A hard to beat hybrid estate

THE VOLVO V60 OFFERS PRACTICALITY AND GUILT-FREE MOTORING, SAYS

ECONOMY, PERFORMANCE,

YOU don’t have to have an all-electric car to be able to do your bit to help save the planet by driving to and from work on electric power alone.

There are a number of cars out there that let you commute on electric power while avoiding the fear of range anxiety by having a petrol engine back up for when you want to take longer journeys.

And one of the best is the new Volvo V60 Recharge T6 all-wheeldrive.

It cleverly combines a 253bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine and an 87 bhp electric motor to give you great performance and sensible economy.

The car starts in electric mode and, depending upon conditions, flips from electric to petrol or a combination of the two in a seamless manner.

But most people’s drive to and

from work is less than 30 miles and as this car has a pure electric range of just over that you can comfortably drive to and from the office with it switched to pure electric only, if you want.

That way running costs are low and so is any adverse affect on the environment.

For longer distances you will have to rely on the car using both power sources as it really is designed to do, but it‘s certainly a good option for anyone wanting to switch to a full electric but wary of doing so.

If you do run out of battery power the V60 Recharge is quiet happy to operate on engine power alone until you can plug in again.

In practice the engine does add some charge to the battery but it’s minimal. You can, however, set the car to run purely on the engine, in which case the battery will recharge, allowing you to switch to electric power in towns and cities.

The V60 Recharge T6 is one of those cars which boasts the ideal combination of performance economy and practicality, not to mention good looks.

Like all Volvos it now has a top speed limited to 112 miles per hour but its acceleration is dynamic, hitting 62 mph from rest in just 5.4 seconds.

And unlike estate cars of the past it’s sleek and sexy while at the same time boasting plenty of space for the family.

There’s plenty of room for luggage, too, with space for 529 litres of goods with the rear seatbacks in position and a cavernous 1,400 litres with them lowered.

And like all top notch Volvos it boasts a classy interior with – in the case of the car driven here – a host of creature comforts including heated and power adjustable leather seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, a Bowers and Wilkins audio system, a powered tailgate and a huge panoramic opening glass sunroof.

And being a Volvo it’s packed with more safety features than you would ever expect, and many you’ve probably never even heard of.

On the road it’s supremely refined and quiet, so much so that it’s sometimes difficult to be sure whether it’s running on the battery or the engine.

And despite being an estate it has a distinct sporting feel to its handling thanks in part to its firm suspension set up and its all-wheel-drive.

For a sub-£50,000 plug-in hybrid estate with all-wheel-drive it takes some beating.

Unlike estate cars of the past it’s sleek and sexy while boasting plenty of space