Volvo XC60 T8 Plug-in Hybrid | Sgcarmart Reviews
The Volvo 240 is arguably not just one of the coolest Volvos, but also coolest cars of the 1970s to 1990s, helping to cement Volvo’s reputation for safety and humanentric design. Unsurprisingly, it also held the honor of being the brand’s bestselling model for a couple of decades. That is until June of this year when it seated the crown to this car, the Volvo XC60. Now landing with a light refresh as well as the option of a rather compelling updated plug-in hybrid powertrain. This car looks set to reinforce its bestselling status still. [Music] Are you looking for new tires for your car? Well, look no further than today’s sponsor, SG Kama ESHOP. SG Kama Eshop is the simplest and easiest way to buy your tires for free. Browse from our online catalog for your car’s model or enter the size you’re looking for. Eshop makes tire shopping a breeze by providing you with all the options at great prices and a list of curated, reliable installers at your fingertip. With Eshop, you’ll never have to worry about hidden cost. Simply make payment online and head down to the selected tire installer with the purchase order and you’re done. Chaining tires can be that easy with ESHOP. Now, back to the review. Now, I think it’s worth highlighting that the XC60 actually got a first faceelift. This is the second one. So, if you go back into our reviews and take a look, you can see Julian reviewing the mild hybrid B5 variant 2 years ago, and that already carried with it some updates, but this is actually the first time we’ve gotten the plug-in hybrid T8 variant since the original one many, many years back. So, let me just use that as our baseline, and I’ll bring you through all the updates that have come around since then. Starting things off, we have a new front bumper over here, which gives the car a sleeker and more angular look. But I think the most notable difference this time of course is the fact that we have this new front grill over here with diagonal elements. I like that they kind of criss-cross the meat, not at the center. And also the fact that the lines that are slanting to the right like that are parallel to the strike through that we get through the Volvo logo. So that’s a very nice touch. Now, if you follow me to the side, you’ll notice that the XC60 T8 rides on 20-in wheels, which are actually larger and upsized from the previous T8 variant. I feel like these help to give the car quite a muscular and squat stance on the road. And also, you notice that the wing mirrors are in gloss black. Volvo Singapore doesn’t officially label this as having the R design package, but these do help to give the car a sportier kind of feel in combination with the black gloss on the updated front grill that we saw just now. Now, also at the side, one more thing that I want to point out is the fact that beyond just a fuel tank cover on the other side, we also get a charging port right here. And that already is like a subtle hint at the car’s electric power. Worth pointing out is the fact that the previous T8 variant could only support AC charging up to 3.4 kW. Now, this one has its charging rate, maximum charging rate increased to 6.4 kW, and that can charge the car’s battery up fully from 0 to 100% in just 3 hours. The Volvo XC60 T8 is priced at $373,000. The 2 L engine produces 306 brake horsepower and its electric motor produces 143 brake horsepower. The hybrid drivetrain puts out a combined 449 brake horsepower and 709 Newton m of torque. The 8-speed transmission brings the car from 0 to 100 in 4.9 seconds. The Volvo XC60 T8 has a claimed fuel consumption of 76.9 km per liter. For more details on the Volvo X60T8 or any other car, head on to sgarmat.com to help you make the smart choice on your next car. Now, if you follow me behind, you notice that this rear end is actually a combination of the two facelifts that we’ve gotten over the years. So, in line with that first face lift that we mentioned earlier, we get the removal of tail pipes over here in line with Volvo’s mission to go carbon neutral, fully electric over the years without any overt hint combustion power. But specific to this update is the fact that we have the tail lights now in darkened casings which give it a smokier more brooding effect. And of course at the right over here we get the T8 badge with your plug-in hybrid allwhe drive badge as well to show you that this is the range topping XC60 that you’re driving. Now if I open the boot you’ll be greeted with 468 L of boot space which admittedly is not the best for this segment but this is still of a fairly usable shape. The anti-short length test will be passed just barely. You can see that the edge of it is at the scarf plate already, but it’s still of a fairly good depth and it’s still big enough to fit a fulls size luggage inside. Now, there are a couple things I need to mention as well. One, I’m sorry I can’t really show this to you on camera because it’s quite dark in here, but the boot actually slopes sounds slightly like that due to some packaging reasons and I think it’s just something that’s worth highlighting that when you have stuff that’s maybe a bit slippery sliding around, you might have it kind of roll to the back of the boot floor when you’ve opened the tailgate. Another thing worth mentioning is that this T8 variant as the plug-in hybrid due to some packaging issues compared to the M hybrid B5 variant, you actually get a 15 L deficiency in boot space that has 483 L. This is 468. Again, not not a very very big dealbreaker for me, but I think it’s just something worth highlighting and remembering if you’re thinking of getting this T variant. Now, let’s go check out the back seats. Now, live in the back seat of the Volvo XC60 is actually pretty good. As you can see, I have a good amount of leg room. I can tuck my feet underneath. I have a good amount of headroom as well. And for context, I am 1.74 m tall. And this seat is set up into my ideal driving position. Also, the X60 is one of those cars that has its rear air con vents mounted on the pillars instead of behind the center console. And I kind of prefer this placement actually because I feel like the cold air is blowing at me and at my body rather than just at my knees. So, that’s a great design choice. Now, when it comes to accessing the middle seat, I think it’s a bit of a mixed bag. If you are someone of a smaller frame or if you’re a kid, you might actually like this middle seat quite okay because Volvo has chosen to recess the seat base over here. And if you’re like me and you’re not well, you’re basically like a like a like a 10 pole and very skinny, then you’ll notice that actually this recess seat seat base works well for you. Even though there is a quite a protruding central transmission tunnel, you can tuck your feet to the side and life here is pretty good still. But I fed a couple of colleagues out yesterday and we put three people behind. They were slightly bigger size than me and they told me that, you know, the rear is best reserved for two people in comfort. And I think I can understand that point of view. If there are two of you, I think you guys will be very, very happy. In the rear, you have two cup holders here for all your coffee or tea after lunch. You also have two USBC ports. And of course, we have magazine holders behind the driver seat and also behind the front entry. So all in all, I would give this a good rating in the rear. Now let’s go check out the front. When you think of Sweden and in particular when you think of Volvo, I think one of the terms that will probably come to your mind first is the idea of minimalist luxury. And on this updated XC60, I think I’m going to change that a little bit and put a little spin to describe it as minimalist modern luxury. And that is because now in the cabin, we have this new 11.2 in infotainment touchscreen. Vo says that it has increased the pixel density of the screen by 21% over its predecessor and I feel like that claim holds very very true. Operating the screen is very nice because of how crisp and sharp the graphics are. Uh the touchcreen is also very very responsive. So operating it feels very very pleasant. One thing I like about this infotainment system is the fact that despite it being very touch heavy, it’s still very intuitive and userfriendly. So all your towels are big, everything is sensibly labeled. I like that we have slide out screens for your air conditioning. You have very very sensibly labeled shortcut buttons. For example, if I want to change my drive mode, just one tap here and I can change it to pure electric power, hybrid power. I can change my steering feel. So these these feel like small touches that have been implemented by Volvo to make driving experience better. And I feel like this speaks to its sort of sensibility and and history of making cars. Elsewhere, the use of materials is very very nice as well. We get this light colored wood grain texture on the dashboard and also over here. And also new on this update is the fact that we have this new crystal gear shift lever by uh Swedish glass and dual maker force. It’s different from the leather repton that we saw on the previous XC60 and it feels very very nice in the hand. Very very nice to use. Other thoughtful touches over here. We we don’t just have well we have two cup holders but I want to say two and a half because you have two big cup holders and then because Volvo has been very thoughtful with its uh design again we have a middle one over here that can swallow a slimmer bottle or like a small chunky cup and also there are little little um homages to Sweden like the Swedish flag over here also the Swedish flag over here. Overall it’s a very very pleasing and calming space. I wouldn’t say it’s as flashy as the Germans or even the Chinese. We don’t get dazzling ambient light shows, you know, multiolor lighting. It’s very, very simple, laid-back, but it still feels expensive. And I feel like that’s exactly what we like from Volvo. Now, I think one thing that may surprise uh drivers is the fact that the XC60 doesn’t come with wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. For phone mirroring, you actually need to pack a cable. But I believe this is actually an intentional omission on Volvo’s part because as you’ve probably come to know from Volvo’s most uh recent or latest generation cars, every car nowadays drive uh runs on the Android Automotive operating system natively. And because of that, we actually have Google Maps as your home screen. This is so seamlessly integrated with the rest of the car. If I for example choose that I want to go to back to new tech club to actually come office. I can just start it and it shows on the screen here. It shows on my instrument cluster. It also shows on my head-up display which is standard on the T8 variant. And I like how seamlessly integrated everything is in this car. In fact, I feel like this system kind of proves to me that I don’t actually need Apple CarPlay or Android Auto for much. Mostly when I’m hooking up a car to Apple CarPlay, I use it mostly for Spotify as well as for ways or Google maps. And because this Android Automotive OS allows you to have maps natively, it also allows you to download your streaming apps. You don’t really need to connect your phone via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. And I think this is a kind of equipment decision that I can overlook and accept. Hey Google, take me to the nearest McDonald’s. Navigating to McDonald’s seller to mall. Another thing that I want to comment about the cabin is the fact that despite all that digitalization that we get as part of this new ethos of minimalist modern luxury, again this is this is a term that I coined myself. Please don’t put it on Volvo. We still get a retention of physical buttons. So I like that we have the iconic uh pause and play button as well as the volume knob that still remains here as well as buttons to shift your tracks. Also we get physical buttons on the steering wheel. I have mentioned before that I’m not too much a fan of gloss black, but I feel like the buttons on this steering wheel, they feel weighty and nice. So, that’s again something that I can overlook and accept. A final thing worth highlighting this cabin is that equipment levels are actually pretty good. We get ventilated seats as standard in this T8 variant, which is actually not a feature that we see in many of its premium rivals, surprisingly. Also, we get a wireless charging tray up front, so you don’t have to pack a cable when you char when you need to recharge your phone. And as I mentioned earlier, you also get a standard heads-up display that integrates your navigational directions very very seamlessly. And speaking of directions, I think it’s time to take this car out for road. So, let’s go. Now, before I talk you through any of the driving impressions of this facelifted XC60 T8, I think we are duty bound first to go into what has changed with its plug-in hybrid drivetrain. So, a few years back, PVO actually introduced this new plug-in hybrid drivetrain that incorporates both a larger battery as well as a more powerful electric motor. On this car, now we get an 18.8 kWh battery that is updated from the previous 11.6 kWh one. Volvo says that credit is due to an extra third layer of cells that has helped to increase its nominal capacity. And also on this car in the rear axle, we get a new more powerful electric motor that now produces 144 brake horsepower up from the 80ish brake horsepower of the previous electric motor. Now what that means is that with this car, you’re getting a car that is not just that doesn’t just have the capability to go further, but also is more powerful and from behind the wheel that experience really really translates. So by default the car always operates in hybrid mode. In this mode it relies on the electric motor first for propelling the car and in that sense it’s almost EVs. the way that the XC60 T8 drives, your takeoffs are very silent, very instantaneous. There’s that surge of torque at the start and it really really gives the car a good sense of pep before the turbocharged engine then kicks in after. I think it’s worth pointing out just how much power that XC60T it has. In total, it’s electric motor and turbocharged engine produced a combined 449 brake horsepower and 709 mm m of torque. And because the car is equipped with all-wheel drive, that sends the car from 0 to 100 in just 4.9 seconds. That’s frank frankly quite insane for a car that’s almost 2.1 tons. This is not a hot hatch, by the way, but that acceleration figure is probably on par with what you get from a Golf GTI or something of that ilk. Now, bear in mind that we’re still in a Volvo, so the overarching sensation that you get from behind the wheel is still one of sturdiness and security. You know, there’s really this vault-like feeling that um Volvo has mastered so well over the decades and that we’ve come to associate the car. When you’re driving a Volvo, you feel very safe. You feel very protected from the elements outside. I think that still holds in the XC60 T8. And because the car, you know, its ride quality is good. And because on this generation, this facelift generation, we also get an added use of noise dampening materials. So, the overall impression you get from the drive is still one of refinement and comfort. But because of all that power that I mentioned earlier that you have from the car, the X6T also has this other side to it where you kind of feel a little bit of cheekiness because of the amount of power it has. And it’s always very very I think entertaining to um surprise someone at the lights because they see a Volvo XC60 and they’re like, “Oh, this is a car that you know like expecting like someone very stately and composed behind the wheel.” But then when the lights go green, you can just kind of leave everyone behind. And yeah, I I I I like that duality of character that you get in this XC60T. Now, of course, there are other factors that also add to its uh unexpectedly playful character, I would say. For instance, the ride is not so much on the soft side. I think it’s it’s composed. The ride quality is good, but it’s not overly cushy. And I think that’s also aided by the fact that we have those lowrofile 20-in tires. And yeah, I think that that sort of ride quality, that kind of suspension setup is perfectly befitting of the kind of power that you get on this car as well. Also, the steering is not super super communicative, but once you’ve adjusted it to the firmer setting, I think it feels well weighted enough, it also is accurate enough and quick enough to accompany the kind of power that this car has. So, in all, it feels like a like a quite well-c calibrated balance. Definitely if you’re looking for something more exciting then there are peers like the X3 to go for. But for what it’s worth, I think the XC60T still does a fairly fairly good job at entertaining the driver. Continuing that minimalist luxury philosophy that we spoke about the car’s interior earlier on. I think it’s also interesting how Volvo has chosen and continues to choose a more uncluttered layout for the user experience. So, you know, some heads up displays, they like to give you like augmented reality navigation directions or with your driver drivers instrument cluster, they can inundate you with lots of information like um your media and whatnot. None of that exists on the on the XC60. Instead, your cluster only your instrument cluster only shows you the navigational directions and your heads-up display also chooses to only show you um directions as well as your speed. I like this approach because I feel like it resenters you back to the driving experience. Because this is a plug-in hybrid, I know most of you are expecting us to talk about the car’s range. So, Volvo states that the new battery, the upsized battery on the X60 T8 gives it WLTP range of around 60 km. And actually, this figure holds quite well in the real world. So, if you are looking to go drive emissions free and you’ve had your battery fully charged overnight at your HDB car park, your condo car park or on your lended property, you could actually look forward to doing an entire day’s worth of commuting purely on electric power. And honestly, I would say talking about fuel consumption when that battery is charged or semi-charged is quite a difficult task for us because the number jumps about depending on how much you’ve relied on electric power on any given day. However, I think it’s interesting to talk about what happens when that battery is fully depleted. You know, you might start to experience certain changes in the car’s driving behavior. From my experience, when the battery is fully depleted, I get about 12 km per liter uh in terms of fuel consumption. Now, this is admittedly not at the heights of what you see from self-charging hybrids from the Japanese car makers, the Korean car makers, but for a plug-in hybrid, and again remembering that this car is 2.1 tons, I think that’s not a bad figure. And besides, if even if you’re removing fuel consumption off the picture, what I like about the car is the fact that you don’t feel a real drop in power when that battery is fully depleted because the electric motor is still there. The car still retains sufficient charge such that your takeoffs from the standstill are still reliant on electric motor. So, you still get an instant surge of torque. And when the turbocharged engine kicks in, the car still feels like there’s a lot to give still. the gear shift from the 8-speed um automatic transmission are very very smooth, very nice. And even if you’re following the accelerator and you’re feeling like you’re straining the engine a bit, the sound is isn’t half bad actually. So, I don’t feel like there’s any point at which there is a compromise in the in the driving experience. And I think that’s one of the things I like about the X68. And of course, as you would expect from a Volvo, this car is fully loaded with all your safety assistance systems. You have blinds for monitoring. You have cruise adaptive cruise control with Volvo’s pilot assist which helps to center the car in the lane and also uh pings out warnings if you’re leaving it. I like that in comparison to some of the systems that we’ve seen from perhaps especially the Chinese car makers which tend to be a bit intrusive at certain points. The ones on on the XC60 are very very in the background. They only come into the into the foreground when it’s really necessary. So you feel safe, but you don’t feel like your kind of piece behind the wheel is being intruded on. And that’s what I like. So all that brings us the most important question. Is the XC60 T8 in facelifted form a will buy, a won’t buy, or a go try? And the answer for me is this is a will buy. Now let me explain my answer. I think in this current climate where we’ve seen EVs really start to proliferate on our roads and we’ve also seen the charging infrastructure mature alongside this phenomenon, the idea of a plug-in hybrid is now starting to become a lot more appealing. In the past, I can understand why people didn’t really take to them as well because you had a battery that didn’t really give you that much range and also you it was also one that you couldn’t really really recharge. But now that we’re in a in an era where AC chargers are a lot more widespread, whether we’re talking shopping malls, office buildings, or even HDB car parks, tapping on the car’s electric strengths is now a lot more viable. So that’s one one side of the equation. Number two, I think that the X60 T8 in this climate is also competitively priced if you’re looking for a premium SUV. If you’re looking in-house, the T8 stands well. Um, there’s only a $15,000 price difference between this and the B5 mile hybrid variant. For that $15,000, you’re getting not just more power, more versatility, but also more equipment. So, we get ventilated seats, we get a head-up display, um, we have this common cut and sound system. I think that price gap is fully justifiable. And if you’re already shopping above $300,000, you know, that $15,000 increase is not going to be that substantial. That’s in house. If you’re looking outside of Volvo, then the X50T actually stacks up well against other premium midsize SUVs such as the BMW X3 as well as the Mercedes-Benz GLC 200 because these cars, they don’t provide as much power as the XC60. yet they are either priced similarly or more expensive. And I feel like this puts the X60 in goodstead against them. Admittedly, not everyone is going to be convinced or taken in by Volvo’s philosophy of minimalist luxury, right? I think you have to admit that this cabin is not as flashy as what we’ve seen from BMW, from Mercedes. And of course, if you’re looking for something that’s a bit more fun from behind the wheel, then the X60T8, even with all its power, might not be the number one choice. Having said that, I feel like if you consider all of its strengths, if you can appreciate Volvo’s idea of minimalist luxury, then the X6 T8 is such a compelling buy in today’s climate. And I think that’s why for me, this is a will buy. So, there you have it, guys. That was our review of the facelifted Volvo X60 T8. What are your thoughts on this car and what are your thoughts on plug-in hybrids in general? Is this a car that you would be putting on your to buy list? Let us know in the comments. If you’ve liked this video, don’t forget to like and share it. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Tik Tok for more of the fun stuff. Bye. Okay. Huh.
Few models become a brand’s bestseller in just two generations — but the Volvo XC60 makes it look easy. With its sleek design, refined Scandinavian luxury, and ideal balance of comfort and control, it’s long been a standout. Now, with a refreshed look, smarter infotainment, and a more powerful plug-in hybrid setup, the XC60 T8 is better than ever.
Read our Volvo XC60 T8 review: https://tinyurl.com/2nb7anyy
Get the latest prices for the Volvo XC60 T8 : https://tinyurl.com/2pbw9wez
0:00 – Opening
1:33 – Front
1:57 – Side
2:55 – Specifications
3:33 – Rear/Boot
5:11 – Rear Seats
6:47 – Driver’s Seat
11:48 – Driving Impressions
19:02 – Verdict
21:40 – Outro
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