Volvo XC90 cleanest and cheapest seven-seat SUV available

2015-05-03 16:18:58

Volvo has confirmed that its 407bhp XC90 T8 petrol-electric hybrid SUV will be able to return a whopping 134.5mpg whilst emitting just 49g/km of CO2. This improves by 11g/km the Swedish company’s own initial estimates which it announced prior to testing. The fuel consumption figure has also beaten Volvo’s own estimates by 20mpg.

The Volvo beats the recently revealed Audi Q7 e-tron on emissions by just 5g/km.

However, both models trounce the rather pitiful (by comparison) 77g/km that BMW has announced with its forthcoming X5 Hybrid, 78g/km that Mercedes-Benz are expected to achieve with its GLE plug-in hybrid and 79g/km Porsche achieves with its Cayenne S e-Hybrid.

The company says that 320bhp of the total 407bhp available will be derived from the 2.0-litre four-cylinder ‘Drive-E’ petrol engine which drives the front wheels. The remaining 87bhp is provided by an electric motor mounted over the rear axle, providing continuous all-wheel drive on demand. The power output for the electric motor is higher that had been previously announced too. Fully charged, up to 26-miles is able to be travelled on pure electric power.

Despite the headline grabbing figures, the Volvo is no slouch and is capable of getting to 62mph from a standing start in a very strong 5.6 seconds – a fantastic accomplishment for a seven-seat SUV.

The Volvo XC90 T8 will be available to order from Volvo’s dealers later on in the spring. No official prices have been announced, but we would suggest you should expect to pay in the region of £60,000.

This article was prepared by our car news team First4Auto

Reported By

Andrew Merritt-Morling

Chief Editor

Associate Member of the Guild of Motoring Writers