Three in every 10 new cars sold by Volvo are, as of 2022, electrified Recharge models. Volvo has been investing heavily in fully electric models over the past few years, but its history with plug-in hybrids is now more than a decade old, and has won the company sufficient incremental commercial progress that right now it is selling between three and four times as many PHEVs as EVs.
Quite clearly, Gothenburg still considers petrol-electric motoring a key part of its powertrain strategy, and the powertrain in this week’s road test subject proves as much. The Volvo V60 T6 Recharge has, as part of the wider family of 60- and 90-series cars, just received a widely improved hybrid system.
While the critical components all package just as they did in the pre-facelift Volvo V60 (2018-2022), they add significantly to both the car’s drive battery capacity and its electric motor output – as we are about to describe.
That, in turn, makes this a V60 PHEV capable of more than 50 miles of electric running on a full charge – nearly a 60% improvement on its direct predecessor, according to WLTP lab testing. For company car drivers, then, the model qualifies for UK benefit-in-kind tax at an eye-catchingly low rate, and yet is priced almost identically to its less powerful, shorter-legged immediate predecessor.