Volvo S90

– Detroit, Michigan

It doesn’t take many miles in the driver’s seat to figure that the Volvo S90 is a lovely luxury car: stylish, easy to drive, and certainly a sublime place to spend time in any of its five seats. To those accolades, this T8 variant also adds forward-thinking. Its hybrid system is a model of the types of efficiency-focused drivetrains we’re likely to see in more and more cars. The 2.0-liter engine uses a supercharger and a turbocharger to fill its four cylinders, augmenting output to a stout 313 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. An 87-hp electric motor, meanwhile, drives the rear wheels, turning the Volvo into a “through-the-road” hybrid and also giving it all-wheel drive for inclement weather. In short, there’s a lot to love about this luxury sedan.

Pros

Worry-free powertrain. The T8 hybrid is impeccably polished in each and every one of its five driving modes. It’ll slink along silently on electrical power alone (for up to 21 miles on a charge) in “Pure,” for instance, or romp to 60 miles per hour in 4.7 seconds when using the engine and motor for maximum thrust in “Sport.” And the EPA says that even when the battery charge is depleted, you’ll average 29 miles per gallon combined, a respectable figure for such a large car with so much power.

Interior beauty. With more exposed wood than your local hipster coffee shop, and a better sound system to boot, the inside of the S90 is more than easy on the eyes. This test car, loaded up with the Inscriptio...