Volvo's New SUV Will Be A Hot Rod That's Easy On The Environment

Volvo's XC90 SUV has been the Swedish automaker's sales leader for the better part of the last decade. With the all-new second generation model set to arrive early next year, the XC90 should continue to be a contender in the highly competitive - but highly profitable - SUV market.

In the meantime, Volvo has released the first details of its XC90 R-Design, the sports-oriented variant of the SUV.

The popular perception of a Volvo people carrier is a boxy car with a small engine under the hood - the familiar 240 wagon of the 1980s, for example. Safety for these vehicles was, for the time they were produced, state of the art. But performance was tepid.

Things are different now at Volvo. Sturdy construction and cutting-edge safety technology remain, but the company's Chinese owners have pumped more than $11 billion into R&D. The result is a lineup of sleek automobiles built on Volvo's new Scalable Product Architecture platform, along with a lineup of ultra-powerful and efficient Drive-E powerplants.

Leading the charge is the XC90 - and its sporty R-Design variant.

To set it apart from the already suave SUV, the folks at Volvo gave the R-Design a bevy of special performance features, such as massive 22-inch sport wheels, low profile tires, an aero-kit, and dual exhausts. To top it off, Volvo's designers gave the new XC90 a set of dazzling T-shaped LED headlamps which they call - and we're not making this up - "Thor's Hammer."

Even more impressive will be the engine options available on XC90 R-Design. Drivers can choose from several versions of a modern 2-liter engine that features both supercharging and turbocharging. While Volvo loyalists will miss the brand's venerable 5 cylinder engines from its old wagons - or even the sweet Yamaha V8 from the first generation XC90 - the new 316 hp Drive-E motor is wonderful.

Business Insider had the opportunity to preview the Drive-E powerplant in Volvo's new S60 T6 sedan and found it to be gutsy and responsive with no hint of turbo-lag. In fact, the engine's broad torque band hides its small displacement so well that most drivers would easily mistake it for a much larger unit.

And if that's not enough power for you, buyers can also opt for a 400hp hybrid electric version of the powerplant. This setup, known as "twin engine", features a plug-in hybrid system that emits a Prius-like 60 g/km of carbon dioxide. In fact, the XC90 is the world's first seven-seat plug-in hybrid.

Performance from sports hybrid should be terrific. The less-powerful S60 T6 sedan has been clocked doing 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds. With the extra torque from the electric motor, the XC90 R-Design Hybrid shouldn't be far off of that time.

Volvo has also completely revamped the interior of the XC90. Gone are the button-laden interfaces found across the whole Volvo line-up. Instead, drivers will see a LCD-based center console. The small, 7-inch non-touchscreen display in other Volvo models will be replaced in the XC90 by a massive iPad-sized touchscreen display installed vertically, à la the Tesla's Model S.

This all makes the cabin feel much higher in scale than the outgoing model. The interior is covered in fine leather and tastefully located wood accents.

Since this is a Volvo, the latest safety technology is an absolute must. For the new XC90, Volvo will introduce its new City Safety system, which can bring the car to an automatic stop when it detects an upcoming obstacle. Even cooler, City Safety can pick out pedestrians and bicyclists on the road.

All this new design and technology won't come cheap. The 316 hp XC90 T6 should start at just under $50,000 when it arrives next year.