Volvo has introduced a series of upgrades for the XC90, including a new mild-hybrid powertrain and a revised gasoline-electric plug-in system. The 2020 model year XC90 is the first to offer Volvo’s MHEV diesel engine.
This combines the OEM’s well-known 2-liter 238ps diesel engine with a 48V battery, a KERS kinetic energy recovery system and an integrated starter generator.
Developed to improve fuel economy, the system offers a 15% improvement in fuel consumption during real-world driving and lower NOx emissions than the outgoing D5 variant that it replaces.
Energy captured by the KERS system when the car brakes or decelerates is stored as electricity in the battery. This is used to supplement the engine’s performance when accelerating and to power ancillary functions.
The B5 is paired with an updated automatic transmission, which brings improved fuel efficiency, superior gearshifts and greater torque capacity in the lower gears. The B5 also breaks new ground for Volvo by using a brake-by-wire system.
Volvo has also revised the XC90’s T8 Twin Engine gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid powertrain, with an increase in the battery’s capacity from 10.4 to 11.8kWh. This increases the car’s electric-only driving range from a maximum of 21.7 miles to 28.6 miles.
