- Volvo’s XC70 has been designed for China for now, but will hit other markets
- A 1.5-litre engine can be mated to 21.2kWh or 36.9kWh battery packs
- DC fast charging capability will come as standard
Volvo has revealed plans to launch a new XC70 model in China, which will neatly slot between its XC60 and XC90 SUVs, but will be offered in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version that’s capable of traveling 124-miles on battery power alone.
While the Swedish company already offers an enticing line up of hybrids in Europe and the US, the company has traditionally opted for smaller and lighter battery packs that offer around 50-miles of range.
Details of the upcoming XC70 suggest that it can be optioned with either 21.2kWh or 36.9kWh battery packs, which is larger than some pure EV city cars, such as the Fiat 500e and the BYD Seagull.
China’s CLTC range test is generally more generous when it comes to efficiency, so you can likely take the 124 miles of range with a pinch of salt in the real world (100-110 miles is more likely), but it is backed up by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine should the batteries run dry.
What’s more, Volvo claims the upcoming vehicle is capable of DC fast-charging, so battery packs can be brimmed to around 80 per cent in 28-minutes from the appropriate outlets, while bi-directional charging is also said to feature.
According to Auto Express, the vehicle is destined for China, where long range plug-in hybrids are all the rage, but the Swedish marque hasn’t ruled out bringing it to other markets “at a later date”.
Bridging the gap
Long-range plug-in hybrids, like the Volvo XC70, make a lot of sense — particularly for those with a charging outlet at home. Keeping the battery packs brimmed means the average daily mileage, which is as low as 19 miles per day in the UK, can easily be covered without troubling the engine.
Even much longer commutes can happily be dispatched in EV mode using Volvo’s larger battery packs, meaning only the longest journeys need to resort to fossil fuels.
Currently, public EV charging is expensive in the UK and much of Europe, which has been a key argument for many to not make the switch to EV. If charging is as expensive as filling up with fuel, then what’s the point?
With Volvo’s technology, owners could avoid the eye-watering charging fees found at highway service stations by instead opting to rely on the internal combustion engine. Once at a destination, it then makes sense to seek out cheaper, lower-power charging outlets to refill the battery packs.
Offering this sort of flexibility could be a huge draw for those currently sitting on the pure electric vehicle fence and, so long as it is plugged in and used predominantly as an EV, will reduce local emissions and could save owners money at the pumps.
