Autotoday test drove the 2024 model year Volvo XC60 T8 Long Range Hybrid. The car has just landed in Finland. Volvo’s new XC60 range offers a longer driving range with the electrically updated Long Range model, of which both the T6 and T8 versions will go on sale in Finland.
The engine combination in the T6 version offers 105bhp less efficiency than the T8 version, which we test drove for Autotoday.
Four trim packages are available – Plus Bright, Ultimate Bright, Plus Dark and Ultimate Dark. All of these package options come with quite luxurious equipment for Finnish conditions.
The Ultimate Dark package is the best-equipped of these, which includes almost all the goodies that a driver could wish for in a SUV. The price of a car equipped with this Ultimate Dark package is EUR 78 290.
Our test car also had the following optional extras: a Bower & Wilkins 15-speaker stereo system, sports seats, tinted rear windows, separate air suspension, larger aluminium wheels and a metallic paint finish. The total price for this equipment package is €7 650 excluding tax, and the whole car will leave the dealership for €86 175.
This Volvo with this equipment is a luxury package.
The wide range of equipment naturally improved test-driving comfort, safety, and the powerful power package offered performance almost suitable for track driving. From the looks of the car, you would never guess the power provided by the power plant.
The car has 455 hp of peak power available from a combination of a 145 hp electric motor and a turbocharged 310 hp internal combustion engine, producing a staggering 709 Nm of maximum torque.
This SUV is well suited to a wide range of uses, from city driving to off-road driving and truly enjoyable touring, where this car is certainly at its best.
The car’s acceleration surprises the driver with a palpable G-force, where you really sink into the seat when you press the accelerator pedal to the floor.
The factory promises an acceleration of 4.9 seconds to 100 km/h, a staggering figure for an SUV weighing 2163 kg. At these speeds, without a top speed limiter and Volvo’s standard speed limiter of 180 km/h, a fleet-footed driver could find his licence in the hands of the police, often accompanied by a hefty fine.
The car’s efficiency can be a challenge for drivers at first, as even the slightest touch of the accelerator pedal can send the car into overdrive.
Moderate consumption
However, the car’s consumption figures are modest compared to these crazy power figures.
A test drive of 430 km in very varied conditions – in town, on small dirt roads, on traditional roads and on motorways – produced an average consumption of 6.1 litres per 100 km in winter conditions. At the start of the test drive, the batteries were fully charged and the meter showed a driving distance of 71 km on electric charge.
A frugal driver can achieve consumption figures as low as 1.1 litres per 100 km/h, but this certainly requires optimal conditions and continuous charging of the batteries.
In practice, air temperature and weather conditions will certainly have a considerable effect on these consumption figures in Finland. In addition, pre-heating the car in winter or pre-cooling in summer will consume battery charge, shortening the electric driving range.
According to the factory, it takes 10 hours to charge a car battery from a standard socket. In practice, this was slightly undercut, and we managed a test charge of 9 hours with a charging time of zero to 71 km, with the batteries fully charged according to the meter.
In practice, this is quite suitable for a typical family’s daily chores. In the city, everyday chores are done electrically; when the day is on the go, you can recharge fully at night, before the next morning’s daily routine.
Versatile seat adjustments
To improve driving comfort, the test car had leather-trimmed sporty seats with a wide range of seat adjustments, allowing for a snappy driving position.
Two memory slots were provided for both front seats to store the adjustments.
Volvo drivers are probably used to a headrest integrated into the fixed seat when driving, but I would have liked a folding headrest for the otherwise versatile seat adjustments.
The electrically adjustable seats were automatically instructed on how to use them, with the car’s display screen illustrating and instructing how to make the adjustments. This is useful for both the driver and co-driver, as not all settings are completely clear without guidance.
Our car was equipped with a stylish panoramic roof with a sunroof that opens in several different positions. The sunroof is controlled by a touch button, which requires a bit of getting used to for the ‘naked driver’, of which I am certainly one.
At first, the roof positioning didn’t seem to work at all with my delicate fingertips, but after a while of trying, practice made perfect.
The basic driving controls are found around the steering wheel on two whiskers, in the centre of the steering wheel and on the display screen in the centre of the car console.
Difficult to use the screen while driving
The screen is elegantly integrated into the car’s beautiful and harmonious front console interior. The Apple CarPlayTM in-car operating system may please Apple users a lot, but pleasing one may displease another, so this is not entirely a good choice for Android users. The touchscreen is large enough to manage the various car settings.
The touchscreen is used for car handling settings, navigation, multimedia, ventilation and heating functions.
In practice, the screen works very well when the car is stationary, but when the car is in motion, it is almost impossible to adjust the necessary controls safely from the screen.
In particular, I found the control of the car’s heating settings to be one of the main shortcomings, which, especially in winter driving, has to be made and changed several times during the journey. Now even the steering wheel heating and seat heating adjustments are made via small icons on this touchscreen, requiring the car to be stopped on the roadside in order to make those setting changes safely.
Here came a small nuance of the downside of the proliferation of smartphones, when they are tapped while driving, easily causing dangerous situations for other motorists.
This change can lead to a similar challenge when drivers try to set up the functionality of different apps on the screen while driving, causing smartphone-like problems.
Perhaps in the near future these adjustments can be smoothly implemented with voice control as a partial solution to this challenge, but this will also take some getting used to and will require silencing other audio sources in the car during commands.
To create the driving experience, our car was equipped with a 15-channel sound system, which will certainly add to the driving pleasure of the enthusiasts.
Personally, I’d certainly have settled for the optional Harma/Kardon 12-channel sound system, and considered other uses for the €2,650 investment in the Audio Premium Sound package.
For parking assistance, a 360-degree bird’s-eye view provides a sophisticated touch. Visibility in different directions is good thanks to large side mirrors, and a suitably refractional backdrop. In addition, visibility to both front and rear is good, and the window spacers did not obstruct visibility in any direction of travel.
One of the highlights of the interior is the gear knob made of designer crystal.
Automatic four-wheel drive
The car’s streamlined 8-speed automatic gearbox moves the car smoothly and quite balanced in four-wheel drive. Start/stop is controlled by a switch on the centre console. In addition to the standard (D) Drive setting, the car has a (B) Boost option, making the car much more aggressive.
The car’s four-wheel drive provides a firm grip on icy winter road surfaces with the friction tyres underneath. Sure enough, the 455 horsepower engine had the tires spinning on empty at speeds up to 60 mph on clean asphalt when the accelerator pedal was depressed.
In general, parking the car is easy thanks to the really strong and light steering, and is very successful without requiring much effort from the driver.
The steering stiffens with increasing speed, and at 80 km/h on the highway, the steering is quite firm. The car grips the road well and is stable.
The air suspension added to the smoothness of this car and the car reacts smoothly to uneven road surfaces. The steering and feel is more like French-style softness than German-style firmness.
Despite the different driving settings, the car reacts to pedal presses with a slight delay, and the more impulsive driver may be a bit startled by this, but once the power kicks in, you can feel the car’s power in every part of your piss.
The car’s ‘crawl’ feature prevents the car from sliding freely, and in this setting, rolling the car into, say, a traffic light requires the accelerator pedal to be pressed all the way down. As soon as your foot comes off the pedal, the car stops. This will certainly take some getting used to for drivers who have a habit of slowly rolling the car before stopping and pressing the brake, for example at traffic lights. The brakes, by the way, are very effective, and grip quite violently at the slightest sensitive press of the brake pedal.
The boot capacity is 468 litres, which is quite roomy for a hybrid SUV of this size. The boot can accommodate a bag of hockey gear or even larger groceries, but for transporting a larger group of athletes, fitting several bags of hockey gear may be a pipe dream.
Going automated
When cruising with cruise control, lane departure warning and collision warning with automatic full brake setting, the driver can indulge in an almost fully automated cruising experience.
I switched these on on the way from Helsinki to the Turku motorway, and pressed the pedals for the first time in Turku as I entered the urban area at the first traffic lights.
A great driving experience from the “car of the future”, this automated combination offers a hassle-free driving experience. The only danger here is that when you have to switch off the automation, when you finally come to the traffic lights in the city, you “might forget” that it’s time to go back to driving yourself.
The windscreen washer works effectively even on a muddy salt-filled road, and the washer fluid is directed through the integrated holes in the windscreen wipers directly into the windscreen, saving wasted windscreen washer fluid, a clever implementation by the Swedish engineers.
Opening the bonnet, opening the boot, opening the petrol hatch are all done from the driver’s left footwell. There is not too much room in the engine compartment for a do-it-yourself man, but a car with such a fine automation system should be left in the hands of a dealer.
Volvo has made a brilliant combination of electric and internal combustion engine SUV, certainly challenging other brands of the same size, and it is certainly worth a visit for anyone considering a car of this size to try it out for themselves.
Test drive and text by Juha Remes
Correction 1.2.2023: The original article stated that the car had no windscreen display (HUD). There is one, but it was adjusted so that the test driver could not see it. The comment about the windshield display was removed from the story.
Volvo XC60 T8 AWD Long Range Ultimate
- Electric motor power: 107 kW (145 hp).
- Combustion engine power: 209 (310 hp)
- Maximum engine torque: 709 Nm.
- Acceleration: 4.9 sec (0-100 km/h) and top speed 180 km/h
- Manufacturer’s declared combined fuel consumption: 1.1 l/100km (CO2 emissions 24g).
- Fuel tank capacity: 71 litres
- Electric range: 68 – 71 km
- Maximum charging power (AC): 22 kW.
- Curb weight: 2163 kg.
- Boot space: 468 l.
- Traction: four-wheel drive
- Ground clearance: 200 mm
- Length: 4708 mm, width: 2117 mm and height 1651 mm
- Towing capacity: 750 kg.
- Starting price: EUR 78 290
- Price for test drive: EUR 86 175
