VOLVO’S PURE PLEASURE
VOLVO’S proud boast is that if you want to buy one of their cars, from now on you will be asked: ‘Would you like one with or without a plug?’ The Swedish maker, now owned by China’s Geely, is driving hard towards electricification (its ‘Pure’ mode) and to have a plug-in hybrid or fully electric option across its entire range.
And it’s largely achieved that goal with its smart new XC40 compact family SUV, which I’ve just driven.
In the industry’s jargon-heavy lingo, the XC40 Recharge T5 is known as a PHEV — a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle. A fully electric version, due at the turn of the year, will be a BEV or a battery electric vehicle.
The one I drove is powered by a 180hp, three-cylinder inline 1,477cc petrol engine linked to a 82 hp electric motor and an automatic seven-speed gearbox. It can accelerate to 62mph in 7.3 seconds up to a top speed of 127mph. But Volvo is limiting all newly ordered cars to 112 mph for safety.
A full charge using the fastcharge cable stored handily under the lift-up floor of the rear hatchback boot takes 2½ hours. An hour less than on a domestic three-pin plug.
Used correctly with regular charges, this car should slash your fuel bills, averaging up to 139.4 mpg, with CO2 emissions of up to 55g/km, despite a 48-litre fuel tank.
However, some customers simply order them to take advantage of their low road tax and company car tax rates, never bothering to charge them.
A full charge on the Pure setting gets you a maximum of 28 miles of silent, zero emissions. And there’s always the comfort blanket of a tankful of fuel to get you home.
I drove the upmarket ‘RDesign’, which accounts for about 30 per cent of sales. It’s civilised, especially when gliding around feeling smug in pure mode, with sufficient oomph in hybrid mode on motorways.
Prices start at £40,905.