I DROVE A VOLVO XC90 INSCRIPTION FOR A WEEK AND THIS IS HOW IT WENT
As someone who is pretty new to the automotive world (sitting in the judgement seat and test driving the many vehicles out there) I didn’t particularly know much about what Volvo has to offer before I got behind the wheel and it SHOWED by my initial reaction as I approached the XC90 on a rainy Saturday morning. I won’t lie — at first I was a little underwhelmed!
My initial thoughts:
The paints nice!
Look at those rims!
Looks like a lot space for my road trip tomorrow!
How do I plug it in to charge?
Basically I thought it was a sweet luxurious ride for a soccer mom but still fit for a king or queen looking for power, speed, luxury and performance (once I actually got in! Hahah) Hear me out!!!
These are the specs:
MSRP: $88,050
• 2.0L, Direct-Injected Supercharged and Turbocharged Engine, Electric Motor
• 400 hp (Combined)
• 8-Speed Geartronic Automatic Transmission
• Fuel Efficiency (L/100 km): 9.1 City / 8.4 Highway / 8.8 Combined
• Pure Electric Range – 29 kms
Now, the iridescent shimmering light cream paint job had me buying into the Inscription, fit for the typical nuclear family (do those even exist anymore?) but then I got behind the wheel of the XC90 and it BLEW my mind one KM at a time AND made me remember the age old adage:
Never to judge a book by it’s cover!
It’s that simple… but BOYY can it apply to pretty much everything!
Am I being dramatic? I don’t think so. I let my fiancé take a spin JUST to be sure and I think he was the most excited I had ever seen him… EVER! I literally had to pry him out of the drivers seat, LOL! Maybe it’s because of the supercharged & turbo charged engine with the electric motor… the Crystal gear lever… the gear shifting paddles… that sweet cushion extension function for his long legs, the 4-way lumbar support offered by the blended wool seats… NEED I CONTINUE?
Okay yes… Yes I must continue! Let’s start with the exterior of the XC90
My ride (I love saying that even though it was just for 8 days) had an iridescent cream paint job which gives silver depending on where you’re standing when you’re looking at it. It’s decked out with diamond cut silver 20 inch rims, a decent sized grill at the front giving the Inscription a mean look in these streets! Not only that, it has a full LED lighting system with active bending lights! What always gets me are the little things and I didn’t realize how much I wanted or needed headlights which MOVE to light my path . Okay, maybe it’s more of a want. Just in case you’re sitting here like, what is she talking about? '
Imagine this: The Inscription is parked. Not moving. But if you turn that steering wheel to the left the lights shift — WAIT FOR IT: TO THE LEFT! AMAZING! It’s all about the details!
The inscription also has keyless entry and lets you wave your foot under the vehicle to pop the trunk which is always useful. There’s also no need to struggle to pull the trunk down — there are 2 buttons for that! One to have the trunk come down on its own and one if you also want to lock the vehicle when it comes down — sounds great for when I’m finished grocery shopping!
Alright! Let’s talk interior!
Firstly, this ROCKET on wheels is a 7 seater vehicle that puts you and your entire family ON to luxury 400 horsepower at a time. In no time, you go from 0 to the speed limit leaving everyone else to eat your dust which comes in handy when you have to drive a little more aggressively (but safely, of course).
What should we discuss next? The spaciousness, the seating situation, the trim that lights up at night, air conditioning for the passengers in the back, the panoramic roof, the 12” driver display or the power heated seats? The list literally goes on and I’m choosing to stop right here, LOL!
How about we talk about the paddles? They’re one of my fiancé’s favourite features of ANY car are the paddles. It’s just how he likes to drive. Something I typically pass on because I just can’t see the point in having to think SO hard while you drive (ok fine — I just doesn’t know how and I’m BITTER about it! I won’t lie to you here)
Some other notable features that I highly appreciated while riding in the XC90:
A red tick on the speedometer moving to the speed limit whenever it changed
The heads up system with the speed limit and your current speed side by side on the windshield
Navigation tucked nicely between the speedometer and the tachometer is such a sweet touch
360 birds-eye view of the car when parking
SELF PARKING FEATURE!!!
Sunroof closes on its own when you shut off the car, in case you ever forget
Regenerative breaking system which charges the battery as you drive
An air suspension system which makes the vehicle go up and down every time you start it and turn off the vehicle. When you put the XC90 in sport mode, the air suspension system lowers the vehicle making it more arrow dynamic
I mentioned that the vehicle seats 7, it also has the ability to hold 4 car seats and TONS of trunk space. You could definitely fit a blow up bed back there if you ever chose to take the XC90 camping… or glamping for me! The very back seats are easy to pull down if you need extra space in the back with mechanical release for the rear seats. One of my favourite features in the cargo area? A 12V socket. So you can charge your phone, plug in a music player or a machine to pump up your kids floating devices at the beach! It’s just PERFECT for tailgating or for being the life of the party!
Hybrid Capabilities
Last but not least, let’s talk about range and the hybrid capabilities of the Inscription.
If you’re expecting to go far distances on JUST the electric motor…. think again.
I have to preface this by saying that the XC90 is the first hybrid vehicle I’ve driven for an extended period of time. The electric range on the Volvo gives you about 32km to play with which is a lot less than I was expecting! To put things into perspective, I’ve driven the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid for a couple of hours and that has an electric range of nearly 70km. To put things into even more perspective, my drive from home (Brampton) to work (Downtown Toronto) is 43kms. Basically, I was never able to make it to work on JUST the battery alone. Pro, though: riding in the HOV lane all alone because I can by law with the electric vehicle! So the low range made up for it in that case!
In general, when it comes to hybrids, we have to remember that not all of them are as environmentally friendly as they may advertise. The XC90 doesn’t claim to be the solution to global warming but DOES advertise as offering less tailpipe emissions (which is better than nothing compared to regular fuel-combustion vehicles). While I’m THOROUGHLY impressed by everything this vehicle has to offer — I’m not too sure if I can get behind just how long it took to charge the SUV from 0 to just 32KMs. It took 3.5 hours to go from 0 to 19KMs using my normal wall socket. Perhaps having an actual charging station would allow the vehicle to charge a little faster.. however, when I plugged it into a charging station at the mall for a couple of hours there didn’t seem to be a difference.
It was definitely easy to use up the battery and took long to charge. This could just be how it is for Hybrid vehicles right now. As I mentioned, there is an option to charge the vehicle as you drive which is cool but I felt like it just made the engine work a little harder to charge the battery thus making me use more gasoline and causing more visits than I’d expect to the gas station while driving a hybrid (my expectation was hardly any visits to the gas station).
My only Big issue with the xc90….
Was the wireless charging station. My phone wasn’t having it and neither was my fiancé’s. Not once! We did all the things — turned the feature on and off, took off our phone cases… but we just kept getting an error saying that we had to clear the charging area from other objects… even though there was nothing there interfering. I found it to be so odd!
Would I want to own this car for myself?
See… the way my bank accounts set up…. LOL! Kidding, not kidding! Let me elaborate. The answer is a million times yes… if my bank account was set up where I fell in a bit of a higher tax bracket!! The XC90 takes premium gas and it’s about 100 bucks to fill the tank — something I’m not used to, personally! That’s because I drive a small car with a small engine which is quite fuel-efficient.
As I mentioned above, this Swedish made SUV has a MSRP of $88,050 so the upkeep costs makes sense. There are just so many reasons why I loved this SUV! If you’re a fan of big vehicles, you’re used to the price at the pump so it’s no biggie.
If you’re interested in the XC90 and are seriously considering buying it yourself — you should ABSOLUTELY give it a solid go. You won’t regret it!