UKCOTY - The Volvo XC90 has been voted SUV of the Year at the UK Car of the Year Awards 2016.

• Seven-seat XC90 voted best SUV by panel of expert journalist judges
• Praised for its stand-out design, technology, luxury and safety
• Priced from £46,250 and offered with petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains

The Volvo XC90 has been voted SUV of the Year at the UK Car of the Year Awards 2016.

The prestigious awards are judged by a 27-strong panel of motoring journalists, who write for publications including The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Top Gear and Auto Express.

The XC90’s design, technology, safety and interior packaging came in for particular praise. “A stunning cabin – packed with game-changing technology – is combined with luxury, space and great engineering, making the flagship Volvo a very enjoyable driving experience,” said John Challen, the Editor and Managing Director of the UK Car of the Year Awards.

Built on Volvo’s ground-breaking SPA platform, the XC90 is the most technologically advanced car Volvo has ever made. It is available with an innovative petrol-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain that offers 407 hp yet CO₂ emissions of only 49 g/km, which equates to a monthly Benefit-in-Kind tax bill of just £100.67 for a higher-rate taxpayer.

It also leads the field in terms of connectivity. The standard Sensus Connect system combines an intuitive nine-inch touch screen display – including pinch and zoom functionality – with a sophisticated voice control system. This provides access to the internet and a range of cloud-based apps, while the option of Apple CarPlay allows you to control selected functions of your phone, such as music streaming, directly from the Sensus Connect display.

Nick Connor, Managing Director of Volvo Car UK, said: “It is a great honour for the XC90 to be voted SUV of the Year – especially when the people voting for it are some of the most influential and respected motoring journalists in the UK. The XC90’s stunning design, unrivalled practicality and industry-leading technology, efficiency and safety perfectly meet the needs of modern premium SUV buyers, and awards such as this one prove just how right those buyers are to put their trust in Volvo.”

All-New Volvo XC-90 T8 Twin Engine receives approval for Plug-In Car grant.

Volvo’s first ever petrol plug-in hybrid, the XC90 T8 Twin Engine, has qualified for the UK Plug-in Car Grant (PICG) scheme from the Office of Low Emissions (OLEV). The new XC90 T8 Twin engine is now available with an on-road price of £54,955 (including PICG).

The award-winning XC90 is the first car to be built on Volvo’s first in-house designed and built platform (SPA – Scalable Product Architecture), powered by Volvo’s new Drive-E powertrains.

  

The SPA platform is designed to incorporate electrification without encroaching on interior space, with the necessary battery pack being neatly concealed within the centre console. The Drive-E powertrain, from its initial concept, was designed to include electrification, with the new XC90 utilising both a 320hp petrol engine and 87hp electric motor.

With a combined output of 407hp, this 7-seat SUV emits an impressively low figure of just 49g/km of CO₂, at the same time being able to go from stand still to 60mph in only 5.3 seconds.

The XC90 T8 Twin engine allows the driver to choose multiple drive modes:

• Pure – allows drivers to use electric energy for up to 28 miles with zero exhaust emissions
• Hybrid – uses a combination of the electrical and petrol motors to achieve reduced CO₂ exhaust emissions
• Power – utilises the full power from both the petrol and electric motors allowing the driver to use the full 407hp available

The Plug in Car Grant (PICG) has a designed criteria to encourage manufactures to decrease the level of outputted CO₂ exhaust emissions. To achieve this, hybrid vehicles must emit less than 75g/km, a minimal travelling range of 10 miles and must reach a speed of at least 60mph.

Companies choosing the XC90 T8 Twin Engine can benefit by writing down as much as 100% of the cost against their income tax liability. Driver who choose the XC90 T8 Momentum pay as little as £99.83 BIK a month (40% tax payer) whilst enjoying a full 7-seat SUV with 407hp.

The XC90 T8 is available in three designs: Momentum, R-Design and Inscription.

The New Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine is the world’s most powerful and cleanest SUV.

• XC90 T8 Twin Engine is the world’s most powerful and cleanest SUV
• Delivers 49 g/km CO₂, combined 407 hp*, 640 Nm, 134.5mpg and up to 26 miles pure electric range

The XC90 T8 Twin Engine has exceeded all expectations when it comes to the no compromise equation of power and low fuel consumption, coupled with world class low emissions – and all in a 7-seat luxury SUV.

The improvement over the earlier announced figures were achieved thanks to the continuous innovation cycle at the Swedish company. The result of further tuning is a drop of 10 g/km from the initial prognosis, for up to 134.5mpg fuel economy, while also adding horsepower.

This makes the XC90 T8 Twin Engine the clear leader in its segment, with an exceptional combination of low fuel consumption, emissions and pure power.

“We have been working hard to earn our competitive edge and to give our customers the ultimate combination of performance and low fuel consumption. 

Our Twin Engine technology has enabled us to build on our heritage of efficient powertrain development in a completely new way. Thanks to our new scalable product architecture, and our world class four-cylinder engines, we have a clear and leading position,” said Dr Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research & Development at Volvo Car Group.

No other SUV in this class can deliver 26 miles of pure electric range, 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds and provide combined power of 407 hp – all in a 7 seat configuration.

The XC90 T8 Twin Engine will be available later this spring in Volvo showrooms.

All figures are based on the NEDC driving cycle for hybrids.

* 320hp + 87 hp power and 400 + 240 Nm torque - combined 407hp and 640 Nm.

A driving mode for every need

The XC90 T8 Twin Engine can go from 0 to 62mph in 5.6 seconds, delivering all the driving pleasure customers have come to expect from a Volvo SUV. But driving pleasure is only a fraction of what the XC90 T8 offers: the car has five different driving modes that deliver a range of performance and efficiency-enhancing characteristics. Using either a scroll wheel on the centre console or a touchscreen on the dashboard, drivers can choose from:

Hybrid: 

This is the default mode, suitable for everyday use. Here, the vehicle will automatically alternate between drawing power from the 2-litre, 4-cylinder Drive-E engine and the electric motor to deliver the best overall fuel consumption.

Pure electric: 

In this mode, when the high-voltage battery is fully charged, it serves as the car’s sole energy source, powering the electric motor over the rear axle. The XC90 T8 has a range of up to 26 miles using just electricity, which covers the total distance many people drive in one day. And thanks to the regenerative braking system, this mode is super-efficient in the stop-and-go traffic of city environments. If more power is needed, the Drive-E combustion engine starts up automatically.

Power mode: 

Here, drivers get the combined performance of the combustion engine and the electric motor. On start-up, the SUV takes advantage of the electric motor’s superior response and instant torque curve, while the combustion engine gets up to speed. This combination offers better torque at lower revs, equivalent to that of a large displacement engine like the V8.

AWD: 

This mode offers constant all-wheel drive on demand. The advantage of being able to select AWD manually is that the driver can use it when needed, or choose to save energy for later.

Save: 

If the battery is charged, this mode allows the driver to “freeze” the battery level and save it for later use with Pure Electric drive. On the other hand, if the battery is low, the driver can use the combustion engine to charge the battery to a certain level for later use with Pure Electric drive.