When you need something big but still want to have efficiency. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

For good reason the folks at Volvo are chuffed with the EX90.

That’s the company’s flagship, seven-passenger SUV. The one that’s all electric.

But the vehicle in question here has a slight modification of the alphanumeric designation: XC90.

It is the company’s flagship, seven-passenger SUV. That features a gasoline engine.

In this case it is a 310-hp, 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine.

But also in this case, that engine is supplemented by an AC electric motor.

A hybrid powertrain.

And as a result, the output is a maximum 455 hp.

When I had the XC90 a colleague, who races—and I mean at places like Sebring, not up and down Woodward or Telegraph–, said, “Oh, you’ve got the quick one.”

Think on that a moment.

Here’s a vehicle that is 195 inches long, 76.1 inches wide, 69.7 inches high.

A vehicle that has three rows.

A vehicle that provides, with the second and third rows folded, 85.7 cubic feet of cargo capacity.

And my colleague described it as “quick.”

No, he wasn’t suggesting that this is something he’s going to take to the track.

But he was pointing out that for something of its size, something that is largely meant to be about getting from here to there and Costco in between, it really moves well.

The Distance

As mentioned, this is a hybrid. But it is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV).

Which means that on the driver’s side front quarter panel there is what seems to be a fuel door—but that’s on the passenger’s side rear quarter panel.

The one on the front is the socket to charge the vehicle. A Level 2 charger will get it filled in about five hours.

The point of a plug-in hybrid versus, well, a hybrid, is that there is a comparatively extended all-electric range.

The XC90 PHEV provides up to 32 miles running on electricity alone.

However, the estimated combined fuel—as in gasoline—economy is 27 mpg.

So given that there is an 18.8-gallon tank, if you were to want to leave yourself a margin of 0.8 gallons, you could drive for 486 miles.

In other words, no worry.

The Difference

One of the things that one might say is that there are plenty of three-row SUVs out there, even luxury hybrids (BMW, Lexus, Land Rover, Lincoln. . .).

So how does one decide?

I think all else being relatively equal, one of the places the XC90 is really an achiever is in the interior execution.

While other brands all have seats that move this, that and the other way, all you have to do is open the door and look at the driver’s seat of the XC90 and you know that this is purposeful Scandinavian design.

If you’re driving 32 miles or 486 miles, you’re in the seat. It might as well be a superb one.