Surprising Changes for the 2025 Volvo XC90!
this is really only the second generation of the XC90 since it first began or was launched in 2002 and it actually really wasn’t supposed to exist [Music] volvo’s XC90 was supposed to be on its way out as Volvo was launching its all-electric three- row version the EX90 but there’s been some strategic planning decision changes at Volvo which means that the XC90 has gotten a bit of an update for 2025 and a half what are the updates what’s involved well stick around cuz that’s what I’m going to tell you so here we are in the 2025 and a half Volvo XC90 uh an updated version of really what is the second generation of the XC90 which first launched back in 2014 as a 2015 model this is really only the second generation of the XC90 since it first began or was launched in 2002 and it actually really wasn’t supposed to exist to be honest this new update because uh Volvo has launched the Volvo EX90 the uh fully electric 7-seater which really is designed to replace the XC90 but there’s been some changes in strategic approach shall we say from Volvo who had originally uh been committing to a 100% electric lineup by 2030 they’re still fully committed to a a fully electric future but for the time being they have sort of slowed it down because as we know there is a a little bit of a plateauing of EV sales right now which is really not a an indication of the future it’s really to my mind kind of a it’s influenced by politics it’s influenced by a little bit of uh false perceptions um they’re really crazy not logical reasons for this but nonetheless uh automakers are kind of delaying their overall transition and Volvo’s decision uh in doing so was to give this XC90 a refresh and to commit to selling it in mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions along with the EX90 so here we are so with this new updated XC90 that doesn’t mean there’s no changes there are some uh noticeable exterior and interior changes it’s just not on an entirely new platform and I don’t think we will ever see an allnew third generation XC90 for what I just mentioned but there are some definitely distinctive changes with the XC90 and in this review we’re really basically going over what the changes are and talking about because there are some really good nice improvements overall with respect to what’s on offer under the hood the XC90 is going to be offered in both a uh mild hybrid two versions of the mild hybrid one available in Canada and a plug-in hybrid which is what I’m driving so with the mild hybrid we’re talking about uh what we would call the B5 and the B6 here in Canada there’s only going to be the B6 which is a 2 L turbocharged and supercharged 4-cylinder engine uh with a 48vt mild hybrid system and uh that one is going to be offering 295 horsepower and 310 pound- feet of torque uh in the US and in other markets that offer it there will be both the B5 and the B6 the B5 is just a turbocharged 2 L again with the mild hybrid system and that’s a a 247 horsepower and 266 pound- feet of torque now what is a mild hybrid in case you’re still unclear about what a mild hybrid is uh I would encourage you to watch uh a video I did a couple years ago where I explain Volvo’s mild hybrid system depending on what you’re watching it on you’ll see a link right now pop up to watch it or you can catch it i’ll add the uh the video link at the end here uh but do watch it because I went into some pretty clear explanation as to what a mild hybrid is and how it’s not a traditional hybrid so do watch that as for the plug-in hybrid which is what I’m driving here or the T8 what we have uh powering this is a 2 L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and it is matched with an 18.8 kWh battery and an electric motor it has a combined output of 455 horsepower and 523 lb feet of torque uh EV only range in this XC90 T8 is stated at 53 km or 32 miles but keep in mind though that is just the template that is the baseline uh you can get higher or lower depending upon a host of considerations weather climate driving style uh for example this morning when I left my house uh the it was fully charged i looked down and it said 62 km and that is indicative of the week that I’ve been driving and the temperatures so it can go up or down how that compares though to other sort of plug-in hybrids in this category um it’s good but I think it’s not anywhere near what say the Mercedes uh GLE 450 uh plus is or the uh Range Rover Sport now those are they’re two row but they’re similar size and they’re getting into you know much larger uh EV only range i mean 53 54 km is good i just think it’s not as much of an EV only range that you really would make the idea of jumping to the EV uh a non-starter the XC90 has a couple of suspension systems in play depending on which version uh you’re going to buy the mild hybrid systems the B5 and B6 do operate with what uh Bobo calls a frequency selective dampening system what does that mean well it basically it’s really trying to provide you with the utmost of comfort with the plug-in hybrid there is an available air suspension which is what uh my tester is equipped with it has the ability to uh rise up or lower it can go as low as 8.3 in or go up as high as 9.9 the purpose of the air suspension really is to provide uh a lot of comfort it it really eats up the bumps and you can raise and lower the vehicle itself depending upon situations in terms of steering you know there now steering they give you a couple options and everything takes place through uh the uh the center touchscreen they do offer what they call soft and firm i’m in firm steering right now and it I don’t feel it’s firm at all i mean I think Volvo really could do a better job uh you know when you think firm you’re thinking sporty you’re thinking about a a tighter steering feel overall i don’t get it in this one so I mean that’s one area where I’d love to see improvement i mean soft is like really soft so that’s one area that’s not great but the overall drive experience with the air suspension is fantastic if you’ve made it to this point you probably like what you see but you’re also likely not a subscriber since my analytics tell me more of you are not than are and I want to change that please subscribe to the Novak Report right now and help me grow this channel i put out about 5 to seven videos a month mostly automotive but there’s other content as well long form and shorts it’s a great place to be help me grow this channel subscribe now and thank you for doing so now here on the interior of the revised XC90 you will see some distinctive differences compared to uh the previous version uh in the front what you’ve got is really something that’s a little bit more uh cleaner uh they like to say they focus on horizontal lines there are textured surfaces um and ambient lighting which is something that wasn’t in uh with the previous gen uh you’re also looking at some uh decorative panels uh that uh are made actually from premium recycled materials for overall what is a more textured finish and the textured finish also does help with sort of a absorbing of sound you want softer surfaces to give a more quiet interior overall environment another prominent change of the redesign front is a new center touchcreen gone is the old 9-in embedded uh center touchscreen and now in its place we have uh now a a new freestanding 11.2 in center screen which actually has been taken from the EX30 and the EX90 so it’s the same system in this touchcreen you have Google builtin which uh certainly has some advantages especially if you’re an Android user uh like I am you can actually because it’s Google embedded um for me I can uh just log in and sign in using my Gmail account and I’m connected so anything I have with Google is now connected here because of it being embedded with Google uh there is not Android Auto that’s not available uh with it because it’s kind of a redundancy you do have Apple CarPlay yet it’s wired it’s not wireless at least for now um we’re told that the uh Apple CarPlay will move to wireless through some OTAA or overtheair updates that are coming uh but for now you have to connect in with um if you have Apple and you want to use Apple CarPlay uh your settings are easy enough you’ve got your home screen uh you can you can get to a larger map and uh you can obviously add more apps but there are your drive modes again it’s here is where you’ll do pretty much all of your sort of controls and specific sort of customization um but it’s generally easy enough to find uh no real complaints about it the center console of course has been changed and that’s a big part of it the uh wireless charger which does exist has been moved up to the front so it’s now underneath the uh the center touchscreen and that moves sort of your uh gear selector back so you’ve still got the crystal gear selector which is exclusive to Volvo uh your start stop and now because of this the cup holders are now moved to the side as you can see I I’m fitting this in here now we have some additional uh storage space the way it’s been reconfigured here uh in the center stack so that’s different for sure with respect to seats and seating materials the uh front seats um are comfortable you have thigh extenders uh and trim anyway on both driver and passenger side the uh second and third row seats uh again they’re comfortable there’s certainly enough leg room and headroom and shoulder room overall this is a seven seat version there are captain’s chairs available in the second row becoming a six-seater seating materials include wool blend options that come from suppliers that are certified to sourcing responsibly and sustainably there’s also Napa leather which we have in this tester but there’s also Nordic which is something that Volvo has designed themselves it’s a new interior material that consists of textiles made from recycled materials such as PET plastic bottles it’s also from bioattributed material from sustainable forests in Sweden and in Finland and it also includes corks that are recycled from the wine industry it’s what you see in the EX30 and EX90 and it is available with the XC90 the the exterior changes that we have on this XC90 are both noticeable yet well integrated at the same time i mean you certainly can notice the new changes that exist on the exterior but it doesn’t create an all new look and feel that we would often see when we get an entire new generation of of of model and this is you know true across many brands there is a new sculpted front hood and as I said it’s it’s blended in so while it looks very much like it was before when you take a look at it closely you go “Oh yeah i definitely see the change there is also a a new grill design and this is one that I think is probably the most obvious change and one that I really like i think this is a really good looking front grill there’s also an overall new bumper and uh the Thor’s hammer headlights which really were very distinctive when this uh second generation was launched has been refined as well it’s It’s less prominent but certainly still noticeable the rear tail lights are the same in overall look but they have been darkened uh a little bit less contrasting before uh we have some new wheel designs uh 20-in wheels are standard with the XC90 but you’ve got 21 and 22in wheels available but I mean overall aside from that this still is a very recognizable XC90 and I I don’t think Volvo wants to mess with that it’s its look is distinctive it’s part of what draws its fans into the model so um they’ve made some distinctive changes but again it’s still very much an XC90 i’ve always liked the Volvo XC90 and with these updates for 2025 albeit unexpected it certainly goes a long way to keeping it that way it’s a really nice vehicle but did they need to do this update at all i mean should they have should they have just stuck with the EX90 and let this go on its way what do you think let me know in a comment and if you like this video share it with others if you’re not subscribed to the Novak Report please consider doing so and if you are subscribed make sure you ring the bell so that you get notified of every time I upload something new that’s it for now i’m Eric Novak thank you for watching [Music]
Surprising Changes for the 2025 Volvo XC90!
Volvo has just announced some surprising changes with a significant update for the XC90, and we’ve got all the details. The 2025.5 model year will bring mild hybrid and plug-in options to the table, taking the luxurious SUV to the next level. But what does this mean for the upcoming EX90? We dive into the latest news and explore how these updates will impact the Volvo lineup. From improved fuel efficiency to enhanced performance, we’ll cover it all. Stay tuned for the latest on the Volvo XC90 and EX90!
The Volvo XC90 receives an unexpected update for 2025, despite initial plans for it to be replaced by the all-electric Volvo EX90. This update includes several enhancements and new features, ensuring the XC90 remains a competitive 3 row suv in the market. The car review highlights Volvo’s strategic decision to extend the XC90’s life cycle.
00:00 Introduction
00:50 Why the Volvo XC90 was refreshed
03:01 2025.5 Volvo XC90 Mild Hybrid
03:57 What is a Mild Hybrid
04:23 2025.5 Volvo XC90 Plug-in Hybrid
05:54 2025.5 Volvo XC90 Suspension
07:20 Subscribe to The Novak Report
07:45 2025.5 Volvo XC90 Interior Changes
11:36 2025.5 Volvo XC90 Exterior Changes
13:14 2025.5 Volvo XC90 Price
The Volvo XC90 receives an unexpected update for 2025, despite plans to replace it with the all-electric Volvo EX90. This car review highlights Volvo’s strategic planning decision changes, which have led to this refresh. The update promises enhancements to the Volvo XC90’s existing features.
