Driven: Volvo S90 Recharge Ultimate Is Still The Sleeper You Want

Volvo competes directly with BMW and Mercedes but shuns the idea that a premium or executive sedan needs to be a performance vehicle or that luxury means huge screens and nightclub lighting. The brand just doesn’t do ostentation.

As such, the Volvo S90 is always a breath of fresh air, and in it’s T8-powered Recharge plug-in-hybrid trim, it’s the deepest lungful available. As we’ve said of most other Volvo products, it is a high-end Swedish coffee shop vibe with its natural materials, and the powertrain delivers 455 horsepower smoothly with the convenience of one-pedal driving.

That all sounds great, but does it measure up to the driving enjoyment of BMW’s 5 Series or match the supple ride of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class? And with Volvo not planning on doing away with the S90, what does the future hold for it? We spent some time with the 2024 Volvo S90 Recharge to see whether buyers would be swayed from the quintessential mid-size sedans toward the slick Swede.

Exterior: Keeping It Classic

The S90’s proportions are classic sedan, but it’s all in the detail. Our tester, the S90 Recharge Ultimate, is the top trim in the lineup. It comes with 20-inch multi-spoke black diamond-cut wheels and all-season tires, but you can opt for the more sensible 19-inch wheels, at no additional cost. Either way, the S90 Recharge features a high-gloss black grille with a chrome frame, aluminum trim around the windows, motorized rear and passenger window blinds, and a panoramic sunroof. The hands-free power-operated trunk operates smoothly, but there’s no spare tire– just a “temporary mobility kit.”

Interior: Keeping It Special

This is where Volvo plays its Swedish card the hardest, starting with the tufted textile floor mats. The Ultimate trim offers Charcoal, Slate, Amber, or Blond Nappa leather to cover the seats and steering wheel and match the headliner. Going blond, as our tester arrived, is another step away from the idea of sportiness and adds to the feeling of airiness.

To enhance the elegance and luxury theme, the Ultimate trim adds Volvo’s extra-fancy crystal glass gear selector by Orrefors. It also adds front seat ventilation, four-way lumbar support over two-way, and power side bolsters. The dashboard and door panels are also tailored in fine materials, and the accent trim is either Gray Ash or Pitched Oak wood inlays, which add to that demure but upper-class feel.

Included as standard across the range are four-zone climate control, an air purification system, a heated steering wheel, and heated front and rear seats, making it almost as pleasant to sit in the back as the front — the only things missing in the back are adjustable seat positioning and lumbar support. However, there’s already room back there for taller people, even though the S90’s size sits somewhere between a mid-size and full-size sedan.

It’s a little tighter in terms of headroom than the BMW 5 Series’s new plug-in hybrid model, the 550e xDrive, but there is much more legroom for everyone in the S90 Recharge and the rear seats are particularly pleasant to spend time in. For an extra $1,500 you can also spec the Lounge Package to your S90, which adds a luxury rear-seat armrest, front seat massage, and ventilated rear seats. The Ultimate trim gets some nice comfort and convenience upgrades over the base Plus:

Infotainment: Keeping It Volvo

Volvo’s nine-inch portrait screen has stayed the same for years, but the operating system has skewed toward Google users. It’s a terrific implementation of Google services, and it means the factory navigation is now Google Maps, which is, along with Apple Maps, better than anything a manufacturer has done. If you’re in the Google ecosystem with your phone, then it’s terrific, and it means you don’t really have to hook your phone up to the car – just your account. However, if you’re an Apple user, which is half of the US, your phone must be connected to a wire to use CarPlay. On the other hand, the Google system supports things like Spotify if you have an account.

Volvo still insists on putting the climate controls on the screen, but it’s one of the better implementations out there and not a dealbreaker. On the plus side, it also offers either a 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, or the excellent 19-speaker Bowers & Wilkins, although the former is an upgrade you need to pay for on the base trim, and the latter is an Ultimate-only extra that will cost you $3,200. We’ll take the expensive upgrade to the Bowers & Wilkinson system over the extra wattage and bass from the Harman Kardon setup every time.

Under The Hood: Keeping It Powerful

The S90 Recharge’s T8 powertrain delivers 455 hp and 523 lb-ft, which ensures the S90 Recharge is effortless when it comes to getting up to speed or overtaking. It’s 0-60 time is 4.6 seconds, which is slower than the upcoming 5 Series plug-in hybrid’s claimed 4.1 seconds by virtue of making more horsepower. Some of the Bimmer’s specs are still under wraps, so we can’t tell whether it’s more efficient, too.

With the S90 Recharge, you get 29 mpg combined using only the combustion engine, and 66 MPGe when using both gas and electric power; this is relatively efficient for a car delivering so much power – particularly when the gas-powered part is turbocharged. The S90 Recharge’s party trick, though, other than being a traffic-light sleeper car, is its 38 miles of electric-only range. The battery takes around five hours to charge, so if your commute is less than 38 miles as a round trip or your place of work has chargers, it’s a huge benefit.

On The Road: Keeping It Comfortable

Despite impressive numbers from the powertrain, the S90 Recharge isn’t particularly rapid. However, even when loaded with people and luggage as well as carrying a battery pack and an engine, it pulls away and accelerates effortlessly. The ride isn’t quite up there with the suppleness of Mercedes’s E-Class, but its ability to deal with rough roads is still great. Essentially, it’s a front-wheel-drive car with electric motors adding power to the rear wheels, so it’s never going to have the tight, sporty feel of a BMW 5 Series, either.

Not going for the sporty feel frees up the S90 Recharge to have light, but not too light, steering and the need for a plethora of driving modes. You get in, you have a nice time driving from A to B, with or without passengers, and arrive as fresh as you left. If you want to put your foot down and overtake slow moving traffic, or slip into a fast moving freeway from a slip road, there’s no drama, no fuss, just effortless – but not aggressive – acceleration.

Conclusion: Keeping To Excellence

Volvo provides one of the most consistent experiences through its range of cars in the industry. Pick a model, and you’re getting a vehicle that makes a statement of class while completely lacking in obnoxiousness, and something that’s a pleasure to spend time traveling in.

The S90 Recharge embellishes that with effortless on-tap power matched by a reasonable fuel economy – and usable electric-only range. The long list of creature comforts and luxuries while staying away from a technology overload is an added bonus.

Does it compete at the top of the league against BMW and Mercedes offerings? It depends on what you want from a premium sedan. Volvo, along with Genesis, has done a great job of offering an alternative to premium-class stalwarts. Like the S90, the Genesis G80 sedan takes the fight to BMW and Mercedes – and it starts much cheaper.

In terms of pricing, the S90 Recharge goes on sale for $65,850 for the base model Plus – excluding a $1,195 destination fee and any options. The Ultimate requires an outlay of $71,400 – $1,300 less than what BMW’s new plug-in will cost. Genesis only offers the G80 as an ICE or fully-electric model, the latter comprehensively competing with the BMW i5. But Volvo isn’t resting on its laurels – the S90 will also be electrified in the future. Unlike the smaller S60, this isn’t the end of the S90. And since the new E-Class doesn’t offer the plug-in benefits, that leaves the S90 Recharge and BMW 550e alone in the ring – for now. As far as value for money goes, the S90 Recharge is on the money.

Sources: FuelEconomy.gov, Volvo, BMW, Genesis.