22/23 T8 electric only range?

[Murph7355]

Possibly done to death already, but my search chi is failing me...

Time is approaching to replace our 2016 XC90...the war horse has done 110k miles now and is starting to feel its (mile)age. So a replacement is on the cards.

All electric would be my pref, but the EX90 is too expensive...considering a Kia EV9, but the OH (whose car it will mainly be) is nervous about switching brands (and also range anxiety!).

Next best alternative, I think, is an XC90 Plug-In Hybrid. Probably petrol.

Any real world views of the electric only range on this model year?

I believe Volvo upped the battery and the quoted range is 41 miles? So probably 20-25 miles real world in cold weather?

That would do us for 90% of the usage of this car these days, so may make sense (it certainly didn't back in 2016/17, but times change ).

Volvo also rationalised option packages from what I can see. To kit the car out similarly to our current one (pano roof, nappa leather, shadow lights etc etc) I believe I'm going to "need" Ultimate trim?

[sandys]

Your range guess is probably on the money but I'd just be guessing as an xc60 owner.

I'd buy the Kia though, if your not towing etc, a lot more car for the dough and fits your preference of all electric. (assuming you'll predominantly charge at home of course, if you can't neither car makes sense.)

[Murph7355]

Originally Posted by sandys

Your range guess is probably on the money but I'd just be guessing, i'd buy the Kia though, if your not towing etc, a lot more car for the dough and fits your preference of all electric.

Fits mine but not really the OH's

Will also need to tow on occasion - up to around 1,000kg. Possibly not that often, but will want the option.

[sandys]

Towing is not a problem for an EV, more of an inconvenience, its a massive hit on range and charging locations aren't setup for it, fine for occasional short trips but if like me you do many 200+ mile tow trips relying on charging infrastructure and having to decouple to charge is a bit of a pain. Petrol tank is so big on the Volvo, I can do these and return without having to stop and fill, if I had to fill I can drive through 99% of the petrol stations and do it in five mins.

Having had the PHEV my missus who was a bit anti EV as she gets range anxiety with petrol, hates when I play petrol station chicken, even worse when I get both fuels empty on the PHEV she would totally have a full EV now, range is not a problem really unless you are some sort of salesman type or long range commuter who does 100s of miles a day, we manage to treat our xc60 as a full EV most of the time, it's just a horribly inefficient one compared to a proper EV.

[Murph7355]

I suspect we live shadow lives

Mine gets nervy if the petrol gauge goes past 3/4 full.

I just bought myself a Taycan to replace a couple of older cars and she gets nervous about that even if she's not going in it. Yet the reality is that it's a piece of cake to manage, and stopping once in 3hrs of driving (roughly) is no hardship.

Will try and get a close look at an EV9 and see how that goes. Will also try and get an extended run in a PHEV XC90. If it an do the daily school run on electric, that might end up the best compromise. Baby steps into full EV for the family wagon.

[sandys]

Use case for using PHEV as EV for local stuff can certainly work as you want it too if it fits your local range, but I’d caution you to check her daily mileage as I took my missus mileage on what she thought she did, the reality was she actually does more than double what she claimed fortunately mostly still within our battery range, just have to always plug in at home if she hasn’t been able to charge at work, her work are fitting 6 additional chargers this month should be less of a problem getting some destination charging.

We’ve done 10k miles and I am on my 7th tank of petrol, so PHEV as EV for local stuff works well for us, we are using as EV I guess 70% of the time. Which is pretty much 100% EV for local humdrum, the petrol use for longer stuff.

[Milliner]

I went through exactly the same. After 6 years of an XC90 T8 (Momentum!), I'd signed up for a Tesla Y. However, I cancelled and went for another XC90.

This winter, max range specified is about 34 miles for me and it's fairly accurate. I did 6 miles drive to work all on battery. I left with the range at 26 miles and arrived on 18. With heating, heated seats, steering wheel on etc etc, I'd say it's pretty accurate.

I used to get to work and back on a battery on the 2016 model, now I can do it twice on a single charge for most of 2023, until it got really cold.

I got the T8 Ultimate this time, with the optional Nappa leather seats and love it. Genuinely felt like an upgrade and, until a more reasonable EX90 becomes available, I not sure what else I'd buy as I often use 6 seats (young family and a dog....).

Not much out there currently, but there is the Kia EV90 - brave design choice.

[Murph7355]

Our current one was an ex-demo Momentum. Had a lot of options, including blond Nappa leather. Wouldn't want one without now as it really makes the interior feel much nicer quality-wise

I like the EV9 design and a little surprisingly so does the other half. I feel it sits somewhere between the XC90 and new Defender.

Will start phoning round next week to see what/when we can get test drives in. Won't be buying a Volvo until their next "special events" happen though. The last one was a couple of months ago - wasn't ready to buy then as had just bought myself a new car....but am not passing up big discounts/trade in values/interest free arrangements for the sake of waiting a few months

[bluebarchetta]

Originally Posted by Murph7355

I believe Volvo upped the battery and the quoted range is 41 miles? So probably 20-25 miles real world in cold weather?

In my experience this is a bit pessimistic, I’ve not seen below 30 miles in winter, normally 35 but that is starting in a relatively warm garage. If you precondition whilst plugged in you’ll maximise the range.

Best I’ve got in the summer was 44 miles, normally about 38.

[Murph7355]

Quick update.

Went for a test drive in an EV9 last week. Lovely car. OH quite convinced by a full EV...I wasn't as convinced about the quality of the interior, but it wasn't bad and drove well. They look great in the metal.

Decided to run numbers on fuel and purchase price etc, and threw in the XC90 "MHEV" option to make sure I was covering the bases.

MHEV not an option. For our use, much more expensive. (Also ruled out a LR Defender for the same reason).

PHEV Volvo and full EV Kia very close though.

Then in the last couple of days the OH has started to get the wobbles about moving away from Volvo (we started with a mk1 XC90 12yrs ago). And coincidentally, Volvo are running a sales event next week that is likely to tip the numbers reasonably heavily in Volvo's favour (large dealer contributions, 0% APR, servicing etc).

Speaking with Kia next week to see what they are prepared to offer, and then to Volvo to see if the numbers will match what I think should be possible. But suspect it likely that we'll be finding out just how far we can go on battery only. (And how bad AAOS is ).