- Volvos XC70 is designed for China for now but will hit other markets
- A 1.5-liter engine can be paired to 21.2kWh or 36.9 kWh battery packs
- DC Quick Charging ability comes by default
Volvo has revealed plans to launch a new XC70 model in China, which will nicely slot between its XC60 and XC90 SUVs, but will be offered in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version 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 chosen smaller and lighter battery packs offering about 50 miles reach.
Details of the upcoming XC70 suggest that it can be set with either 21.2 kWh or 36.9 kWh battery packs that are larger than some clean EV city cars, such as Fiat 500E and bid Seagull.
China’s CLTC range is generally more generous when it comes to efficiency, so you can probably take 124 miles of range with a pinch of salt in the real world (100-110 miles is more likely), but it is backed by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine if the batteries run dry.
What’s more, Volvo claims that the upcoming vehicle is capable of DC charging, so battery packs can be brimmed to about 80 percent for 28 minutes from the appropriate business, while two-way charging is also said to have.
According to Auto Express, the vehicle is determined to China, where Plug-in-hybrids with long-range are all that is furious, but the Swedish mark has not excluded bringing it to other markets “at a later date”.
Bridging the gap
Long-covering plug-in hybrids, like the Volvo XC70, give a lot of opinion-icing to those with a charge at home. Keeping battery packs brimmet means that the average daily mileage that is as low as 19 miles a day in the UK can easily be covered without worrying the engine.
Even much longer commuter can be gladly sent in EV mode using Volvo’s larger battery packs, which means that only the longest journeys need to resort to fossil fuels.
Currently, public EV charging is animals in England and large parts of Europe, which has been an important argument for many not to switch to EV. If charging is as expensive as filling up with fuel, what is the poenget?
With Volvo’s technology, owners could avoid the eye-catching charging fees found at Highway Service stations by choosing to rely on the combustion engine instead. Once at a destination, it then makes sense to seek out cheaper, lower charging sites to fill the battery packs.
Offering this kind of flexibility can be a big feature for those currently sitting on the clean electric vehicle fence, and as long as it is connected and used predominantly as EV, reduces local emissions and could save owners money on the pumps.
