Safety and luxury, Volvo's most popular SUV is focused on the family lifestyle
The Volvo XC90 SUV does everything well. Safety? Check. Luxury? Check. Practicality? Check. Comfort and reliability? Check and check. The XC90 is Volvo’s most-popular vehicle for a reason -- it is the understated family All-Star of the SUV world.
In today’s HendrickCars.com blog entry, we leaned on Hendrick Automotive Group experts T.J. Tercanli and Joseph Willingham at Hendrick Volvo Cars of Charleston (South Carolina) to learn more about the current-generation XC90, along with how the city of Charleston has embraced the brand and its growing assembly plant.
The 2023 Volvo XC90 comes with two primary powertrains. A turbo-charged, 2.0-liter engine with a mild-hybrid (MHEV) design, and a plug-in hybrid version (XC90 Recharge) with combustion power and an all-electric range of 33 miles. At the top, the XC90 Recharge has a combined output of 455 horsepower and 523 foot pounds of torque, with a towing capacity maxing out at around 5,000 pounds.
The two mild hybrid all-wheel drive models -- the B5 and B6 -- output at 247 horsepower and 295 bhp, respectively. MHEVs is the brand’s current base powertrain, which marries a combustion engine with a 48-volt recovery battery, restoring brake energy for a start-stop process that is more efficient and less disruptive than previous iterations. While it does utilize a small electric engine, MHEVs are not plug-in vehicles.
“The nice thing is, if someone is not ready for a fully electric car, we have plug-in hybrids which gives you the best of both worlds,” Tercanli said. “If someone wants the plain old gas vehicle, we have those with the mild hybrid and the regenerative-braking technology.”
SAFETY, SAFETY and MORE … SAFETY
Volvo could be a safety machine with a vehicle brand built around it. From its earliest years, safety has been the No. 1 priority for the brand. Examples are numerous, but none more significant than what Volvo engineer Niles Bohlin created in 1959 by inventing the three-point seat belt harness, which many people proclaim is the single most significant safety invention in the history of the automobile.
In fact, Volvo felt it was so important, it gave the patent away to other manufacturers, ultimately saving thousands of lives.
“Whenever we show a car like the XC90, we show customers the seat belt buckle in the middle,” said Tercanli, when describing the company’s impressive safety heritage. “Stamped right on it is ‘1959.’”
Known for its incredibly sturdy space frame, Volvo protects drivers with its numerous passive and active safety advances. The strategic placement of airbags, a collapsible steering column and collision mitigation support are significant passive options, while the more active features include lane-keeping aid, blind-spot information, active high-beam control, driver alert control and city safety warnings, the latter being Volvo’s revolutionary detection system that helps driver’s avoid low-speed collisions, pedestrians and unforeseen obstacles within urban environments.
“As far as safety and reliability, we see (Volvo’s safety) videos,” Tercanli said. “They will show you accidents that have happened. You see the condition of the Volvo and you see the condition of the other vehicle involved -- it is shocking. People will walk away from the Volvo when they should not have. They are really on the forefront of safety and have always been a safe car.”
“There is a picture of (an) XC90 that was in an accident, hit on the driver’s door by a 27,000-pound truck and there was next to no penetration in the cabin,” Willingham said. “I have had customers hit by semis. I heard a story of a customer in an S60, where a semi-truck and trailer rode the outside edge passenger side of the cabin. The frame did not bend. They are the safest (vehicles) in the world and the XC90 is the safest.”
PLENTY OF ROOM & AMENITIES
Ergonomically designed seating for seven passengers and a third row option highlights the XC90s spacious interior. The SUV also boasts more than 65 cubic feet of load compartment space, which is above average for the segment.
“The third row is terrific for quick trips here and there when the family is in town,” Willingham said. “You can organize the XC90 in so many different ways, as it can be comfortable for six or seven different passengers.
“I like the XC 90 because the interior design language is very Swedish. It’s very minimalist and it’s not distracting,” Willingham continued. “The seats themselves are made alongside an ergonomics institute in Sweden. The (seats) are backed by the ACA (American Chiropractic’s Association). (Volvos) are very simple and there is nothing left undone with everything geared towards keeping the driver and occupants of the vehicle safe.”
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Interior amenities can include seat ventilation and a 10-point massage offering, along with Nappa leather front seats. Added optional touches include a crystal-clear gear shifter, panoramic roof and a high fidelity, Bowers & Wilkins audio system that includes unique acoustic options such as studio, individual stage, concert hall and jazz club settings.
FULL OF TECHNOLOGY
A nine-inch touchscreen infotainment system and Apple CarPlay is standard (Android Auto optional) in the XC90, with the ability to plug-in or operate independently. In addition, Volvo has added the latest upgradable technology highlighted by Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Play.
“Volvo is at the forefront of partnering with Google. If someone doesn’t want to use their phone, you don’t have to because its already built in,” Tercanli said. “(For example) just say, ‘Google, what’s the weather going to be today?’”
Tech does not stop in the cabin, as the XC90s have an optional active chassis setup with an air suspension that is constantly adjusting. It enhances stability through real-time ride height monitoring with maximum energy efficiency during highway driving. There is also a setting for increased ground clearance if you decide to go off-roading in your Volvo XC90.
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VOLVO’S SPECIAL PLACE IN CHARLESTON
In 2015, Volvo announced its brand new, $500 million manufacturing facility in Berkeley County, South Carolina, just north of Charleston in the town of Ridgeville. The facility was Volvo’s first within the Western Hemisphere, and currently produces the Volvo S60 Sedan. In the future, the Volvo EX90 (XC90 replacement), will also be built in Charleston when the plant expands. It’s presence has not only created nearly 4,000 jobs for area, it has changed the cultural landscape as well.
“It’s a boom to the Charleston area,” Tercanli said. “There’s so much coming into this area as far as the economy, with the production. More and more Volvos are around town.
“We’re seeing customers now starting to come back to purchase their second and third Volvos,” Tercanli added. “Their neighbors are seeing what they drive. I have a lot of people coming in here saying, ‘My neighbor drives a Volvo and I like the car.’”
“Having the plant 60 miles away and having people from all sorts of different cultures brought to this state is cool,” Willingham said. “I get to interact with people in the service drive who are Swedish engineers from Volvo.
“We hear people come into buy cars who have neighbors who work at the plant,” Willingham added. “People will say, ‘They are the nicest people.’ It just adds so much culture to the Charleston area. Volvo is also the main sponsor for the Charleston Battery soccer team, and we as a dealership activate with them as well. I actually get to go to some of the games, hand our business cards, and stand next to the Volvos they have out there.
“They are a real boost to our economy,” Willingham added. Check.
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