We recently drove the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid and gave it a resounding 10 out of 10. Full review to follow soon.
It seems that many others thorough Europe share these views. Cars UK reports that production is ramping. It’s particularly appealing if you like a car with a decent turn of speed – the V60 will do 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds – like the reassurance and practicality of 4WD – the V60′s electric motor drives the back wheels – drive in to London on a regular basis – the 48g/km emissions are congestion charge free – and get taxed as BIK from your company.
Volvo built 1,000 V60 plug-ins in its first year, 2012 (which were sold out within hours) but expected to raise that to somewhere between 4,000-6,000 units in 2013. Now, they’ve said that production will be raised to 10,000 units.
With CO2 emissions of just 48 g/km, the Volvo’s popularity is largely to do with Europe’s heavily CO2-based taxation rates for vehicles. In the Netherlands, where CO2 taxation can add thousands to the price of a new car, buyers have already ordered 3,000 units.
Demand could go up in London too, with the announcement that the city’s congestion charge exemption will only be granted to cars producing below 75 g/km of CO2. Once the regulations come into force in July, Volvo will be the only automaker with a luxury car exempt from the outrageous London per-day charge.
Of course, dodging heavy taxes is just one of the V60 plug-in hybrid’s virtues.
Based on the 2.4-liter five-cylinder turbo diesel model sold in Europe, the V60 Plug-In drives its front wheels with diesel and its rear wheels electrically, with peak system output of 285 horsepower.
It’s quick, taking just over 6 seconds to reach 62 mph, and has an electric range of 31 miles.
Combined economy on the European cycle–on which CO2 emissions are based–is 129 mpg. However, this figure is highly variable depending on several factors, and even Volvo itself admits the figure is unrealistic for most drivers.
