From £62,1507

Facelifted seven-seat old-stager gains an indefinite stay of execution

It was probably fate for the current version of the Volvo XC90, the vehicular embodiment of pragmatism and rationality, to steadfastly refuse to die. Why would it, after all, if it could still be useful?

The car originally planned as the XC90’s all-electric successor, the Volvo EX90, is already in production yet this Swedish-made seven-seater – with us in its pre-facelifted generation since 2015 – has been given an indefinite stay of execution. It will provide mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid alternatives to the electric-only EX90, says Volvo, “for as long as there is demand for them”. 

But what kind of alternatives might those be and can an ostensibly a large premium-brand SUV tens years old and counting can really compete with so many much younger rivals? That’s what we’re about to find out here. 

Volvo has given the XC90 what amounts to a facelift of medium scope and has reappraised its prices and equipment levels. There are fewer engine choices now, but there’s also a more generous roster of kit and prices start from less than £65,000 – for a car with seven seats, and a whole lot else, as standard. 

So does this perennially popular big family car – a dependable 100,000-unit-a-year seller for Volvo every year since its production hit full swing in 2016 – still have tangible selling points in 2025?

 

Advertisement

DESIGN & STYLING

7
VolvoXC90 review 2025 002 side panning

There is at least one exterior design change to this updated XC90 beyond the usual headlight and bumper tweaks wrought so easily on cars in mid-life without costly changes to production tooling. The 2025-model-year car has a new bonnet, which is subtly reprofiled and has a revised shutline at its foremost edge. It closes adjacent to new, slimmer headlights and above new radiator grille and front bumper designs. 

Its front end provides the best chance of identifying this updated XC90 from the previous version. But a new rear bumper and revised lower door trims can be spotted elsewhere, and likewise new alloy wheel designs. Otherwise, it may be the new XC90’s paintwork that best distinguishes it: our test car can had with the Mulberry Red signature colour first shown on its electric sibling model, the EX90. 

You can have either dark or, as here, traditional ‘chrome’ brightwork on a range-topping Ultra model, as you prefer. Lower in the range, Core models get bright chrome, Plus models dark

The XC90 continues on Volvo’s SPA platform, then, and has a monocoque chassis made mostly of high-strength steel, augmented with aluminium in places. Its dimensions are unchanged so it’s just under five metres long and 1.8 metres tall, which makes it a little less bulky at the kerb than some seven-seat rivals, such as the Audi Q7 and Land Rover Defender 110

Buyers are now offered mild-hybrid B5 and plug-in hybrid T8 powertrains, both with four-wheel drive. The B5 employs a Haldex-style electronically controlled all-wheel drive system and the T8’s is delivered via electric rear-axle drive. The B6 petrol and B5D diesel options of the pre-facelifted car have been discontinued. 

Our test car was a B5 AWD with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and a 48V mild-hybrid system, rated for 247bhp of peak power and 266lb ft of torque. And if those sound like modest outputs for a full-sized premium SUV in 2025, that’s because they are. 

The T8 PHEV offers a peak system power output of 450bhp (Volvo doesn’t supply ‘combined’ torque figures for its PHEVs). It continues with the same drive battery as the pre-facelift T8, however, offering just under 15kWh of capacity. In a class where between 25kWh and 38kWh is now on offer, that looks a little mean and makes for a claimed EV range of only just over 40 miles. 

For suspension, the XC90 retains the axles it has used all along – double wishbones up front and multi-link at the rear – with base models resting on coil springs at the front and Volvo’s transverse composite rear leaf spring. 

Those springs have been retuned, however, and new frequency-selective passive dampers added for a gentler but better-controlled ride. Mid- and upper-tier models such as our test car use adaptive dampers and air springs instead, which add 40mm of extra ground clearance in an off-road driving mode.

INTERIOR

8
VolvoXC90 review 2025 009 dash

The XC90’s seven-seats-as-standard approach to life in the large SUV niche is likely to go down well with its core clientele. There are two key points to note about its passenger versatility. One, you get those seven seats irrespective of powertrain choice. (In an equivalent Defender 110, Q7, X5 or GLE plug-in hybrid, the hybrid system packaging rules out a third row of seats.) Two, in the B5 AWD version, you get seven seats and a spacesaver spare wheel. 

The XC90’s second-row seats are three individual chairs rather than being split 60/40 and each reclines and slides fore and aft by 120mm to ‘pass’ available leg room to those in row three or to make extra boot space. The way the second-row chairs tilt and slide forwards makes accessing the third row reasonably easy for passengers, but some remote release buttons would certainly make putting those extra seats up easier when you’re standing at the car’s boot opening. 

Cut-glass gear selector, from Swedish glassware maker Orrefors, is a feature of mid-and upper-grade cars. That it’s a good size and sited in an intuitive place pleases us most.

As for passenger space and comfort, the XC90’s third row remains suitable very much for smaller adults and kids only. Its second-row seats are roomier, if a little meanly padded by the standards of luxury cars. Volvo’s option to convert the middle second-row seat, with its built-in booster cushion, for younger children, and then to slide it forwards so that it can be accessed more easily from the front row, is likely to remain a popular feature. 

In the front, there’s plenty of refreshed digital technology – a new 11.2in portrait-orientated touchscreen console, for one (see Multimedia, overleaf) – and some crisper-looking digital instruments. But, barring some redesigned air vents, most of the fascia and secondary controls are familiar and unchanged – oversized audio volume button and twist-to-start engine start/stop knob included. 

The front seats, like those in the rear, are a little thinly padded in places but offer lots of adjustment potential and commendable comfort in broad terms. Visibility is as good as you could want, with the potential to sit up high if you prefer. Perceived material quality and fit and finish are strong, with nothing looking cheap or antiquated.

Multimedia - 3.5 stars

The XC90’s new 11.2in portrait touchscreen is of the generation first seen in the EX30 and is making its way into other Volvos this year. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, it’s claimed to deliver much better responsiveness than the old XC90’s smaller screen, as well as crisper, clearer graphics. 

There’s still no physical cursor controller so usability is entirely via the screen or voice command. The heater controls permanently occupy a portion of the display, expanding when you open them, and on the home screen, a quick reference ‘widget’ tries – but in our experience, doesn’t typically succeed – in displaying your most frequently accessed functions. 

Like other Android-based systems, this one works well if you use Google-based apps on an Android smartphone. If you don’t, however, you’ll find functionality limited. (Our test car would mirror an iPhone only via a wired connection – not a great look on a £75,000 luxury SUV in 2025.) 

The general usability of the system has improved a little since our EX30 road test. Volvo’s quick-access vehicle settings menu allows you to disable certain ADAS features, for instance, while a key on the left steering wheel spoke now permits one-touch deactivation of the speed limit governance buzzer. 

We would still prefer some kind of physical cursor controller, either on the steering spokes or centre console, to allow scrolling around the system while only glancing down from the road. But Volvo’s system does seem like it’s slowly heading in the right direction.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

6
VolvoXC90 review 2025 020 rear cornering

There’s a certain simplicity and lack of frippery about the XC90’s B5 mild hybrid petrol engine that makes it quite likable when it’s working at its laid-back best – even if, compared with the sorts of combustion engines that typically power cars like this, it can feel short of refinement and torque at times.

It’s a credit to the tuning of the car’s 48V hybrid system that it doesn’t tend to come up short routinely in typical day-to-day motoring. The XC90 has plenty of linear response under the first 50% of the accelerator pedal’s travel. You don’t need to dig much deeper into the pedal than that to move with the give-and-take of traffic flow, both in town and out of it. And it doesn’t seem to need to kick down through the ratios very often, either, in order to ease into gaps, climb gradients and generally keep its two-tonne mass moving along agreeably, which accords with the car’s wider relaxing character rather nicely.

The PHEV loses the underfloor boot space that the B5 has, so while mulling powertrains, consider if you want room for a spacesaver spare wheel or not.

It’s what happens when you call for more that gives the game away about what this XC90 lacks: specifically, the 400lb ft or so of accessible torque that a multi-cylinder diesel might be able to summon when getting a hurry on. 

The 8.0sec 0-60mph time we recorded for the car looks respectable enough in isolation (though it’s still more than a second slower than an equivalent six-cylinder diesel might be). But subjectively, instead of holding a higher gear and simply grunting its way forwards, the B5 tends to rev a little harshly and fruitlessly beyond 4500rpm when you need speed. And the way the eight-speed automatic gearbox tends to delay and then grab at downshifts does little to add any sense of big-car assurance. 

The car’s mechanical refinement is quite good at a cruise, but less good when the engine has just started from cold or is laboured. 

Measured braking performance, on the standard-fit Continental PremiumContact 6 tyres, was also good, with no evidence of fade.

RIDE & HANDLING

7
VolvoXC90 review 2025 021 front cornering

On this evidence, the XC90 seems much the same softly sprung, comfort-focused big family car that it always was. We’ve yet to test one on standard suspension on UK roads although that version did impress us for comfort and isolation on its European launch earlier this year. Our test car had Volvo’s air suspension and Four-C adaptive dampers instead, as well as the 21in wheels that come with Ultra trim. 

The car’s operating regime is simplicity itself. Just as there are no paddles for gear selection, so there are no driving modes as such, apart from the Offroad mode, which we’ll cover in a moment. However, you can independently select ‘soft’ and ‘firm’ modes for the suspension and steering through the touchscreen. 

The ride is generally settled, quiet and absorbent with the suspension left in ‘soft’, as you’d want it to be. It soaks up longer-wave inputs well and without letting the body control loll or pitch, although short, sharp inputs do sometimes crash through the shock absorption in a way that would seem to make smaller, lighter rims a smarter option. 

The car doesn’t really seek to hide its size or mass, either on a flowing country road or when negotiating a tight car park. There’s no four-wheel steering tech here or active anti-roll control, just a medium-paced steering rack and a chassis with respectable mechanical grip levels but little agenda to engage or entertain. Instead, it feels much more interested in being transparent, consistent and straightforward – and takes little effort in the understanding. 

Some might call it a touch stolid and dull; others just pleasant, reassuring, easy company. Either way, it’s classic Volvo dynamic playbook stuff.

Offroad - 3 stars

The XC90 doesn’t trade on a particularly rugged sort of off-road capability. It doesn’t offer low-range gearing or locking differentials. Moreover, our test car came on road-biased Continental tyres that anyone who expected to do regular driving on wet grass or mud would be well advised to swap for something more dual-purpose. 

Our B5 AWD generated a fair amount of traction on level gravel but struggled more on mud and through ruts, leaning a lot on its traction control. Even in Offroad mode, which hikes the XC90 on its air springs to exceed 250mm of ground clearance and recalibrates its powertrain and ESC, the car felt a little short of wheel articulation when dealing with mogul-style asymmetrical bumps, although it completed MIRA’s ‘nursery slopes’ off-road course without grounding out or grinding to a halt. 

One slight annoyance is that the car automatically deselects its Offroad mode when your speed exceeds 25mph, returning to its standard ride height without warning. So once you’ve selected it, you need to be vigilant to check that it’s still engaged.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

8
VolvoXC90 review 2025 001 front cornering

Volvo’s sub-£65k entry price for Core-grade XC90 B5s may help to keep buyers interested, once they discover that a rival Audi, BMW, Land Rover or Mercedes is likely to cost them around £10k more – and more still in like-for-like form. 

Volvo includes the aforementioned seven seats as standard – heated in the front and for the outer middle-row ones – as well as four-zone air conditioning and matrix LED headlights. Air suspension and premium audio start to be introduced on mid-grade Plus models, though they can still be had for less than £70k. 

There aren’t Isofix points on all three second-row seats but Volvo’s built-in middle-seat booster makes up for that. You could put winged child seats in the outer seats, stagger their positions relative to the middle one, and make three toddlers very comfortable.

T8 PHEV models don’t enjoy quite the same rational pecuniary appeal but, even here, they can be had from £73k compared with £80k and upwards for rivals. None of them will get a company car driver near a 6% benefit-in-kind classification for 2025-26, however – and, when this year’s tougher ‘Euro6e-bis’ emissions certification for PHEVs hits this car, its on-paper appeal is likely to take a big hit.

Our test car was about as economical as you might expect a two-tonne, 2.0-litre turbo petrol family SUV to be, which is to say not very. That it recorded a marginally better ‘everyday’ efficiency loop test result than its ‘touring’ one (average test speeds of 35mph versus 65mph) suggests that Volvo’s 48V hybrid system is indeed worth its place in urban motoring. In mixed daily use, we’d expect to see low-30s to the gallon, so you’d get better from a full hybrid and also marginally so from an equivalent diesel although possibly not by enough in the latter case to make it worth paying 10p a litre more for the fuel itself. 

 

VERDICT

7
VolvoXC90 review 2025 022 static

The market for big family cars in 2025 is very different from the one that the second-generation XC90 emerged into in 2015 – and yet this car still deserves a place in it today. 

It’s a more hemmed-in arena than it used to be and the XC90 has more of a bit part to play, granted. If global car buyers had, over the past five years, adopted EVs with more unbridled enthusiasm, Volvo probably wouldn’t be where it is now: with two seven-seat, full-sized SUVs on sale. 

And yet, for people hesitant that an EV can meet the transportation needs of their family with the same nonchalance as a fossil-fuelled XC90 can, the old-stager’s reprieve is well earned. It isn’t especially desirable, capable or tough and it won’t entice or excite. It’s simply a big, functional, usable car for a reasonable price.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce PhantomTesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren SennaRenault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.