Volvo doesn’t actually convert a finished XC90 into a T8 Twin-Engine Plug-in Hybrid. There is no team of Swedish robots ripping out Haldex hardware to make way for the 9.2-kWh battery pack that gets bolted into the driveshaft tunnel. Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture was designed from the start to accommodate the rear-mounted 87-hp AC motor that differentiates the T8 from other XC90 models. Volvo calls this version “Twin-Engine” because it retains the 316-hp turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder that powers the T6. But the T8 in fact has a third power source, a 46-hp electric motor that sits between the gas engine and the XC90’s eight-speed automatic trans axle. Total system output is 400 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque.
In electric mode, the T8 operates as a rear-driver, and if you go easy on the accelerator, you can travel up to 13 miles before the gas engine kicks in. At other times, only its front wheels are driven, and selecting the battery-saving mode will force the T8 to use the gas engine to recharge the battery, adding about five miles of electric range. You can also lock it into four-wheel drive or select the power mode, which keeps the rear electric motor engaged and ramps up the gas engine’s throttle response.
The lithium-ion battery has its own coolant circuit, while an electric immersion heater warms the other coolant loop to heat the cabin when the T8 is not burning hydrocarbons. Both electric motors are capable of recharging the battery during deceleration or when sending torque to the wheels.
Volvo has managed to package all of this in the same envelope as conventional XC90 models without intruding on the cabin, cargo hold, or third row, or diminishing the 5000-pound towing capacity.
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