Life was much less stressful simply driving the T8 around like a conventional petrol luxury car and accepting the financial pain of 30mpg.
Luxury is no exaggeration: this is an £85k purchase that rides smoothly on active air suspension (well, until it encounters a pothole) and in impressive quietness, despite having only four cylinders at its disposal and weighing nearly two and a half tonnes.
One with big, cosy, massaging seats upholstered in nappa leather, bathed in sunlight from a full–length glass roof, with seemingly endless space for rear passengers and capable of really entertaining all aboard with a truly exquisite premium sound system.
And also one capable of stonking performance once both its engine and its rear–mounted electric motor are called upon. Its accelerative potential was silly back in 2015, when it had 316bhp; nowadays, despite having lost that supercharger, it’s laughably absurd at 449bhp.
In its time with us, this XC90 T8 proved its touring talents by taking deputy road test editor Richard Lane to Italy, its outstanding capaciousness by helping Classic & Sports Car’s Aaron McKay move to a new flat and its suitability for everyday mundanity by taking myself up the motorway to work and through town to the shops and the gym.
What the XC90 T8 hasn’t done, though, is entirely convince us that it in itself warrants its recently granted stay of execution.
Volvo XC90 T8 AWD Plug-in Hybrid Ultra
Prices: List price new £84,260 List price now £83,765 Price as tested £85,055
Options: Denim Blue paint £795, Blond nappa leather interior £0, Bright exterior £0
Economy and range: Claimed economy 201.8mpg Claimed electric range 43 miles Battery 18.8/14.7kWh (total/usable) Test average 30.2mpg Test best 55.3mpg Test worst 28.6mpg Real–world range 24 miles (electric), 470 miles (ICE)
Tech Highlights: 0–62mph 5.4sec Top speed 112mph Engine 4 cyls in line, 1969cc, turbo, petrol, plus electric motor Max power 449bhp Max torque 523lb ft Gearbox 8–spd automatic, 4WD Boot 298/977/1941 litres Wheels 9.0x21in, alloy Tyres 275/40 R21, Continental PremiumContact Kerb weight 2365kg
