Volvo XC90 - MPG, CO2 and running costs

Officially, the XC90 B5 mild-hybrid will achieve up to 33.6mpg on the combined cycle, but this was a number that we found difficult to match in the real world. It’s a figure that will only get worse with a full complement of passengers on board, so it’s best to set aside a generous budget for frequent petrol stops. 

That being said, the petrol model is still where our money would go in the range. The plug-in hybrid offers financial benefits for company-car users in terms of Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) taxation, but for everyone else, it’s harder to justify. 

Even if the PHEV is charged religiously at home, it will still take a very long time before the benefits in running costs start to offset the extra £9,000 you’ll have to pay at the time of purchase. Without that regular charging, it makes an already inefficient petrol engine even more thirsty.

Electric range, battery life and charge time

The XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) uses an 18.8kWh battery pack, which officially should enable a range of roughly 40 miles in pure-electric mode. That’s not the best figure for the latest batch of plug-in hybrids, but there are very few seven-seaters that offer the technology. 

With 6.4kW charging, the T8 can recover its charge from a typical home wallbox in around five hours. The PHEV still gets a generous 70-litre fuel tank, too – smart packaging of that big battery pack means that it has done little to compromise the amount of fossil fuel the XC90 can cram on board.

Tax

As a non-electric SUV that comfortably exceeds the £40,000 mark, the XC90 is subject to a £410 Vehicle excise duty (VED) surcharge. That means every model in the line-up costs £590 a year to tax from the second year onwards.

Insurance groups

Volvo’s reputation for safety plays a part in insurance groups that aren’t as steep as you might expect for a 60-grand-plus SUV. The Core mild-hybrid model kicks things off from group 37, while the top-spec T8 PHEV, despite its strong performance, only climbs six groups to 43.

Depreciation

Depending on trim level and powertrain, the XC90 is predicted to hold onto between 47.8 and 53.8 per cent of its original value after three years or 36,000 miles. 

While those residual values are a match for the Audi Q7, they’re not as good as the Land Rover Discovery, which can retain as much as 63 per cent over the same period and mileage.

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