Being October, it’s the perfect time to visit Tim Burton’s oddball spooky masterpiece, Beetlejuice. What’s not to love? A bizarre afterlife, an uptight WASPish ghost couple learning the ropes of haunting, Winona Ryder perfect in her breakout role as an awkward goth teenager, and Michael Keaton as the titular character, practically chewing the scenery.
One easy way for the movie’s producers to quickly illustrate the repressed preppies played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin was to have them meeting their watery fate in a Volvo station wagon. The car casting spoke volumes: these weren’t Wall Street types in a Porsche or yuppies in a BMW, they were the sorts of people who had money but likely spent it on antiques. The type to wear sweaters draped over their shoulders. The perfect conservative fish-out-of-water pair to throw into a fantastical, primary-coloured realm of sandworms and supernatural con men.
Volvo has come a long way since Beetlejuice (careful — that’s the name said twice now). In 1988, when B-, ahem, when the film was released, Volvo still represented a sort of Scandinavian minimalism. Volvos were dependable, long-lived, and safe. You know: boxy, but good.
Later Volvos chased after BMW and Mercedes for a slice of the luxury market. The cars got more complex, and arguably lost some of that simplistic charm. Then, around 2015, Volvo stunned the world with a pivot to sleek style. The cars were still far more complex than their boxy ancestors, but they were also effortlessly cool. Right at a time when BMW and Audi were doubling down on try-hard, outlandish grilles and press releases touting ever more aggressive design, here was Volvo again with a genuine and refreshing alternative.
While Volvo still makes some pretty cool wagons, the 2022 Volvo XC90 is really the spiritual descendant of the original 240 wagon. It’s the one well-heeled families choose, far less snarly than a BMW X5, and perhaps a bit less ostentatious than a Mercedes. Seven years old, facelifted three years ago, it still looks fresh. That’s what happens when a design isn’t overwrought.
Inside, the XC90 is also still pleasing despite its age. As other automakers transition to the age of Everything’s A Touchscreen, this Volvo looks positively restrained with its single 9.0” central screen. The infotainment functions a little like a Google tablet rather than an iPad (it’s not perfectly intuitive), but reacted quickly and presented few frustrations.
What’s really more impressive than the visible technology is the quality of the interior. Up front, driver and passenger comfort is top-tier, and fit and finish are excellent. The crystal shifter is one special touch, but the rest fits Volvo’s less-is-more ethos. This interior looks good now, but it also feels like it won’t feel dated in a few years.
Out back is more of a mixed back. The previous generation XC90 was a parental favourite, and this generation is still decent for kid-hauling. There are, however, better options if you’re going to be deploying that third row constantly. Third row legroom is big enough for a grade-schooler, but parental help was needed to get them in and out with the sliding seat.
It’s not a deal-breaker if this is the school run car for a family of four or five, with occasional need for a school chum to car pool to piano practice. However, the next-gen XC90 might best introduce a bit more square-edged boxiness to increase practicality.
On the move, this plug-in hybrid version of the XC90 is shockingly quick. Volvo raised a few eyebrows when it released a four-cylinder engine that was both supercharged and turbocharged, but in the hybrid, things are a little simpler. Combustion power comes from a 2.0L engine that is turbocharged only. An electric motor adds 143 hp for a total of 455 hp and 523 lb-ft of torque.
Having been lulled into a sense of calm by the XC90’s reserved demeanour, the way this 2,300 kg family-hauler rockets forward when called upon is as shocking as you-know-who pulling a scary face. From behind the wheel, the driver can sense that this is not intended to be a sporting SUV, but if you needed to get up to speed to make a passing maneuver or merge with fast-moving traffic, then Volvo’s engineers clearly think immediate acceleration is a safety feature. Which, fair enough.
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But again, such is not how you drive the XC90, especially not on the west coast of Canada with its sky-high fuel prices. Volvo calls this version of the XC90 the Recharge — replacing the old T8 designation — and it comes with a 14.9 kWh battery pack good for a claimed 58 km of gasoline-free motoring. In practice, observed range was just below 50 km before the engine kicked on.
Plug-in hybrids make a great deal of sense for most Canadian households. Manufacturing the large battery packs of a full battery-electric car comes with both environmental and financial costs. A smaller pack that will handle 90 per cent of commuting needs makes a lot of sense. In a week’s driving with the XC90, no gasoline was burned Monday-to-Friday, and then the standard combustion engine was called upon for a run up past Squamish to drop kids off at a weekend sleepaway camp. In all use cases, it was quick and comfortable, with a well-tuned ride.
A sensible, Swedish solution to motoring, then, and we could leave it there. The problem is that this is not a Toyota RAV4 or a Kia Telluride. It is a Volvo, specifically a $103,150 Volvo after options and before freight or taxes. The buyer of such a vehicle is probably unbothered by any spottiness in fast charger coverage, as they’ll be charging at home. At the same time they also won’t be pleased by the fact that you can’t fast-charge the XC90’s battery.
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Five years ago, this crossover was a solid stop-gap solution while electrification becomes more common. It still is, but luxury crossovers are likely going to be the market segment that adopts widespread BEV offerings the fastest. Volvo knows this, and an all-electric EX90 — the replacement for the XC90 — is on the way
In the fall of 2022, the XC90 Recharge feels a bit like it’s stuck in the limbo between combustion and full EV capability. It is still appealing for a number of reasons, and functions well in the real world, but could at the very least use some quicker charging. As it is, it faces being caught between two worlds, just like the couple from Beetlejuice. Oh no! That’s three times!
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