RE: New Volvo, same practical magic | PH Footnote

[Gez79]

Funnily enough I was looking at used cars that I might want to replace my Superb 280 with next year and a V60 or V90 T8 seemed to tick the most boxes.

[Roma101]

One other problem. Delivery is 10-12 months according to the website.

[rxe]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Yes, fair enough. I suppose if you commit to only using the 3 pin to charge overnight then it works.

The whole point is that it does “just work”. You can charge it off a 3 pin plug or dedicated charger at home. If you go somewhere where this is impossible overnight …. then you have no problem. If you want to drive 800 miles, no problem. If you stop at a charger on the way, and it is broken - no problem. Massive queue at the charge points? Keep driving, no problem.

I followed someone on the A/M40 into Acton last week and they surprised me by hammering on the brakes after some lights and pulling into a charging bay at 11:30 at night. If the future is having to sit by the A40 for 30 minutes waiting for my car to charge up so I can get home, then it doesn’t sound great. Things like this Volvo seem pretty attractive.

[ballans]

bennno said:

V90 much better car, akin to 7 series or S class refinement with so much self driving tech standard.

Hybrid not for me, worst of both worlds. D4 diesel so frugal and cheap to run. As nobody wants them 50% discount from new price at 18 months - bargain.

I would highly recommend a test drive before going for the V90. I love the design and went into the local Volvo dealer fully expecting to order one.
Took a D4 out for a test drive and was very disappointed. Unrefined engine, leaden ride quality/handling and very annoying driver aids tech. Really wanted to like it but wasn’t anywhere near as good to drive as a 5 series so I bought one of those.

I’ve since driven the V60 hybrid and was very impressed. Lovely car and if I was still doing the miles I would probably have one.

[captain.scarlet]

I've always thought the XC60 is far better looking than the XC90.

Still, Honda are producing some generally nice-looking cars on the whole.

[MountainsofSussex]

bennno said:

V90 much better car, akin to 7 series or S class refinement with so much self driving tech standard.

Hybrid not for me, worst of both worlds. D4 diesel so frugal and cheap to run. As nobody wants them 50% discount from new price at 18 months - bargain.

For some people, a diesel makes more sense than hybrid - the classic traveling salesman spending every day up and down motorways would be better served by derv. For those of us doing shortish commutes, school runs, shopping trips, and occasional long trips, then a PHEV should be very cheap to run day to day, avoids having to visit the petrol station and has far less embedded carbon than a full BEV.

[Howard1650]

“The indicator tick is erratic and not synced with the flashing green light. “

This is the design feature, it’s meant to be irritating so you don’t leave it on unnecessarily , is equates to Volvo safety.

[cerb4.5lee]

captain.scarlet said:

I've always thought the XC60 is far better looking than the XC90.

I've had both a 2019 XC60 and a 2019 XC90 as loan cars, and I personally thought that the XC90 was the better looking car, and a much better car overall too(granted you would expect that though because it is a higher class of car).

Edited by cerb4.5lee on Saturday 25th June 18:24

[stevemcs]

Instead of making heavier cars with larger batteries how about building more hybrids that do the job perfectly,

[Rich Boy Spanner]

I can already get 60MPG on a motorway run, and almost never below 52 with a standard petrol Octavia 1.5 TSI Eco. That is being replaced by a electric something because the BIK is almost zero (as opposed to £2500 on the Skoda). Hybrid's aren't good om BIK either any more. Fleet and company cars are the biggest buyers in the UK, that's why there is a jump to BEV. Hybrid's/PHEV's might make sense to a private buyer if the overall cost doesn't outweigh that of a non-hybrid.

[Baldchap]

I actually really like the look of this in red. I never use the performance of my RS4 but do carry tall backseat passengers and a large dog. My human passengers hate the ride quality.

Based on a valuation online I think I'm about £800 off a direct swap for a brand 'Ultimate' spec one (not that one can actually be bought, of course).

Genuinely tempted...

[gl20]

This article reads exactly as I thought of things when I bought my XC60 PHEV earlier this year. Local miles on electric then petrol for longer stuff so no range anxiety and can just top up with regular 3 pin plug.

But…

The writer’s experience when away from home (ie you just keep topping up overnight) is, I’ve come to realise, no different had I bought an EV ie even without a fast charger at home you could just leave it trickling away such that it might always have 200 miles worth in the battery and so never a problem for all your local stuff. Then if you have a really long trip just plan ahead (ie get it fully charged) and then find a charger at the other end.

It’s horses for courses but, if you don’t have a long commute, then an EV is not going to cause you range anxiety. If you only do the occasional very long journey then I think putting up with an occasional charge station is worth it versus carry two forms of propulsion the whole time when you will only be using one of them.

I sat this as a PHEV driver who has now come to realise that EV would probably make more sense overall, unless you’re doing long daily commutes.

[BikeSausage]

If they offered this engine combo in the V90 Cross Country, I might have been tempted. But it had to be a straight petrol or diesel, so that latter it was.

And delivery dates: yes, I was quoted 12m for the T6 Hybrid, but my V90 CC diesel will be here in a couple of weeks, 5 months after ordering.

[Benfield5697]

I have recently purchased a 2019 V60 D4 with pretty much all the optional extras , coming from a BMW 435D Gran Coupe. The Volvo is such a lovely car, economical yet punchy and in my view is one of the best looking estates on the road. I also had a G31 2017 BMW 530D prior to the 4 Series, although a great engine I much prefer the interior and looks of the Volvo. The Bowers and Wilkins sound System is also fantastic, one of the best I have ever listened to. Highly recommend.

[sandys]

gl20 said:

This article reads exactly as I thought of things when I bought my XC60 PHEV earlier this year. Local miles on electric then petrol for longer stuff so no range anxiety and can just top up with regular 3 pin plug.

But…

The writer’s experience when away from home (ie you just keep topping up overnight) is, I’ve come to realise, no different had I bought an EV ie even without a fast charger at home you could just leave it trickling away such that it might always have 200 miles worth in the battery and so never a problem for all your local stuff. Then if you have a really long trip just plan ahead (ie get it fully charged) and then find a charger at the other end.

It’s horses for courses but, if you don’t have a long commute, then an EV is not going to cause you range anxiety. If you only do the occasional very long journey then I think putting up with an occasional charge station is worth it versus carry two forms of propulsion the whole time when you will only be using one of them.

I sat this as a PHEV driver who has now come to realise that EV would probably make more sense overall, unless you’re doing long daily commutes.

whilst you can do those things with respect to charging on an EV with the granny cable, to get the range via the granny cable would take 3days to go the distance in an EV6, he said he has no chargers, so can't fast home charge, 70 litres of petrol means he doesn't need to worry about if any of that charging infrastructure doesn't work, or is of the appropriate speed to provide a quick top up midway.

I went for the PHEV for this reason also, a T8 455, most local stuff done in EV mode but I can tow anywhere do anything as petrol is quick and easy. Downside of Volvos setup is the rubbish charging speed for such a large battery, meaning it is only really suitable for home or destination charging.

new Merc c300e comes in estate, has a 25kwh battery(~60 miles) and a 50Kw DC charger for quick top up charging on travels, might be an even better alternative for some, can tow 2000kg too, you can even choose a PHEV diesel for the mile munchers.

I do think an EV makes more sense generally but they can't yet do what I need and we are still torn, but that mostly stem from rubbish like having to pay more tax etc to run a PHEV and that I can get the fuel for all my EV journeys free.

Edited by sandys on Sunday 26th June 18:18

[gl20]

sandys said:

whilst you can do those things with respect to charging on an EV6 with the granny cable, to get the range via the granny cable would take 3days to go the distance in an EV6, he said he has no chargers, so can't fast home charge, 70 litres of petrol means he doesn't need to worry about if any of that charging infrastructure doesn't work, or is of the appropriate speed to provide a quick top up midway.

I went for the PHEV for this reason also, a T8 455, most local stuff done in EV mode but I can tow anywhere do anything as petrol is quick and easy. Downside of Volvos setup is the rubbish charging speed for such a large battery, meaning it is only really suitable for destination charging.

new Merc c300e comes in estate, has a 25kwh battery(~60 miles) and a 50Kw DC charger for on travels charging, might be an even better alternative for some, can tow 2000kg too, you can even choose a PHEV diesel for the mile munchers.

Yes, but I assumed with a granny cable you could still get, say, 40 miles of charge in the same time as you could filling up the battery in the PHEV to its max of 40 miles? (And that 3 days is if you want to go from empty to full?)

So my point was that,’during the week, I do 20-30 miles a trip here and there, may be 100-150 at the weekend and would only have a 300 mile plus journey a couple of times a year. So, so long as an EV can suck miles through a a granny cable no slower than a PHEV, then I think I’d have been better overall with an EV. (Ie barely less convenient and not carry 2 types of power train)

But if an EV can’t suck at the same rate as a PHEV then fair enough, my logic wouldn’t work.

[sandys]

Its the same whether EV or PHEV what can come through a 3 pin (sub 3kw) , you'd likely go further in an EV6 charged over the same time via that too as it's more efficient.

I did add above I agree for most EV makes more sense unless you fall into a specific niche like me and you're not a hardcore EVangelist to do things like unhitch your van to charge on route etc.

[a311]

I've the older smaller battery version in an XC60. I'd wrongly assumed that hybrids would be getting overlooked in terms of development with the increase in EV's. We get around 23 miles range on electric it's enough to cover 99% of our journeys. It would get me to work and back (just) but don't go into work much post Covid.

With the increased range the bigger battery version offers we'd only need fuel for longer trips which are pretty infrequent.

Good family cars, on my third Volvo now and might look at one of these when we change.

[Davie]

The current me can see the future me driving one of these somewhere down the line for a variety of reasons... I'm a Volvo man, I really like the V60 styling especially in R-Design guise and think it's infinitely better looking than a V90 which for some rear, always look a big saggy arsed. Plus, day to day my wife drives mine, doing the usual Karen stuff so rarely venturing that far however semi-regularly there will 150 to 250 mile trips and at the other end, finding a charger isn't that convenient.

But then I really haven't looked into such things so my knowledge is minimal but that's largely fuelled by the fact I'm hanging on to conventional ICE stuff as long as I can... and on a side note, I miss the days when ICE cars meant you had about £15k of Rockford Fosgate or JL Audio gear wedged in a Ford Escort van... and the other reason is I have no desire to invest that heavily in a car just now, which is the main concern I have for the future me and that's the potential for scary bills once these come out of warranty or the batteries / complex systems start failing.

I accept however things they are a changing and so reluctantly I would admit to really liking this and thinking it could be a really good solution moving forwards but until push comes to shove, I'll hang on to diesel for the time being and I've just bought an old 850 T-5 recently too as I fear the days of being able to buy and enjoy such cars are very much numbered.

[PistonTim]

Sounds like the stop/start at the gates? Most Audi / BMW etc I’ve seen have a button to switch this off - is the Volvo not the same?