The updated PHEV model of Volvo’s best-selling SUV now has more than twice the e-range.
The 2028 Volvo XC60 T8 plug-in hybrid model will offer a singular distinction: the longest electric range of any PHEV sold in the US. Its e-range will be 78 miles, up from 36 miles for the 2026 model. Volvo dubs it the first-ever long-range PHEV. The XC60 five-seat crossover SUV is the company’s most popular model globally, with 2.7 million sold to date. For the 2028 model year, Volvo has freshened the design and comprehensively updated the electric-drive components. The new models are to arrive at US dealers early in 2027.
In 2021, Volvo said it would offer only battery-electric vehicles by 2030. That hasn’t happened, as EV adoption rates have varied hugely across the globe, policies and politics have changed, and US shopper concerns over EVs kept sales below projected levels. Volvo Cars then said in 2024 its gasoline models would receive a round of updates to stay on the market longer than initially planned—with the new goal for 2030 being 90 percent battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models.
So the larger XC90 and the midsize XC60 have been updated to keep them current even as their model life lengthens. Volvo will continue to offer gasoline-only powertrains (albeit with “mild hybrid” enhanced start-stop systems) in them as well as PHEVs. Meanwhile, the newer 2027 Volvo EX60 and two-year-old EX90 offer battery-electric counterparts to the XC60 and XC90 two- and three-row SUVs respectively.
Charged was invited to London for the global unveiling of the updated XC60. While we weren’t able to drive the revised PHEV, we interviewed executives Akhil Krishnan, Volvo’s global head of product management for the 60 series, and Frank Vacca, director of vehicle product line planning for the Americas at Volvo Cars USA.
Photos courtesy of Volvo.
One bigger battery, two models
While the XC60 design and PHEV powertrain are updated for 2028, the larger three-row XC90 received its design update two years ago, for the 2025 model year. Both models are built on the company’s earlier SPA1 architecture, meaning the PHEV updates to the XC60 will also be used in the larger car’s T8 powertrain for the 2028 model year.
Both get longer ranges for their T8 (PHEV) versions, using identical battery packs with 41.2 kilowatt-hours of energy capacity (37.9 kWh usable)—up from 18.8 kWh (14.7 kWh usable) in their predecessors. In the larger, heavier XC90, the electric range is projected at 73 miles—again, more than double the 33 miles of its predecessor. The packs use a new generation of higher-capacity nickel-manganese-cobalt cells from Chinese battery giant CATL, though Krishnan noted unlike the EX60, the pack uses conventional modules rather than that EV’s cell-to-pack structure.
A redesigned floor pan for both cars let Volvo redesign and move the battery pack from a vertical orientation inside the tunnel between the seats to a flat, thin pack entirely under the cabin floor. Ground clearance is unchanged at about 9 inches, and a benefit of the relocated pack is the far smaller hump in the floor in front of the rear middle seat. The tunnel still has to accommodate a driveshaft to the rear wheels for all-wheel-drive gasoline models, plus a wiring harness, but the difference is noticeable.
Photos courtesy of Volvo.
EV lessons for PHEV motor
Unlike some hybrid SUVs, the XC60 and XC90 are “through-the-road hybrids”: the gasoline engine powers the front wheels and an electric motor powers the rears. Use of one or the other power source, or both, is controlled by software that builds on more than a decade of Volvo PHEV experience.
Part of the increase in e-range comes from an entirely new rear motor. It’s smaller but provides far more power (from 107 to 130 kW, or 143 to 174 hp), though torque remains unchanged at 228 lb-ft. “We designed and developed our own electric motors for the EVs,” Krishnan explained. “The XC60 [PHEV] has an in-house motor, built in Sweden, which applies a lot of those learnings and lessons.” The result is far better electric acceleration—a point Vacca also stressed, suggesting the T8 would provide the best and fastest performance of all XC60 variants. Volvo quotes its 0-to-60-mph acceleration time at 4.5 seconds.
As before, drivers can choose the standard drive mode or Performance, Hold (to retain battery charge), or Charge (using the engine to recharge the battery) modes. As before, there’s a strong detent in the accelerator so drivers don’t accidentally kick on the engine if the car still has charge in the battery. While Volvo says battery power alone is sufficient to cover the vast majority of standard driving, flooring the accelerator switches on the engine to provide maximum power (339 hp combined) for getting out of emergency situations.
Despite the larger pack, the XC60 T8 retains its J-1772 Level 2 port for charging. It doesn’t offer fast charging, so Volvo saw no need to convert to a NACS port during a mid-cycle refresh. Time for a full recharge from 0 to 100 percent is quoted at 5.7 hours on a Level 2 charging cord.
Design updates across the revised 2028 XC60 range include all-new sheet metal and lights forward of the firewall, a redesigned tailgate and rear lamps, and new wheels. Other changes include upgraded safety features due to an expanded suite of no less than 18 sensors—5 radars, a new front-facing camera, and 12 new ultrasonic sensors covering the entire perimeter—and the addition of Google Gemini natural-language interaction (which can be retrofitted to 2021 and later XC60s). One missing feature: The age of the SPA1 platform prevented the addition of wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Owners still have to plug in their phones or other devices to access them through the central touchscreen.
But will they get plugged in?
Vacca said the Sino-Swedish company’s plug-in hybrids have historically made up 25 to 35 percent of its US sales in model lines that offer them. The elephant in the room, of course, is the open question of whether owners actually plug them in—or if they’re simply the buyers who want the top-of-the-line version of the model they’ve chosen, whether it happens to have a plug or not.
Historically, carmakers that sell PHEV models in the US have declined to share any data on plugging-in behavior—if they even gather it in the first place. There’s no incentive for them to do so, since until recently, they got emissions credits for selling the car regardless of whether it was ever plugged in. Toyota recently released a limited set of data suggesting that a substantial portion of its PHEVs are plugged in at least weekly, but more data is obviously required.
Volvo provided results from a survey of 884 US drivers, of whom 287 owned PHEVs. In that group, 64 had Volvo PHEVs; 112 owned premium PHEVs; and 111 owned mainstream PHEVs. Remarkably, every single PHEV owner responded to a question asking how often they charged the vehicle. The Volvo drivers had the highest rates: 69 percent at least daily: 47 percent once a day, 22 percent more than once daily. Another 22 percent said they charged “every few days” or once a week, meaning only one in 10 charged less than weekly or never. For other premium PHEVs, charging rates were lower across the board. But the mainstream PHEV owners were fairly close to the Volvo results. Make of this what you will.
A 2020 report from the International Council on Clean Transportation showed European PHEVs with electric-only ranges of 80 km (50 miles) and up covered far more miles on electricity. More critically, proposed EU rule changes for 2027 will cut the “utility factor” for 70-km (43-mi) PHEVs—effectively the percent of time they run only on electricity, with zero tailpipe emissions—from 54 percent to 33 percent. This reflects years of real-world studies showing PHEVs’ tailpipe emissions were up to five times higher than assumed. The change means PHEVs with less than 100 km (62 mi) of battery range no longer clear the bar to be considered “low-emission vehicles”.
Volvo clearly got the message. But for Volvo USA, Vacca stressed the T8’s “satisfying” performance (“fantastic to drive”) and its position as the top-of-the-line flagship trim in the XC60 lineup. More generally, he lauded PHEVs for their “perceived sort of freedom” for those buyers “not ready to commit to a pure electric experience.” The theory is that plug-in hybrids act as the training wheels toward battery-electric vehicles.
Of course, that only happens if owners plug them in—rather than using them simply as “hybrids” offering better performance and fuel economy. As always, we await data from vehicle telematics.
No affordable pure EVs
Along with the 2028 XC60, Volvo also showed an updated XC40 compact crossover SUV. That model’s battery-electric version, now called the EX40, has also been refreshed—but it won’t come to the States. Reporters saw it at a preview in London, but it remains forbidden fruit.
Having withdrawn both its subcompact EX30 and the compact EX40, Volvo is left with no battery-electric models under the EX60’s starting price of $59,800. Vacca acknowledged that gap in the company’s EV lineup for North America. He declined to comment on future product—pro forma in the auto industry—but suggested the company is well aware that it needs a more affordable EV. “Stay tuned,” he said.
The 2028 Volvo XC60 T8 will go on sale in the US early next year. Pricing will be announced closer to that date. Plug-in hybrid versions are to be exported from Sweden, but with Volvo adding XC60 production to the EX90 assembly plant in Charleston, South Carolina, the plug-in model should join gasoline versions stateside in the future. US production of gasoline XC60s models is expected to start late this year or in January 2027, with XC60s coming from both Sweden and South Carolina until full production is reached. “Eventually, at some point, we’ll introduce the plug-in hybrid [to Charleston], yeah,” Krishnan confirmed.
Volvo provided airfare, lodging, and meals to enable Charged to bring you this first-person report.
from Charged EVs https://ift.tt/q6PJ4Go
line of tape products offers a solution by featuring a dielectric film carrier and acrylic adhesive suitable for bonding between cells, modules and cooling components.
