Driving Volvo’s flagship XC60 SUV, the XC60 Recharge plug-in Hybrid, a dual
motor all-wheel-drive hybrid upgraded last year with a bigger capacity battery and
improved petrol and electric motors. The current XC60 has been around for some
time but its far from dated. Once the brand’s big seller, in recent years out
gunned by the smaller XC40. This flagship XC60, the quickest production Volvo
ever produced – 0 to 100km/hour in 4.8 seconds despite tipping the scales at a
weighty 2146 kilos. Its electric only range 76 kms, ideal for the daily commute and
it can be replenished on a 3.6kW charger in around 4 hours, about double that on
a 240-volt wall socket. With torque from the dual motors tallying 709Nm I was
blown away by this Volvo’s performance – Built in China to a very high standard
it proved a real surprise package. The interior, with 9-inch portrait skewed centre
infotainment screen, as good as it gets with Google android assistant and
excellent voice control. The cabin well sized for a small family especially with
Volvo’s integrated child booster seats in the second row. Not inexpensive, in fact
$4,000 dearer since launch last year, now $101,990 in base form. Warranty five-
years/unlimited km. Service cost over three years $1750. I’m David Berthon

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