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Volvo has updated is largest car, the seven-seat XC90 SUV, for 2019. The biggest change is to be found in the brakes, which now incorporate a new 'kinetic energy recovery braking system,' which can help save on fuel.
You'll probably not be able to spot the new XC90 on the outside - although Volvo says that it has changed the wheels, exterior colours and given it 'a modern new grille,' the alterations are so modest as to be undetectable.
Inside, there are even fewer visual changes, but there is an alteration to the seating layout - the XC90 can now be had in four different seating configurations. There's the usual seven-seat version; a super-luxury four-seat 'Excellence' model; and now a new six-seat layout, which gives centre-row passengers more elbow room.
The versions featuring the new kinetic braking system actually get a special 'B' badge to differentiate them from the rest of the range. It's basically Volvo's mild-hybrid system, which recovers waste energy from the brakes, transfers it to the car's electrical system and which can help trim as much as 15 per cent off your fuel consumption, according to Volvo.
This part-electrified powertrain will work alongside the existing T8 plug-in hybrid XC90 to start the process of electrifying all of the company's models in the coming years.
Meanwhile, and as you might have expected, there's a huge emphasis on safety for the XC90, which has been recently named as one of the safest cars you can buy by independent safety experts Thatcham. Thatcham claims that, since the XC90 was first introduced, not a single person driving one or riding as a passenger in one has been killed in an accident.
To add to that accolade, the XC90 now offers drivers help with steering on both the City Safety and the Blind Spot Information System. City Safety with Autobrake is still the only system on the market to recognise pedestrians, cyclists and large animals. The Oncoming Lane Mitigation system first introduced on the XC60 is now also available on XC90, while the Cross Traffic Alert technology now also offers autobrake.
The updated XC90 will go on sale in May.