so I don’t have that
Burst but I do think that it’s it’s quite cool the car drives beautiful this is on the 22in wheels big wheels but thank God it’s got air suspension so all that is being taken care of quite brilliantly um I’m happy with that uh um yeah jeez I think the one thing that you
Cannot take away from this car is It’s banging banging sound system that Bowers and Wilkin sound is the best I’ve ever heard in any car that I’ve ever tested in my life GS that you get read everything that you want in here nice good space
With all the three um rows um in play or with the last row folded nice nice nice um good space enough space for person comfortable heated seats for the front and the rear passengers so oh almost witnessed an accident what so yeah I’m I’m happy with this car
Guys I don’t think that there’s anything much that I need to add on my number one thing is that for 1.7 million Rand they need to do something to revive it you know to for it to compete with the competition and I don’t think it’s going to get any makeovers because I mean
Right now there’s a ex90 now electric I mean vva is leading the charge in terms of electric and I do I even if I say so myself their cars look normal they drive beautiful they get enough range so I think that if they should update this
It’s obviously going to be in the ex90 and not this so I think this might be the last petrol or hybrid Volvo XC90 G is this guy is beautiful man I I love it it drives beautiful nothing to complain about really uh I just I’m just pretty
Sad I didn’t get to go on a long trip with it because I wanted to test out that range when when they dropped it off it was on 740 km of range and that was also because of the atks of electric range that was in there so I’m pretty sure I could have
Done my usual mafang and back um and back trip on one tank obviously but it’s it’s it’s just so nice to drive like and you get looks still you know it’s just so nice to drive because also of that Bowers and working sound system you always want to
Be in the car listening to music I am a huge radio fan but I’ve always I’ve been listening to a lot of music um from my phone because of that sound so yeah I think it’s a good drive I love it the seats are comfortable you know there’s a
Lot of room for adjustment memory too so you don’t really you know you don’t really FF or fuss about anything really I think Volvo have done a great job in terms of the drive
The Volvo XC90 T8 Recharge starts at R1 700 000, I also think that it is starting to show its age compared to the GLE and X5.
You can have a look at the XC60 T8 Recharge that I would buy here – https://www.cars.co.za/for-sale/new/2024-Volvo-XC60-T8-Twin-Engine-Ultimate-Bright-AWD-Gauteng-Roodepoort/9254103/
