2012 Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid First Drive
ays Peter Mertens, Volvo’s Senior Vice President Research and Development.
“Since the Michelin Challenge Bebendum drives include acceleration and handling tests as well as energy efficient driving, we expect our cars will do very well. If the driver chooses the default Hybrid mode, the diesel/electric combination provides the perfect balance between performance and low emissions. Combined power output from the diesel and electric propulsion systems is 215 + 70 hp (160 + 52 kW) and 440 + 200 Nm of torque.
It’s a front-wheel drive set up powered by Volvo’s five-cylinder 2.4-litre turbodiesel, which develops 160 kW/440 Nm. The 52 kW electric motor that power’s the rear axle is itself powered by a 12 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
The C30 Electric is just as exciting with a practical driving range of up to 93 kilometres per charge, and almost a zero emissions count.
As a pure electric car it is powered by an 83 kW electric motor developing 220 Nm of torque. The final Volvo entry is the V50 DRIVe.
Sitting behind the wheel of the Volvo V60 PHEV feels reassuringly familiar and dare we say it, normal. In front of the driver is a digital faux-analogue display detailing speed, battery charge and fuel gauge, estimated range and the usual driver safety information we’ve come to expect from Volvo over the years.
Choose your driving style
Sitting behind the wheel of the V60 PHEV you’re given three main operational modes, each selectable by push-buttons on the center console: Pure, Hybrid and Power. The three modes allow the car to perform at its peak as a pure electric car, a fuel efficient hybrid and a sporty long-distance cruiser.
Pure
Engaging the ‘Pure’ mode puts the car into its all-electric mode. Utilizing a 50 kilowatt electric motor powering the rear axle, the V60 PHEV can travel for up to 30 miles in all-electric mode at speeds up to 62 mph from a full charge.
Hybrid
Demand more power and Volvo’s legendary 2.4 liter diesel engine kicks in to provide additional power through the car’s traditional automatic front-wheel drive system, making the V60 PHEV a ‘through the road hybrid’.
Fuel economy at this point is remarkably low, giving the V60 PHEV a combined cycle fuel economy of 150 mpg using the European test cycles. Power
Switching into ‘power’ combines both the 215 horsepower of the diesel front-wheel drive system and the 50 kilowatts of the rear wheel drive motor, giving an all-wheel drive through-the-road hybrid capable of accelerating from 0-62 mph in 6.9 seconds.
Sadly we were unable to spend much time in this mode during the test drive as our car – an engineering pre-production model – had a few software glitches which meant that high power performance was limited. Electronic AWD
Volvo’s conventional gasoline and diesel ranges feature all-wheel drive systems capable of transferring power to the rear wheels when a low-traction situation is detected by the cars on-board computer.
In such systems, a conventional prop shaft is used, but in the V60 PHEV this is not needed thanks to the rear-wheel drive electric motor.
Although Volvo may have some tweaking to do to the drivetrain before the V60 PHEV is ready for prime-time, the ride and handling seems production ready.
The example of the Volvo V60 PHEV we drove may still be an engineering pre-production vehicle, but it already has excellent promise.
The software flaws we witnessed in the car’s drivetrain system are ones which we believe Volvo has time to sort out well before it reaches production in 2012.
Think of the V60 PHEV as Volvo’s missing link between a gasoline past and an electric future – one we think will be extremely interesting.
