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The last time I reviewed a plug-in hybrid Volvo I pretty much got death threats. OK, not quite, but my review and video of the XC60 R Design T8 made some readers and viewers very angry and they even called me names, all because I never charged the battery. Well, there’ll be no need for me to flee to a safe house this time, because not only did I charge the XC90 R-Design T8 Recharge I’m reviewing here, but I plugged it in nearly all the time I wasn’t driving it. Happy now?
I say nearly all the time, because during the three-week test of this plug-in hybrid XC 90 we took it away on a family holiday and didn’t have access to power and you’ll most likely face that situation too as an owner.
So how was the fuel economy of this big seven-seat SUV PHEV over hundreds of kilometres and being used as a family workhorse? The result blew me away and I can see why people were so furious with me in the first place.
The Sahara used to be the big kahuna of the LandCruiser line-up – but no more.
It now sits third from the top in the LC300 range, under the GR Sport and the Sahara ZX.
However, that doesn't mean it's not full of the good stuff, because if you're looking for luxury and refinement, as well as real off-road ability and towing capability then this loaded LandCruiser pretty much sets the bar... and it sets it very high.
But, in the grand scheme or things, is the Sahara cock o' the walk or a feather duster?
Read on.
The XC90 Recharge makes a lot of sense for a family with a couple of kids, who live and spend most of their time in the city and surrounding suburbs.
You’ll need access to a power point for charging and you’ll have to do it regularly to get the best out of this SUV, but in return you’ll get effortless and efficient driving, along with the practicality and prestige which comes with any XC90.
The LandCruiser 300 in Sahara grade is a very impressive seven-seat 4WD wagon. It's nice to drive, it's refined and – bonus – it well and truly retains that renowned legendary LandCruiser off-road capability.
It's very comfortable and – as with previous-generation Cruisers – has heaps of potential as a top-class touring vehicle, but it has a big price-tag to match, there's no denying that.
While there's plenty to like about the Sahara spec, the GXL offers a nice compromise between price and features as long as you don't mind missing out on leather seats, the cooler box, 14-speaker JBL sound system and a few other bits and pieces.
Cars are like dogs in that a year for them ages them more than one for us. So, this current-generation XC90 which came out in 2015 is getting on in age. Still, the XC90 is a design lesson in how to defy the aging process because the styling even now it appears modern and beautiful. It’s also big, tough, and prestigious looking which is how the flagship SUV in a premium brand should be.
The Thunder Grey paint my test car wore (see the images) is an optional hue, and it suited the battleship size and personality of the XC90. The enormous 22-inch five -spoke Black Diamond Cut alloy wheels were standard and filled up those giant arches nicely.
Maybe it’s the minimalist styling which has kept the XC90 looking cutting edge, because even the interior looks like the inside of a very expensive psychiatrist’s office with those leather seats and the brushed aluminium trim.
The vertical display is still impressive even in 2021, and while fully digital instrument clusters are in everything these days the XC90’s has a prestigious look and matches the rest of the cabin in its colours and fonts.
As for the XC90’s dimensions, it’s 4953mm long, 2008mm wide with the mirrors folded and 1776mm tall to the top of its shark fin antenna.
The Sahara is 4980mm long (with a 2850mm wheelbase), 1980mm wide, and 1950mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 2630kg.
The Sahara's exterior has that distinctive LandCruiser appearance, but modernised: it's chunky, tough-looking and ready to be kitted out with accessories, whether they be Toyota genuine accessories or aftermarket gear.
Otherwise, there are chrome exterior mirrors and door handles, and dynamic indicators front/rear that add to its overall quietly classy appearance.
The 'Celestite Grey' premium paint on our test vehicle costs $675. Other paint choices include 'Glacier White', 'Ebony', 'Crystal Pearl', 'Silver Pearl', 'Graphite', 'Merlot Red', 'Eclipse Black', 'Saturn Blue' and 'Dusty Bronze'.
Clever interior packaging means the XC90 Recharge is more practical than many large SUVs. There are flashes of utilitarian brilliance everywhere from the children’s booster seat which pops out of the centre of the second row (see the images) to the way the XC90 can crouch down like an elephant to make it easier to load stuff into the boot.
The XC90 Recharge is a seven-seater, and like all SUVs with third rows those seats in the very back only offer enough room for kids. The second row is spacious even for me at 191cm tall with plenty of leg- and headroom. Up front as you’d expect has good head-, elbow- and shoulder room.
Cabin storage is good with two cup holders in each row (the third also has containers under the armrests) and there are large door pockets, a decent sized centre console box and a net pocket in the front passenger footwell.
The cargo capacity with all seats being used is 291 litres and with the third row folded flat you’ll have 651 litres of boot space.
Storage for the charging cable could be better. The cable comes in a stylish canvas bag that sits in the boot, but other plug-in hybrids I’ve driven do a better job of providing a storage box for the cable that’s out of the way of your regular cargo.
The gesture control tailgate works with a foot swish under the rear of the car and the proximity key means you can lock and unlock the vehicle by touching the door handle.
The cargo area is filled with hooks for bags and a lift-up divider to hold items in place.
Four-zone climate control, four USB ports (two in the front and two in the second row) dark tinted rear windows and sun blinds top off what is a very practical, family SUV.
My family is small – there’s just three of us – and so the XC90 was more than what we needed. That said, we found a way to fill it with holiday gear, shopping, even a mini trampoline.
The LandCruiser is renowned as a great off-road touring vehicle – due to its practicality and functionality – and that reputation is unchanged with the 300 Series.
There's a sense of familiarity in the cabin – it's a functional yet premium space – and it's easy to get comfortable.
The driver is spoilt with a heated and power-adjustable steering wheel and ventilated and heated, power-adjustable seat (with three-position memory). The front passenger also gets a ventilated and heated, power-adjustable seat.
All seats are leather-accented, comfortable and there are soft-touch surfaces throughout the interior.
The Sahara's 12.3-inch colour multimedia touchscreen is a main feature in the cabin and it's easy to use, with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there's a wireless charging pad near the shifter. There are USB-A and USB-C charging points, as well.
There's a cool box in the centre console and its lid can be opened from either side, so driver or passenger can access chilled drinks.
There's also a powered sunroof/moonroof, whatever you want to call it.
Beyond those features, there are the usual storage spaces, cupholders, receptacles in the doors for bigger bottles, and other spaces for your bits and pieces.
The second row seats are in a 40/20/40 split-folding configuration, and the third row is a power-folding arrangement that stows away forwards and flat.
The Sahara's cargo space, when all seven seats are in use, is a listed 175 litres (VDA) behind the third row. That grows to 1004 litres when the second and third row are stowed away.
The rear cargo area has a 220V/100W inverter and four tie-down points.
The XC90 Recharge lists for $114,990 making it the most expensive grade in the XC90 range.
Still, the value is excellent considering the number of features which come standard.
The 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster standard, so is the nine-inch vertical centre display for media and climate control, there’s also sat nav, a Bowers and Wilkins 19-speaker stereo, wireless phone-charging, four-zone climate control, power-adjustable front seats, proximity key with auto tailgate and LED headlights.
My test car was fitted with options such as the Nappa Leather perforated and ventilated seats in Charcoal ($2950), the Climate pack which adds heated rear seats and a heated steering wheel ($600), power folding headrests in the rear ($275) and Thunder Grey metallic paint ($1900).
Even at a grand total (before on-road costs) of $120,715 I think this is still good value.
The seven-seat Sahara has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $133,881 (excluding on-road costs). Surely a chunk of cash by anyone's calculations.
Standard features include a 12.3-inch touchscreen (with sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a wireless phone charger, four-zone climate control, leather-accented trim, a head-up display, a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats (with three-position driver's seat memory), heated second-row seats (outboard), and power-folding third-row seats.
There is also cooled centre console storage, a 14-speaker JBL premium audio system and a dual-screen rear entertainment system. The list goes on and on...
Suffice to say, you get a lot for your money, but at this price-point, you'd hope so.
The XC90 Recharge (Volvo calls it this, so for simplicity let's do it, too) is an all-wheel drive SUV with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder supercharged and turbo-charged engine, producing 246kW and 440Nm, plus an electric motor which adds 65kW and 240Nm.
Shifting gears is an eight-speed automatic and acceleration is rapid at 5.5 seconds for the 0-100km/h sprint.
All XC90s have a 2400kg braked towing capacity.
The 11.6kWh lithium ion battery is located under the floor in a tunnel which runs down the centre of the car covered by the centre console and hump in the footwell of the second row.
If you didn’t realise, this is the type of hybrid you need to plug into a power source to charge the batteries. A power point is fine but a wall unit is faster. If you don’t plug in, the battery will only get tiny whiff of charge from the regenerative braking and that won’t be enough to put a tiny dent in your fuel consumption.
The Sahara has the 300 Series' 3.3-litre V6 twin-turbo diesel, producing 227kW at 4000rpm and 700Nm from 1600 to 2600rpm.
It has a 10-speed automatic transmission, high- and low-range 4WD as well as a centre diff lock.
It does not have some very handy 4WD-focussed driver-assist tech that is included in the two higher grades (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) but more about that in the Driving section, further down this page.
Volvo says that after a combination of urban and open roads the XC 90 Recharge should use 2.1L/100km. That’s incredible - we’re talking about a five-metre long, 2.2-tonne, seven-seat SUV here.
In my testing the fuel economy varied greatly depending on how and where I drove the XC90.
There was a week where I only drove up to 15km a day doing the day care drop-offs, the shopping, popping into work in the CBD, but all within 10km of my home. With 35km of electric range I found that I only had to charge the XC90 every second day to keep it topped up to full and, according to the trip computer, after 55km of travel I was using 1.9L/100km.
I recharged using the outdoor power point in my driveway and using this method would take just less than five hours to fully charge the battery from empty. A wall unit or fast charger will top the battery up much quicker.
The charging cable is long at more than 3m, and the flap on the XC90 is located on the front left wheel guard.
If you don’t have a way of charging the XC90 regularly then fuel consumption will go up, obviously.
This happened when our family took a break down the coast and the holiday house we stayed at didn’t have a power point within reach. So, while we had been charging the car regularly in the week beforehand with a few long trips thrown in on motorways, for the four days we were away I didn’t plug it in at all.
After 598.4km I filled it back to full at the petrol pump with 46.13 litres of premium unleaded. That comes to 7.7L/100km, which is still great fuel economy given that the last 200km would have been without charging.
The lesson is the XC90 Recharge is most fuel efficient on short suburban and city trips with daily or every second-day charging.
A larger capacity battery would add more range and make this plug-in hybrid SUV better suited to people who live further out of the city and do more motorway miles.
Official fuel consumption is 8.9L/100km on the combined cycle.
Our fuel consumption on this test, from pump to pump, was 12.8L/100km, which is okay considering we did a lot of low-range four-wheel driving.
The Sahara has an 80-litre main fuel tank and a 30L sub-tank so, going by those fuel figures above, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 860km from a fully fuelled start.
We put more than 700km on the clock of the XC90 Recharge during the three weeks it stayed with my family, covering a lot of motorway miles, country roads and a stack of urban usage, too.
Now without sounding like one of the haters who hated on me the last time I test-drove a Volvo hybrid, you will need to charge the XC90 Recharge all the time if you want to get not only the best fuel economy, but also the best performance from the SUV, too.
There’s the extra oomph from the motor, when you have enough charge in the ‘tank’ but also the serene and smooth pleasure of driving in electric mode on city and urban trips.
That tranquil electric driving experience feels kind of at odds with a large SUV at first, but having now tested a few big family plug-in hybrids and EVs I can tell you it’s a more enjoyable one.
Movement is not only smooth, but the electric grunt provides a feeling of control with an instant response which I found reassuring in traffic and at intersections.
The transition from electric motor to petrol engine is almost seamless. Volvo and Toyota are only a couple of the few brands which seemed to have achieved this.
The XC90 is large and that presented a challenge when trying to pilot it into my narrow driveaway and in car parks, but light, accurate steering and excellent visibility with large windows and cameras galore helped there.
The auto parking feature works well even on the higgledy-piggledy streets in my neighbourhood.
Topping off an effortless driving experience is air suspension which provides a cushioned and composed ride, with great body control all while wearing those 22-inch wheels and low-profile rubber.
Quiet, comfortable, and easy to spend big days in the driver's seat or as a passenger.
Steering is light and responsive and, with a 11.8m turning circle, this 4WD wagon still feels highly manoeuvrable.
The V6 offers up so much power and torque – and it's all managed so smoothly through the 10-speed auto – that the Cruiser is able to go from standing start to punching along the road at a decent clip, or transition from open-road cruising to safe overtaking without any lag of note.
Ride and handling are well sorted but this is a Cruiser after all so ultimately it tends towards being soft and comfortable, rather than dynamic.
Its suspension – double wishbone, independent at the front and live axle and multi-links at the rear with coils all-around – manages to soak up most imperfections in the road surface.
The 300 Series' brakes – ventilated discs all-around – brought the big Cruiser to a controlled stop during two of my patented 'Watch out for that bloody roo!' set-pieces.
In terms of on-road ride, handling and performance, the 300 Series impresses. But how does it perform off-road?
First things first: the Sahara-spec LandCruiser does miss out on some of the handy 4WD gear that the two higher grades (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) get, namely Toyota's swaybar-disconnect equivalent electronic-'Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System' (included onboard the GR Sport), front and rear differential locks (GR Sport), adaptive variable suspension (Sahara ZX and GR Sport) and a rear torque-sensing limited-slip differential (ZX).
But in the grand scheme of things that shouldn't impede you too much, if at all, unless you're really going all-out to break your Cruiser while 4WDing.
We managed all obstacles at our testing ground without any strife.
A few years back when Toyota announced it would replace the V8 with the V6 there was quite a lot of concern voiced over the change. Let's be frank here: there was a hell of a lot of whinging.
But people needn't have worried because though the V8 was a bloody good engine the V6 produces more power and more torque than it does (up 27kW and 50Nm).
And that power and torque is consistently delivered across a nice spread of revs.
In combination with the 10-speed auto it's a smooth-as pairing. That auto is very clever – smarter than you and me – because it's never hunting through ratios to try and find the sweet spot, it's always bang-on.
High- and low-range gearing are solid in the 300 Series, and the Cruiser has a 50:50 centre diff lock.
And, on top of all that, you also have access to a comprehensive suite of driver assist tech aimed at making your driving life off-road easier and safer.
The traction control system has been really well calibrated – fine tuned, very precise and seamless in its application.
The 300's multi-terrain select system gives you the option of cycling through driving modes such as 'Sand', 'Mud' and 'Rock' to suit the terrain you're on.
In action, those modes adjust vehicle systems, throttle, engine output, etc to give you the best chance possible of getting through every obstacle safely and in a controlled fashion.
Off-road measurements and angles are decent: ground clearance is 235mm, wading depth is 700mm, and approach, ramp-over and departure angles are 32, 21, and 25 degrees, respectively.
So, all in all, in terms of measurements that are suited to hardcore low-range four wheel driving, the LandCruiser 300 Series ticks all the boxes.
And while there's no denying the 300 Series is a big unit, it feels pretty nimble in the bush, even on tight tracks or pinched approaches to hills or creek crossings.
As well as a dialled-in off-road traction control system and all of those driving modes, it has handy tech such as crawl control, which works like a low-speed cruise control.
So, the only flaw in the 300 Series off-road set-up is its tyres, as its standard Bridgestone Dueler all-terrains (265/65 R18) are better suited to dry-track 4WDing in good weather than taking on any difficult stuff.
In terms of towing capacity, the 300 Series can legally tow a 750kg unbraked trailer, and 3500kg braked.
Volvo has for decades been a pioneer of safety systems to such an extreme that people used to make fun of the brand for being overly cautious. Well, take it from this helicopter parent: there’s no such thing as being overly cautious! Besides, these days all car brands are striving to offer advanced safety systems which the XC90 has had for years. Yep, safety is cool now. Which makes Volvo the Kanye of car brands.
Coming standard on the XC90 Recharge is AEB which works at city speeds to brake for pedestrians, cyclists, vehicles and even large animals.
There’s also lane keeping assistance, blind spot warning, cross traffic alert with braking (front and rear).
Steering support provides assistance during at evasive manoeuvre at speeds between 50 and 100km/h.
Curtain airbags cover all three rows and for child seats there are two ISOFIX mounts and three top tether anchor points in the second row. Note, there are no mounts or points for child seats in the third row.
A space-saver spare is under the boot floor.
The XC90 was given the maximum five-star ANCAP rating when it tested in 2015.
All of the 300 Series line-up, except the GR Sport, have the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in January 2022.
Safety gear includes 10 airbags, two ISOFIX anchor points, as well as AEB with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, active cruise control (all-speed), 'Lane Departure Alert' (with brake to steer), 'Road Sign Assist' (speed signs only), 'Trailer Sway Control' and more.
Off-road driver-assist tech includes crawl control, downhill assist, hill-start assist, multi-terrain select, multi-terrain monitor with panoramic view, and active traction control (A-TRC).
The XC90 is covered by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. Two service plans are offered: three years for $1500 and five years for $2500.
The LandCruiser 300 Sahara is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty which is par for the course in the mainstream market.
Capped-price servicing applies to the first 10 services at a cost of $375 each (correct at time of writing), which is pretty competitive.
Service intervals are scheduled for every six months or 10,000km, whichever comes first. Which is shorter than the more usual 12 months/15,000km.
That said, owners may extend the engine and driveline warranty to seven years by adhering to service schedules.