2025.5 Volvo XC90 PHEV
Price: $93,450 CAD
Colour: Vapour Grey
It’s been a couple of years since I last enjoyed a dalliance with the Volvo XC90. I confessed my sin of lust at that time. It nearly toppled my marriage of two decades and I’ve been digging myself out of the hole ever since. I spoke at length in that review of how much I enjoyed nearly every aspect of this car. The sophisticated and reserved design. The tire shredding speed which somehow always catches you off guard. The sumptuous leather upholstery and on and on. In fact, I only had one real criticism of the car – the infotainment system. The Google Built-in unit felt supremely low rent and cheap. I said at the time that it felt like beta-test tech. Not worthy to be in any production car, and most certainly not in one like the stellar Swedish sled. It seems then that while little else has changed in the XC90, Volvo heard my words of concern over this piece of equipment (a few others might have mentioned it as well but I like to think I had direct input on the change). The result is a new infotainment unit. It’s still Google based but is a much more complete piece of tech. It’s similar to the one you’d find in Volvo’s sister company Polestar’s vehicles. It’s still a challenging UI sometimes but far superior to its predecessor. It also looks like someone actually tested this thing before installing it in the car. It didn’t go black or freeze once while I had the vehicle. Quite the change from the historical record of the old unit.
It seems then that Volvo, with one little change, has moved the XC90 a big step closer to perfection. I’m sure there’s a blemish to be found elsewhere on the car but much like Cindy Crawford’s beauty mark, it will only add to the allure. The big issue is gone and we can all rejoice. Perhaps I’ll play the celebration scene from Return of the Jedi and photoshop the XC90 into the background? Couldn’t be any worse than George Lucas’ tinkering.
