Volvo brings the XC90 T8 hybrid for homologation

Volvo has brought the T8 hybrid variant of their flagship SUV, the XC90, to India for homologation purposes. The XC90 T8 hybrid demonstrates the Swedish automaker’s commitment towards bringing in cleaner cars while not compromising on performance.

The Volvo XC90 was launched more than a year ago with the 2-litre inline four cylinder turbocharged diesel engine. The T8 also has a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four engine but runs on petrol and develops more than 300bhp of power output and drives the front wheels through an eight speed automatic gearbox. The rear axle gets its independent power source which is an 80bhp electric motor powered by the lithium ion batteries that sit in the now empty transmission tunnel.

The almost 400bhp four-wheel-drive XC90 sprints from zero to 100kmph in 5.9 seconds thanks to the supercharged and turbocharged engine and the supplementing torque from the electric motor. The T8 can also run for about 40kms on a full charge and hence will boost the fuel economy figures.

Volvo has built the XC90 on the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA platform) to allow varied powertrain options to be used. It gets Pure Electric, Power, AWD mode along with a Save mode which freezes the battery charge to be used later for the Pure Electric driving mode. We expect the T8 to be launched before the end of this year making it three probable launches in the calendar year 2016 – the S90 sedan, the new V40 and now the XC90 T8.