Volvo XC90 T8 long-term review: report 4

The car: Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription

Run by: Will Nightingale, reviews editor

Why it’s here: To see if our favourite plug-in hybrid has been improved by a range of updates

Needs to: Make long slogs up and down the country relaxing for a car full of people and their luggage

Mileage 6460 Price £67,045 Target Price £62,077 Price as tested £74,095  Test economy 32.7mpg 

24 September 2019 – Big car, big city

We know our Volvo XC90 T8 is great over long distances, just like – tenuous photographic link alert – Mo Farah. But what it’s like in town? Well, video reviews editor and resident urbanite Doug Revolta was on hand to test it out. Here's what he had to say.

As Will has previously extolled, running on electric power alone for 20-odd miles is an impressively relaxing way to carry out short town trips for minimal cost.

And although it’s a big car, parking sensors and a rear-view camera are standard on all models, while the Xenium Pack (£1600) we’ve added gets a 360deg view camera along with a sunroof and autonomous parking function. The 360deg camera can be added alone for £525. Helpfully, you can cycle through the different cameras via the screen, too. You also have big door mirrors and a decent view out of the back, so all in all, it’s really not very taxing squeezing through residential roads or into parking spaces.

But one thing that continues to stand out as a negative is the ride around town. It can be crashy at low speeds and isn’t very comfortable.

On another note, £165 for this beige key fob shell might seem a lot, but can you really put a price on how deliciously well it matches the car's interior?

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