2025.5 Volvo XC90 First Drive: Is This Old Favorite Ready For Today?
Yes, it’s a 2025.5: The updated XC90 can handle newer competition. Mostly.
Pros
- Gorgeous design with great outward visibility
- T8’s 33 miles of electric range
- Excellent safety ratings
Cons
- B5’s noticeable shifts
- Third row hard to access
- Brake feel could be better
Hmm, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Volvo was going all-electric by 2030, making the gorgeous XC90 obsolete. After all, who needs the gas-powered XC90—our SUV of the Year way back in 2016—when the electric EX90 fills a similar role in the lineup? Yet here we are talking about the 2025.5 Volvo XC90, a relentlessly updated three-row SUV fighting rivals that weren’t even on the drawing board when it first rolled out of dealerships. We keep asking ourselves one question: Can a 10-year-old SUV possibly keep up with the younger players, or do the updates come up short? After driving the 2025.5 XC90 B5 gas and T8 plug-in hybrid models, we can confidently answer: Yes.
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Timeless Design Across Three Engines
The 2025.5 Volvo XC90 returns with B5, B6, and T8 engine options. AWD and three-row seating are standard across the line down to the B5, a mild hybrid turbo I-4 making just 247 hp. Remember we’re not talking about Escalade-sized three-rows; the XC90 battles SUVs including the Lexus TX and Audi Q7. The B5 returns perfectly adequate acceleration, though passing on the highway requires a bit of an opening. In which case, maybe try the B6, a 295-hp mild hybrid turbo I-4 boosted by an electric supercharger. The best efficiency and acceleration are found with the plug-in hybrid, which has dropped Recharge badging and is again known as the T8. Call it whatever you want, we like the idea of a 455-hp luxury three-row with 33 miles of electric driving with an estimated 5.1-second 0–60-mph time. The B5 takes 7.3 seconds to reach the same speed, and it’s a difference you can feel. We admire Volvo’s dedication to updating the XC90, and this year the SUV is quieter thanks to added sound-deadening foam in the A- and B-pillars. A new 11.2-inch vertically oriented touchscreen pokes its digital chest out from the dash and is flanked by newly reshaped, slim, vertical air vents. The center console storage area has been redesigned to be more practical, and Volvo updated the suspension to enhance comfort in the B5 and B6 with the standard non-air suspension. Also, let’s take a moment to appreciate Volvo’s exquisitely redesigned front grille detailing. So good, right? As a package, though, does this stuff make the 2025.5 XC90 feel like an experienced veteran learning new tricks or more like a Gen Xer trying too hard to fit into a Gen Z trend?
On the Road
We much prefer the 2025.5 XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid over the B5, and we promise it’s not because it has 84 percent more horsepower. The T8 offers a more refined driving experience overall, which it should for the price: It costs just under $60,000 for a base B5 and about $74,000 for a base T8. About that 2025.5 model year: Volvo didn't want to call it a 2026 just yet, but did want to clearly distinguish the updated SUV from the 2025 models. The T8 couples its superior swiftness with quieter operation. You can press far into the accelerator pedal’s travel before reaching the kickdown point where the engine wakes up in the Pure electric driving mode. In other words, the T8 lets the gas engine sleep during everyday cruising, unless you’re the type to hammer down from stoplight to stoplight. And if racing is what you’re after, what are you doing in a Volvo? The 2025.5 XC90 offers no pretenses of sportiness, just competent luxury. We drove XC90s on winter tires across country roads without many curves, but the corners we carved told enough of the story. The steering, however, lacks the sharpness you find in the best cars and SUVs, and that note isn’t about sportiness. The best steering can ease tracking on highways or even navigating a crowded market parking lot.
A Couple Unwelcome Surprises
Both the B5 mild hybrid and T8 plug-in hybrid have a frustrating tendency to deliver what feels like everything it’s got when all you want is moderate acceleration. Picture it: With your significant other and parents in the car, you’re merging from a stop in traffic. You want enough acceleration to merge safely but not so much that the conversation shifts to surprisingly aggressive acceleration that—again—you didn’t ask for. It’s not an everyday situation for light-footed drivers but one we’d like to see improved in both variants nonetheless. The same is true of brake feel. It’s actually pretty good in the T8 plug-in hybrid, but the B5 doesn’t have as much feel, and smooth stops are slightly tougher thanks to noticeable shifts from the eight-speed automatic transmission. We also think the top of the pedal stroke starts too high in both 2025.5 XC90s we drove. It felt a tad like an arch stretch whenever we’d reach for the brakes. We’ll need more time to assess the suspension updates, as most of the roads we drove in Sweden and Denmark were impeccably maintained.
Inside: The Inimitable Volvo Touch
If you spec it right, the 2025.5 XC90’s interior updates elevate the Volvo to the top of the class in perceived luxury. Clean lines have always been a part of the XC90’s design ethos, and that continues here. Yes, we’d still prefer physical buttons for basic functions like air flow and temperature but can’t deny how good this cabin looks. New speaker grilles for the available Bowers & Wilkins sound system don’t break new design ground in this segment but look great on the door panels and the center of the dash. A generous helping of matte wood adds to the ambiance and is especially nice in the Cardamom (beige) interior with a color-coordinated textile panel on the passenger-side dash. The recycled textile trim is a great addition that minimizes the way-overdone piano black treatment. The 11.2-inch touchscreen dominating the center dash works well and features Google Built-In. So you have Google Maps (with no subscription required) and a handful of commands to adjust things like the temperature and air flow. Thanks to that larger display, a map/audio split-screen is more usable than before, though some song titles still get cut off.
Well, How Do You Like That?
Volvo did it. The Swedish automaker made a decade-old product relevant with a regular series of updates; the 2025.5 XC90 should definitely be considered by anyone who wants a sensibly sized three-row luxury SUV. Some things, however, still don’t measure up. Even the best infotainment won’t suffice for those who want more physical controls, and a couple elements of the driving experience could use tweaking. Access to the third row is also a real challenge, and that’s been true since this generation of the XC90 first arrived for the 2016 model year. When you want max space for people and stuff, other options will be a better fit. What blows us away are the Volvo’s safety test ratings. Five stars overall from NHTSA is a good start, but not nearly as challenging as a 2024 IIHS Top Safety Pick+, which the 2024 model earns. To put this into perspective, only the Acura MDX and Genesis GV70 match the Volvo here, but the Infiniti QX60, Audi Q7, Lexus TX, and Lincoln Aviator don’t as this is written. Focus on the 2025.5 XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid, and this Volvo is at its best. Here’s an attractive plug-in hybrid that offers a one-pedal driving mode and a refined driving experience along with an occasional-use third row. We wish more of the Volvo magic found its way to the B5 but, even so, recent updates keep this luxury SUV in the mix right alongside the electric EX90.
I’ve come a long way since I drove sugar packets across restaurant tables as a kid, pretending they were cars. With more than 17 years of experience, I'm passionate about demystifying the new car market for shoppers and enthusiasts. My expertise comes from thoughtfully reviewing countless vehicles across the automotive spectrum. The greatest thrill I get isn’t just from behind the wheel of an exotic car but from a well-executed car that’s affordable, entertaining, and well-made. Since about the time I learned to walk I’ve been fascinated by cars of all shapes and sizes, but it wasn’t until I struggled through a summer high school class at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design that I realized writing was my ticket into the automotive industry. My drive to high school was magical, taking me through a beautiful and winding canyon; I've never lost the excited feeling some 16-year-olds get when they first set out on the road. The automotive industry, singing, and writing have always been my passions, but because no one seeks a writer who sings about the automotive industry, I honed my writing and editing skills at UC Irvine (zot zot!), serving as an editor of the official campus newspaper and writing stories as a literary journalism major. At USC, I developed a much greater appreciation for broadcast journalists and became acquainted with copy editing rules such as why the Oxford comma is so important. Though my beloved 1996 Audi A4 didn’t survive my college years, my career with MotorTrend did. I started at the company in 2007 building articles for motorcycle magazines, soon transitioning to writing news posts for MotorTrend’s budding online department. I spent some valuable time in the copy editing department, as an online news director, and as a senior production editor. Today, MotorTrend keeps me busy as the Buyer's Guide Director. Not everyone has a career centered on one of their passions, and I remind myself all the time how lucky I am.
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