What's the difference?
Jaguar has announced that by 2025 it will only make and sell electric vehicles. That’s less than four years away and means the F-Pace you’re thinking about buying could be the last Jaguar with an actual engine that you ever own. Heck, it could be the last car with an engine you ever own.
Let’s help you pick the right one then, because Jaguar’s just called last drinks.
The first-generation Volvo XC90 remained on sale for 12 years in Australia before being replaced by the handsome second-gen version that recently clocked up a decade of sales.
There’s a reason for the longevity. People love the Volvo XC90. It is a reliable seven-seat family-friendly SUV with a premium bent. You’ll spot loads of these at fancy private school drop off.
Volvo has extended the life of the second-gen XC90 with a significant late-life update. It adopts some features from its stablemate, the similarly sized and positioned EX90 electric SUV.
It doesn’t get a fully-electric powertrain but you have the choice of a mild-hybrid grade that acts as the range opener and the well-equipped T8 Plug-In Hybrid I’m testing.
Interestingly, a number of this car’s rivals have had their lives extended, too. As many carmakers pour billions into EVs, they’ve taken to delivering major updates to older internal combustion platforms rather than developing all-new underpinnings. The Audi Q7 and BMW X5 are other examples of this.
For the update, Volvo has ushered in a front-end design refresh, a fresh take on the interior, new multimedia and safety tech, a light tweak to suspension and new colours and wheels.
But is this enough to keep premium SUV buyers interested? Let’s find out…
The F-Pace has been gifted new styling, new engines and more practicality making it an even better SUV than it already was. You could seriously pick any of the grades and be happy with your purchase. Then there’s the question of the engine…
Jaguar says there’s a few more years left in the combustion engine yet, but we know exactly how many years – four, because the company has gone on the record announcing it will go fully electric by 2025. The question for you is – how will you ring out the end of an era – with a four-cylinder petrol, a six-cylinder turbo diesel, an inline turbo six petrol or a cracking V8?
The sweetspot in the range is the R-Dynamic SE 400, with just enough luxury and more than enough grunt.
It’s a credit to Volvo that the XC90 feels like a new car, even with its older underpinnings. This latest update has successfully addressed areas that needed the most attention, namely the multimedia system, interior and exterior design. The electric driving range now feels somewhat old school compared to the numbers some manufacturers can achieve these days. A lot of PHEVs now exceed 100km EV range and buyers are starting to expect that. And setting up the third row takes way too much effort to want to do it regularly. The new Volvo XC90 is a comfortable, engaging and properly premium family SUV and the updates have only improved what was already a solid offering.