Volvo S90 review

As we mentioned in our introduction, because the Volvo S90 is a hybrid only, it's not the cheapest car among its immediate peers. You can buy a petrol or diesel version of the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class for significantly less, but it's not even the cheapest PHEV. The 530e starts at a much lower price for cash buyers and is predicted to depreciate at a slower rate.  

That won't bother company car buyers, who will find that the S90 T8 Recharge attracts very low company car tax thanks to its official CO2 emissions of just over 40g/km. If you manage to keep the battery topped up and run on electricity alone for the majority of your journeys, it'll cost you very little to fuel. However, if you run out of electricity and use the petrol engine, you'll struggle to get the average MPG to break into the low 30s. If you're a high-mileage user, that might mean that diesel is a better option. 

You do get a good amount of standard equipment, though. R-Design trim comes with keyless entry and start, a powered boot lid, leather trim, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, privacy glass, 19in alloy wheels and sporty styling inside and out.

As we've already discussed, it comes with front and rear parking sensors, a rear-view camera, adaptive LED headlights and a well-equipped infotainment system. We'd choose Inscription trim, though, because as we said earlier, it rides better and also adds ventilated front seats and softer Nappa leather seat trim.  ​

Volvo is synonymous with safety and as standard the S90 comes with lots of kit, such as traffic sign recognition, lane keep assist, blindspot monitoring and emergency city braking, which recognises cars, large animals, pedestrians and cyclists.

According to Euro NCAP the S90 will protect adult occupants slightly better in a crash than an Audi A6, but it highlighted a weakness when it comes to child occupancy in the rear – a child sitting in a booster cushion was at a reasonable risk of chest injuries. It's still a very safe car overall, though. 

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