Volvo XC60 Recharge consumption test, it's impressive!

Today we're gonna find out what the 'real' fuel consumption of the 2023 Volvo XC60 T6/T8 Recharge actually is when you run out of battery and continue your trip on fuel only!

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[norbertmayer]

A pro tip. When you’re doing a round trip and can’t charge at the destination. Enter your current address as the final destination and your actual destination as a intermediate destination. Then the intelligent hybrid will use electric power where the gasoline is least effective.

[richardhale]

I think 59 miles per gallon is pretty great. You touched on the concept for owning a PHEV. If you can charge it at your destination, then charge it up. You'll do a lot of gas-free (or diesel-free) driving. If you can't charge it, you can keep driving with the ICE, no worries. Since taking delivery of our T8 two years ago we are at 52 mpg overall including road trips. We always charge if we can. I think people misunderstand the concept of PHEV's when the concept doesn't fit their driving pattern.

[ojeskog]

This alligns very well with the consumption of our T8 in total over the soon 3 years we've had it. It has averaged 4.3l/100km, 54.7mpg US, 65.7mpg Imperial over all. About 2/3 of the driving has been done on electricity and thats with the smaller battery pack. In all honesty, The larger pack wouldn't have improved our consumption that much as the 1/3 driven on petrol has been almost all long journeys while the battery has been enough for almost all daily driving. But the updated electric drivetrain would still be nice... In comparison our previous SAAB 9-3 Aero convertible which was a much more aerodynamic and lighter car used over 4 times as much petrol for the same driving.

It works really well for consumption to use the satnav and let the car decide when to use the electricity. I remember one time driving a journey we've done many times and I noticed the car that time was holding on to all the re-gen and was building up charge in the battery again. Strange I thought as it had never done that before and I knew it wasnt long to our destination and most of what was left was downhill on fast roads. But I hadn't actually paid attention to the arrival time as I just had the satnav on mute, didn't need it for directions. It turned out there were roadworks with massive delays and slow traffic. And the car had made sure we could do all 16km/10miles of roadworks on pure electricity, and we arrived with an empty battery as usual.

I really wish Volvo would let you specify how much battery you'd like left at your destination though. I'm sure it would actually be an easy implementation in their software. Because when you go on a journey to a city and can't charge at your destination, you most likely will have better use for most of that electricity once you get there. At the moment I obviously use the hold button. But I feel like Volvos software could optimise the consumption better over the whole route if it knew you'd be happy to use say 20% battery for the whole journey (and arrive with 80%). Especially with this larger battery pack. With that function you also wouldn't have to put your home as your destination with your work as a waypoint to optimize your commute either. You'd just tell it to arrive with 50% battery on your way to work and with an empty battery on the way home. And the car would optimise the battery usage much better based on the on the actual on the day traffic conditions in each direction.

[kostaskg]

Thanks for the very informative video. I bought a 2021 T6 and am very satisfied overall. Nice to see the newer version is even better.

[BrianFraser]

That was pretty good if the figures are correct thats over 70mpg.
Would be interesting to see the same journey in hybrid mode only.

[kentgabriel]

Great video as always! Love that interior on Volvos!

[piotrglowaty]

Hi Tom,

Great test!

I have been driving the XC60 T6 MY2023 (Extended range) as per the test since February. Before buying it I took a long while to consider whether it was worth going for the plug-in option, but after 6000km I know it was the best decision. In day use we drive most of it in city traffic on electricity and here, for example, the last 2 months we have done 1700km with a fuel consumption of 0.7l/100km - fuel is minimally burned despite driving on Pure mode - albeit the air conditioning.
What certainly cannot be underestimated is the absolute silence in the cabin when driving on electricity alone. I am also very satisfied with the fuel consumption results on the road. The route I've taken for years with my V40 T4 on active cruise control set at around 145km/h and an average fuel consumption of 8l/100km (box on the roof during these routes) vs 8.8l/100km without the box on the roof, but at the same speed.

The distance record I managed to cover (without much trying) in suburban traffic was 78km - 1km more than the Volvo declares :) On average, however, it is closer to 70km, which is still quite sufficient in my case.

Additional note: If you drive in hybrid mode and set a destination on the built-in Google Maps navigation, the car will spread the use of electricity/fuel in such a way as to achieve the most effective result for minimum consumption while using the battery capacity to 100%. To avoid discharging and driving with a flat battery on holiday, for example, simply switch on the battery charge retention option.

[adamnikoliani]

Thanks for the video,  
meanwhile no-one I've seen so far says that electricity must be paid, neither do a proper calculation based on combined electricity/fuel expenses.
I owned modern x3 with 2.0d, latest Audi's 3.0tdi, Tesla 3 and throughout latest years the price of electricity has risen vastly, which evidentially makes the cost of ownership not that obvious at all. Especially if the efficiency comparison based on speeds around 100km/h, whereas latest German diesels make 4.5–5.7 l/100km in the same conditions ...

[modelmaker]

Having had the T8 for a few weeks and working on fuel economy I am finding high 30’s mpg figures on just electric and low 40’s mpg on petrol on long trips, although as said the Hybrid mode still gives/regens some electric so low speed in Hybrid with zero battery still drives electric so that helps around town where larger engines are less efficient, but it’s not about the economy with the T8 is the size of the smile you get and the sound you get when you go for that awesome overtake that others can’t attempt 🤪, the whole economy thing is hard to quantify due to price of charging, type of terrain and how you drive, if you drive slow get a slower car 🙄

[zeedustrakok]

Curious about the actual consumption at normal speeds. 120/130 on motorways.
My dealer recently had a long trip with a V60 and 6.5l/100km was their average.
Soon I'll change my temporary XC40 D4 AWD (average 6.6 l/100km) for a temporary 2021 XC60 T6 hybrid and I guess that car will be around 7.5-8l (can only charge at one site at the moment). By the time my V60 has arrived I hope the charging will be installed and overall consumption to be between 4 and 4.5. On long trips I hope to get it under 7l and manage 850km/tank.

[Thesummerof.]

Hey great test waiting on my T8 hybrid to arrive 👌

[alexshapley]

what I want to know, is, what mpg does this get at motorway speeds when the battery is basically flat (I realise that the battery will charge itself a little when you have to brake on the motorway)?
I have driven this car and it is lovely with oodles of headroom (and knee-room) for a tall driver - but my concern is what real mpg will I get when I do a 250 mile journey on the motorway (I set adaptive cruise to 70mph and toddle off like a tortoise...)?
Any ideas anybody?
BTW I got a fantastic 48mpg on a 161 mile motorway journey recently (70mph in the middle of the night) in a Volvo XC40 T5 Recharge but unfortunately I don't seem to be able to get an XC40 Recharge with AWD, hence I have recently tried out an XC60 as an alternative...

[tomaszlubomski]

I have T6 plug in. I do not think this car is good for long trips. If you travel +1k km at certain point you go with batteries empty. What happens then is that your fuel range with full tank can go down to 550km (120 - 130 speed) and then you need to look for a place to refill. I had my family trips with roof box which certainly contributes badly to fuel consumption but it is not possible to fit everything in such a small trunk :).
4.6 l / 100 km is average consumption for short trips when you have car fully charged.

BTW: Computer does the range calculation quite badly - it can drop from 320 to 180 with no reason despite your drive style does not change. I had my 90 km range at the gas station and found I still have 16 l left

[timbodenseher]

So my T8 Recharge should arrive next week and I hope that it is the latest version 🤞

[carlovarini]

Ciao Thom, I have done my test on my Volvo XC60 T6 Recharge 2023. Considering a journey of 150 km (from Milan to a mountain location 1800 s.l.m.) the XC60 consumed 6.9lt/100 in HOLD mode, pratically I used only the petrol engine.

[lin-qpij]

Hi Thom. I would like to suggest a correction to your stats. Since you did 72 km on electricity of a total of 151, 5km it means that your consumption for the rest of 79, 5 km was 4lt / 100 km resulting to a number of 5, 03 lt/ 100 km with an empty battery

[anthonymallik]

When you were on the high way, you should have had the petrol engine charging the battery, I drive once a year 275 miles one way to visit my mother and on the high way I use the petrol engine and charge my battery, I have the 2023 XC90 T8 I love it.

[richardstamper]

Of course I could work it out but in most reviews they talk about range, most of us are interested in cost.. how much was it to charge the EV part as opposed to the gas part. Electricity is not free but it seldom comes into the cost equation.

[vasilisperkatis]

A quick question. if you drive for 150km in the highway what is the best advice for fuel consumption? Do all the way with hybrid mode or use pure mode (until electric power is depleted) and then hybrid mode?

[alexandrospapaioannou]

@thom-Iov:
You said that the T6 and the T8 have the same extended battery and same 145hp electric motor. My question is the software limitation between T6 and T8 is only on the gas motor?
In PURE mode the power you have on your throttle is the same?
Thanks in advance!