2018 Volvo S90

The scored T8 plug-in hybrid pairs a 315 hp turbocharged and supercharged 2.0L four with electric motors for 400 hp total. That is strong for a mid-size luxury sedan and the most powerful 2018 S90.

472 lb-ft of combined system torque, with the electric motor filling in low-rpm response, tops the sedan band.

An instrumented 4.5-second 0–60 run is quick for a heavy plug-in executive sedan. It beats most four-cylinder rivals and is close to six-cylinder ones.

Pulling away on electric power is silent, and the e-motor hides the twincharger's lag. But the four-cylinder sounds coarse when worked hard, which suits a luxury sedan poorly, and the electric-to-gas handoff is not always seamless. That puts it mid-band, behind six-cylinder rivals.

The Aisin 8-speed automatic shifts smoothly in relaxed driving. It can hesitate on kickdown and has no paddles on most trims, so it falls short of the crispest ZF 8-speeds in German rivals.

AWD comes on the T6 (mechanical) and the T8 (electric rear axle), but the entry T5 is FWD only. With no torque vectoring or terrain modes, it sits mid-band.

There are three powertrains: the 250 hp T5 FWD, the 316 hp T6 AWD and the 400 hp T8 plug-in hybrid. That covers economy, performance and electrified buyers, though all use the same 2.0L four and there is no six-cylinder or EV option.

Under the PHEV convention this is the charge-sustaining figure for the 2018 T8 eAWD: 29 MPG once the battery is depleted. That is modest for a plug-in sedan.

26 MPG in the city in hybrid mode is better than the gas-only S90 but low for an electrified sedan.

33 MPG on the highway in charge-sustaining mode is respectable for a 400 hp AWD sedan.

EPA's total range of 410 miles is adequate for touring. The T8's small 13.1-gallon tank limits it; later model years with a 15.9-gallon tank reached about 490 miles.

21 EPA electric miles covers only short commutes and sits at the bottom of the plug-in sedan band.

EPA's blended electricity-plus-gasoline cost is $2,000/yr. With only 21 electric miles, most driving still burns premium fuel.

This is mixed. The twincharged engine requires premium, which makes every gas mile costly. The battery is easy to keep charged: about 3 hours on 240V, and overnight on 120V. There is no DC fast charging, which is normal for a PHEV. The short electric range means most miles are premium-fuel miles.

NHTSA never crash-tested the 2018 S90; the SafetyRatings database returns no record at all for the 2018 S90 (T5, T6 or T8). The 4.5★ placeholder follows the dataset's convention for untested low-volume luxury sedans (matching the 2021 and 2024 S90 entries) — the car went untested because of its volume, not because it performed badly.

The 2018 S90 earned a Top Safety Pick (not TSP+), with Good ratings in every crashworthiness test then current: both small-overlap tests, moderate overlap, side, roof strength and head restraints. The award applies only to cars with the Acceptable-rated headlights, and the side and moderate-overlap results are from the older protocols, so it sits below the later TSP+ years.

Volvo fitted the IntelliSafe suite to every 2018 S90, including the T8 plug-in hybrid: City Safety AEB with large-animal detection and steer support, Pilot Assist adaptive cruise with steering assist, Lane Keeping Aid, BLIS, cross-traffic alert, run-off-road mitigation and road-sign information. Rear automatic braking isn't listed as standard by IIHS for 2018, and the 360° camera was an option, so it scores a little below later years.

The standard City Safety system earned Superior in IIHS vehicle-to-vehicle testing. IIHS did not yet test pedestrian AEB (day or night) for 2018, so that part of the evaluation is unmeasured, which keeps the score below the 2021 entry. City Safety did include pedestrian, cyclist and large-animal detection.

BLIS with steer assist and rear cross-traffic alert are standard on every 2018 S90, so coverage goes beyond warnings alone. It loses a little because rear automatic braking isn't listed as standard and there is no safe-exit warning.

Lane Keeping Aid and lane-departure warning are standard. Pilot Assist (second generation, 2018) works up to about 80 mph without a lead car, but reviewers found its centering wandered and dropped out when lane markings faded. It is functional but not trusted, and slightly cruder than the later revisions.

Adaptive cruise is standard, works across the full speed range with stop-and-go, and follows and resumes smoothly. The combined highway-assist package loses points because its steering half is unreliable (see 3.2.4) and it has no lane-change assist.

The car has no hands-free capability. Pilot Assist is hands-on: it warns and then disengages when it detects no steering input. No 2018 Volvo offered hands-free highway driving in the US.

IIHS rated two variants for 2018. The Momentum trim's non-adaptive LED reflectors with high-beam assist are Acceptable, while the curve-adaptive LED lamps on upper trims (Inscription) are only Marginal. Neither reaches Good, and the better-equipped trim gets the worse lamps.

Visibility is average for the class. The raked windshield brings thick A-pillars, and the high beltline and rear pillars limit the view over the shoulder. Standard BLIS and the backup camera help, but the 360° camera was an option.

IIHS rates the LATCH setup Acceptable. The two outboard seats have full LATCH hardware with anchors that need little force, but they are difficult to maneuver around. The center seat has a tether only. The rear seat has ample room for rear-facing seats.

Every 2018 US S90 is a five-seat sedan. The center rear seat is compromised by the tunnel hump that houses the T8's battery.

37.8 in is mid-pack for a mid-size luxury sedan. The panoramic moonroof became standard for 2018, so this is the figure buyers actually get.

42.2 in is slightly above the segment midpoint, and the widely adjustable power seats make it usable for tall drivers.

Rear headroom matches the front figure. Edmunds still notes that the sloping roofline and thick rear pillars make the rear feel tighter than the number suggests.

2018 is the year the US S90 moved to the long-wheelbase body, adding about 4.5 in of rear legroom over the 2017 car. That makes rear legroom its defining strength, ahead of the 5 Series, E-Class and A6.

At 13.5 cu ft the trunk is among the smallest in the class. The T8's battery sits in the center tunnel, so the plug-in loses no trunk space.

Small-item storage is weak: the console bin is shallow and the touchscreen-dominated dash leaves few cubbies. The 2018 car also has no factory wireless charging pad (that arrived as standard in 2021), no underfloor bins and no AC power. The split-fold rear seat with pass-through is the one flexible feature.

Volvo's front seats are a segment benchmark. The Inscription adds power bolsters and thigh extensions, and massage was optional for 2018. The new long-wheelbase rear bench is comfortable for adults, except in the center-hump middle position.

The ride is smooth on most surfaces, and the optional air suspension makes it comfortable and stable. On the steel springs, sharp bumps jostle it like a sports car, the optional 20-inch wheels make that worse, and one reviewer calls the damping too stiff for the car's mission.

The cabin is smooth and quiet at a cruise, and the 21-mile electric range keeps the engine off on short trips. When pushed, the twincharged four-cylinder sounds harsh, which keeps it behind the quietest German and Lexus rivals.

The T8 Inscription comes standard with heated and ventilated front seats, four-zone climate, a panoramic moonroof and remote preconditioning through Volvo On Call. The heated steering wheel is a $300 option, though, and heated/ventilated rear seats and massage come in the $3,450 Luxury Package. The Momentum gets less.

The T8 plug-in hybrid is the scored configuration. 2018 was its first US model year, with Momentum as the entry T8 grade at $63,650 before destination. That is roughly $10,000 past the top of the sedan pricing band, so the item floors.

The Inscription was the volume T8 grade. The scored value is its list price, but options such as Bowers & Wilkins audio, air suspension and the Luxury package pushed many window stickers past $75,000. Before 2023 the plug-in was eligible for the federal plug-in tax credit, which offset part of that price for buyers who qualified.

Volvo paid for the first three scheduled services, which keeps the five-year total below what the German rivals cost. After that, the owner pays European-luxury service rates, plus repairs on the T8's supercharged-and-turbocharged engine and hybrid hardware. This early first-generation T8 is nudged above the 2021 estimate because it had more recalls and launch-year fixes.

Luxury plug-in hybrid sedans lose value fast, and iSeeCars ranks the S90 plug-in hybrid as the worst-retaining S90 powertrain. Today's KBB retail price for a 2018 T8 Inscription has fallen to about a quarter of its original sticker. The 5-year figure uses iSeeCars' depreciation rate for the plug-in, adjusted slightly downward for the first-year T8.

Volvo's New Vehicle Limited Warranty matched the German luxury norm and ran a year longer than the mainstream 3-year term.

The scored value is the 8-year/100,000-mile coverage on the plug-in's hybrid battery, which is the federal minimum. Volvo offered no separate long-term powertrain warranty, so the conventional drivetrain was covered for only 4 years/50,000 miles.

Volvo's three years of free factory services beat Audi, Mercedes and (by 2018) BMW, which no longer included maintenance. The S90 also came with 4 years of unlimited-mile roadside assistance and Volvo On Call connected services. Volvo offered no charging credit or other plug-in perk.

$69,145 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (36% retained, or about $24,892) leaves about $44,253 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,400 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $49,653 in total.

Mixed signals that lean below average. Consumer Reports gives no reliability verdict for the 2018 S90 because its owner sample is too small, J.D. Power's model-level rating is a below-average 2.5 of 5, and the 2018-MY Volvo cohort scored poorly at 90 days. On the other side, the model-year record is clean: only two minor recalls, and no NHTSA owner complaints are on file. 2018 is the second year of a design launched for 2017, with no facelift until 2021.

Volvo has sat in the bottom third of J.D. Power's quality and dependability studies for the whole period that bears on a 2018 car, and has since fallen further. Its 2018-MY cohort reported about 30% more problems than average in the first 90 days, and the brand ranks below average in every later VDS. Most of the problems are in infotainment and electronics rather than mechanical parts.

A light record for this model year. There are only two campaigns: front-seat rail flange nuts that may have been left off at assembly, and a software error in the telematics/connectivity module that could stop eCall from working. Both are fixed at the dealer, and neither involves the powertrain or the high-voltage system. The 2020–2021 PHEV battery-fire recall does not cover 2018. Held in the upper-middle of the band because the T8's ERAD rear-drive unit has a known pattern of failures and service fixes that recall counts don't show.

The 2018 T8 pairs Volvo's turbocharged and supercharged VEA 2.0-litre four with an early clutch-based ERAD electric rear axle and a small high-voltage pack. The VEA engine has no systemic failure mode. However, the ERAD units of this era have a documented failure history, and Volvo went on to replace the design entirely with ERAD3 for 2022.5. An early-production plug-in hybrid with known weak points sits just below the middle of the band.

In 2018 the cabin was brand-new and among the best in the mid-size luxury class. It has open-pore wood, leather or Nappa, metal-mesh and brushed-metal trim, and the T8's Orrefors crystal shifter. Reviewers placed it at or near the top of the segment for materials and design. It falls short of the very top only because the Sensus touchscreen's slow, layered interface was criticised.

Owners rarely complain about how the car is physically put together. There is no panel, trim or rattle recall and no NHTSA owner complaints. One recall does point to a missed assembly step (the seat-rail nuts). Initial quality for the 2018-MY Volvo cohort was poor, at 122 PP100 against a 93 average, and 2018 was the first full model year after US-market production moved from Torslanda to Daqing. Those problems lean toward infotainment rather than panel gaps, so the item sits mid-to-low in the band.

About 280 US retailers gives national coverage, but the network is thin compared with BMW, Mercedes or Lexus, and Volvo's service satisfaction has dropped to near the bottom of the premium brands. Buyers of the 2018 car got three years of free scheduled maintenance, and technicians know the T8 hardware from the high-volume XC60/XC90. The S90 nameplate itself left the US market after 2025.

Routine repair costs are normal for a luxury sedan, and Volvo has good independent parts suppliers (FCP Euro, IPD, Skandix). Most T8 hardware is shared with the XC60/XC90. The drag is specific to this early PHEV: an early ERAD rear-drive unit and a high-voltage pack that become four- to five-figure risks as the 8-year battery warranty expires on 2018 cars. The nameplate is also discontinued and was built in China.

Every 2018 S90 uses the same 9-inch portrait Sensus screen, and no larger option exists. That is small for the mid-size luxury class.

The tablet-like four-tile Sensus layout looks good and is easy to understand. But on the 2018 software it lags, especially on cold starts when heated-seat and climate controls are buried in the screen, and reviewers repeatedly call it hard to use while driving.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard for 2018 (Android Auto was newly standard), but only over USB. No trim offers wireless projection.

Sensus Navigation and voice control are standard and usable, but the voice system is command-based and clumsy, so most owners default to phone projection. The Google-based system arrived only with MY2022.

The volume T8 Inscription gets the 14-speaker, 600-watt-plus Harman Kardon system, and the 19-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system is a $3,200 option widely rated among the best factory audio at any price. The Momentum's base system is ordinary.

The volume Inscription has a standard 12.3-inch full-digital driver display with a map view. On the Momentum it is part of the $1,000 Momentum Plus Package. The layouts are few and fixed, short of BMW, Mercedes and Audi configurability.

The 2018 Sensus car has no vehicle OTA. Software updates are done at the dealer, and only map data downloads over the connection. Volvo's S90 OTA support starts with the MY2022 Google built-in cars.

Volvo On Call covers remote lock/unlock, remote start and preconditioning, car locator and T8 charge status, with an included initial subscription. There is no digital key, and the early app was slow and frequently disconnected.

There are two USB-A ports in the front console and 12V sockets. No factory wireless charging pad was offered on the 2018 car (it became standard in 2021), there is no USB-C and no AC outlet.

Push-button start and keyless entry come on the Inscription, and remote start works through Volvo On Call. The power trunk lid (with hands-free opening) costs extra in the Convenience Package, and no phone-as-key is offered.

A rear camera and parking sensors are standard. The excellent 360-degree camera and Park Assist Pilot are options in the $2,550 Convenience Package.

A graphical head-up display is a $900 standalone option, so any trim can get it without a big package. It is clear but conventional in size.

The new long-wheelbase body's 40.4 in of rear legroom takes rear-facing seats without pushing the front seats forward. Against that, IIHS rates the LATCH hardware only Acceptable, the center seat has a tether only, and a 13.5 cu ft trunk takes a stroller reluctantly.

It earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick (not Plus) for 2018. City Safety AEB, Pilot Assist, and blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert (newly standard for 2018) come on every trim. Gaps: NHTSA never crash-tested it, the headlights rate only Acceptable or Marginal, the 360 camera costs extra, and there is no rear-occupant alert.

Four adults ride comfortably for hours on benchmark front seats and the new limo-like rear bench, with four-zone climate standard on the Inscription. Heated rear seats come only in the Luxury Package, rear amenities are otherwise thin, and 13.5 cu ft of trunk limits luggage with four aboard.

It is easy in traffic, with silent electric pull-away, light steering and standard stop-and-go Pilot Assist. The annoyances are a laggy touchscreen that hides climate controls, a brake pedal whose regen/friction blend is hard to judge, and a firm ride over sharp bumps.

A commute under 21 miles can run on electricity, but beyond that it burns premium fuel at 29 MPG. EPA's blended annual cost is $2,000, against $2,850 for gas only. Insurance, tires and maintenance are typical luxury-sedan money.

On a 120.5 in wheelbase and about 200 in long, it is a big car in town. It needs a 38.7 ft turning circle, and the thick pillars and sloping roofline create blind spots. The 360 camera that makes parking easy is a Convenience Package option.

This is not a work vehicle. There is no factory tow package or US tow rating, and cargo is limited to a 13.5 cu ft trunk.

It is built for luxury, not hard use. The complex twincharged 2.0L, the early T8 hybrid system with its known rear-drive-unit (ERAD) issues, optional air springs, low-profile wheels and leather interiors all suit gentle use only, and Volvo's 2018 quality scores were below average.

There are essentially no work provisions. It has no AC outlet or vehicle-to-load power, no North American hitch, no upfit ecosystem, and leather and wood surfaces throughout.

It is a strong highway tourer with benchmark seats, a quiet cruise, standard Pilot Assist with adaptive cruise, and 410 miles of total EPA range. A firm ride on big wheels, lane centering that wanders, a harsh engine under load and premium fuel hold it back.

AWD through the electric rear axle makes it a credible ski-trip car on plowed roads, but not much more. With about 5.6 in of ground clearance and a long wheelbase, it has no roof rails, no North American hitch, no outlets and no terrain modes.

The 13.5 cu ft trunk is wide and low, and a 60/40 split-folding rear seat with a ski pass-through extends it for long items. There are no roof rails, hitch or underfloor storage.

The T8 corners better than its size and battery weight suggest, and stays stable in every scenario on the optional air suspension. It is still a comfort-tuned long-wheelbase sedan rather than a sports sedan, close to the G80 and ES.

The steering is accurate and light, which makes parking easy, but it carries little feedback, typical of the SPA-platform Volvos.

Stopping power is adequate, but the 2018 T8's regen-to-friction blend makes the pedal vague and inconsistent, so it is hard to judge how much braking each press will deliver. Regen itself feels weak and can't be adjusted.

Electric pull-away is smooth, and the e-motor fills in low-end response. But the reviewer says the car never feels like a 400 hp machine, the handoff to the engine and the 8-speed's kickdown can hesitate, and the four-cylinder turns harsh under load.

It is silent in EV mode and quiet at a cruise. Worked hard, the twincharged four sounds harsh and unrefined beside the six-cylinder engines in rivals at this price.

The new long-wheelbase body turns wide, and no rear-axle steering is offered.

The seats are superb and widely adjustable, especially the Inscription's with power bolsters and thigh extensions. But climate and many routine functions live in a laggy Sensus touchscreen, and thick pillars create blind spots.

With 400 hp and a tested 4.5 s 0–60, the T8 is genuinely quick, and it handles tidily. But numb steering, an inconsistent brake pedal and a harsh four-cylinder keep it a serene cruiser rather than a car you take the long way home in.

For 2018 a panoramic sunroof, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, leather and Pilot Assist semi-autonomous driving all became standard. Pilot Assist cost extra on most German rivals. The T8 also came standard with air suspension on the rear axle.

The T8 delivered 400 hp, all-wheel drive, 21 miles of electric range and rich equipment for about the price of a well-optioned BMW 530e or Mercedes E-Class. However, a $69k list price that commonly climbed into the high $70s is no bargain. At the time, the pre-2023 federal plug-in credit improved the deal for buyers who qualified.

There were three powertrains (T5 FWD, T6 AWD and T8 eAWD plug-in) but only two equipment grades. The T8 came only as Momentum or Inscription, and the sporty R-Design trim did not arrive until 2019. The lineup was narrower than the 5 Series or E-Class ranges.

About 7,000 US sales in 2018 is a small fraction of the 5 Series and E-Class, which each sold several times that. The figure was down from the launch year, and the T8 accounted for only a minority of that total.

In 2018 Volvo's image was on the rise, led by the XC90 and its Scandinavian design and safety reputation. As a sedan brand, though, it lacked the luxury cachet of BMW, Mercedes or Audi, and that gap shows in the S90's weak resale.

Slow sedan sales made discounts and lease deals on S90s common, and the plug-in tax credit was passed through on leases. These were helpful to buyers without being fire-sale pricing.

This was the second model year of an all-new generation built on Volvo's new SPA platform. Every US car moved to the long-wheelbase body this year, and the T8 plug-in was added. The car's first facelift was not due until 2021.

Reviewers praised the design, cabin and safety tech. However, they marked it down for its four-cylinder refinement, ride on large wheels and slow Sensus infotainment, and it rarely beat the 5 Series or E-Class in comparison tests. It did earn an IIHS Top Safety Pick.