Even at its quietest, New York is a chaotic place to drive, between the honking, double-parked trucks, and the eternal hunt for a parking spot. But just beyond the last toll plaza out of town, though, the city releases you, too. The best city cars are also the best skiing, beach, and wine-country cars, too, like the Volvo XC90 Plug-in Hybrid; call it the perfect getaway car.
In town, Volvo’s mid-size SUV can go for up to 32 miles on a single charge1 — enough to cover many daily commutes — turning school runs and crosstown errands into something quiet, smooth, and with zero tailpipe emissions when driving on electric power. With the included charging cable plugged into a standard home outlet overnight, many weekday trips may not need to use a drop of fuel. When the weekend calls, the high-performance gas engine joins the chorus and combines to make up to 530 miles of range1, with an output of up to 455 horsepower2. As a seven-seat premium SUV with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, it means there’s room enough for families big and small, in addition to pets, beach chairs, golf clubs, and whatever else fun requires.
Here are four great day trips that take advantage of the XC90 Plug-in Hybrid’s room, performance, and style.
1. Montauk: The New Classic, Perfected
The eastward on the Long Island Expressway and, eventually, the Sunrise Highway toward the South Fork is a New York rite of passage — and, in traffic, a test of patience. The XC90’s Pilot Assist with Adaptive Cruise Control3 smooths the stop-and-go crawl through Queens, Nassau County, and the villages of Suffolk County, easing the load on the driver while passengers remain settled in. Second-row seats slide and recline individually, so settling in is the point, really, and passengers can stretch out or cede a few inches of legroom to whoever drew the third row. Montauk’s open dunes await, giving you time, too, to take advantage of the available 1,410-watt Bowers & Wilkins audio system4 — 19 speakers that render a road-trip playlist with concert-hall fidelity, even if you’re way in the back. Park at the lighthouse, watch the surfers at Ditch Plains, and try to convince yourself not to move there permanently.
2. The Hudson Valley: Art, Orchards, and Autumn Gold
North on the Taconic Parkway, escaping the city turns into one of America’s great scenic drives: a ribbon of parkway moving through Westchester horse country into Dutchess County farmland. Take in the outdoor pieces at Storm King, then go to Rhinebeck for antiquing and a long lunch. The Taconic’s sweeping curves are where the XC90’s athleticism shines; all that power makes merging and passing effortless, and quick and efficient when you want it, while the SUV remains composed and comfortable for passengers. The large, free-standing center display — with Google Maps, Google Assistant,5 and Apple CarPlay6 integrated — makes it easy to improvise detours. Stay in Cold Spring, and switch to Pure mode for a hushed and contemplative drive through the village, founded in 1846.
3. The Finger Lakes: Wine and Dine, the Long Way
Some 250 miles from Manhattan — or around four-and-a-half hours by car, good enough to qualify as a road trip — Seneca and Cayuga Lakes are comfortably within the XC90’s range, making a trip from Brooklyn to the Finger Lakes’ famous wineries possible without a single stop for fuel or charge. This is also the trip that the XC90 is built for: hybrid power for the open road. Spend the weekend exploring waterfall hikes in Watkins Glen, and if the weather takes a turn, the XC90 is ready for that, too, building on Volvo’s reputation for safety. There is a full array of active safety and driver-support technology, just in case you need it.
4. Cape May: Charm at the End of the Parkway
The Garden State Parkway’s last exit drops you in Cape May, which calls itself America’s oldest seaside resort. Victorian homes that have stood the test of time line streets made for evening strolls. Cape May is just around three hours from Manhattan — an easy enough drive for an afternoon, most of it on the Parkway, with its famous rest stops and built for road-trip comfort. Cape May is also family-friendly, even more than other parts of the Jersey Shore; the XC90’s integrated booster seat4 built into the second row means one less thing to pack. Back in the city Sunday night, Monday morning’s commute is quiet, plush, and electrified.
The Best of Both Worlds
The XC90 Plug-in Hybrid lives like a New Yorker, resumes with a weekday identity built on practicality and a weekend identity built on new horizons and adventure. The XC90 also embraces its Scandinavian design with understated elegance. You’ll probably be on the road, anyway, looking for the next discovery. Like New Yorkers, the XC90 is fiercely devoted to the city, in other words, while always plotting the next way out of it.
1 Estimated range according to the EPA driving cycles. The actual range achieved under real conditions varies depending on driving behavior, driving conditions, how you maintain your vehicle, battery and other external factors.
2 Power figures are preliminary and derive from estimates and calculations performed by Volvo Cars for the Volvo XC90. These outcomes are not guaranteed.
3 The driver is always responsible for how the vehicle is controlled as well as for maintaining the correct distance and speed, even when Pilot Assist is being used. Advanced driver assist systems, such as Pilot Assist, are restricted in how much acceleration, braking and steering force they can apply. This is only a supportive function.
4 Optional features and equipment shown.
5 Google services are enabled through a digital services package that is included for four years. After this period, new terms and fees will apply if you choose to renew. Google, Google Maps and Google Play are trademarks of Google LLC.
6 Apple CarPlay is a trademark of Apple Inc. Apple CarPlay is compatible with an iPhone 5 or newer models running iOS 8 or later. Update to the latest software to optimize your Apple CarPlay experience.