The Swedish at Volvo are doing much better than their counterparts over at Saab and here they come now unveiling a new model.
What’s particularly interesting about the brand new model they’ve unveiled is that despite it being a rather boring older model outside, it’s a completely new idea inside.
The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid is special because as such a car, it is the first commercially available vehicle of its kind.
By which i’m referring to the fact that the newly introduced Volvo V60 is the first ever plugin hybrid to hit the market that uses a diesel engine for its internal combustion component.
This would be the company’s 2.4 liter turbo-diesel engine which pushes out 215 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque and it is teamed with a 6 speed automatic gearbox.
The other drivetrain component is a 70 horsepower electric motor which draws energy from a 11.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The pack can be recharged when running on the diesel, or via the handy plug in your garage.
Hard facts look impressive. The Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid pushes for 149 mpg on the UK cycle (some 124 mpg US) when operating in its hybrid, most fuel efficient form. This returns a range of 621 miles between trips to the pump.
The Volvo V6 is available in Europe for a starting price of 57.000 euros with one of the strongest markets expected to be in the UK. The price may turn a few people away from Volvo’s new machine but I have a few other restraints such as the non-clean image of the diesel engine.
