News: The 2019 Volvo S60: Betting on Electrification To Compete with Its German Rivals

Plug-in Polestar Performance S60 Sold Out in 39 Minutes

 This month Volvo Cars enjoyed a nice two-for-one reveal; opening its first American manufacturing plant, located outside Charleston, South Carolina, while simultaneously unveiling its new S60 sedan. It also introduced a high-performance electrified edition of the S60 that sold out almost immediately

To some, Volvo cars of the past may have been a bit of a snooze-fest, but the 2019 Volvo S60 could be a Scandinavian right hook at German dominance of the sports sedan segment. Volvo enlisted its Polestar division to put together a high-end, high-performance electrified limited edition, available only through Volvo’s new subscription service. It sold out almost immediately when it was offered on Thursday.

For its more mainline models, Volvo will not offer a diesel engine option for the first time. The departure is an attempt to show the world that Volvo is committed to electrification as the future of automobiles.

Also intriguing is the involvement of Polestar, Volvo’s equivalent to Mercedes’ AMG or BMW’s M-Division, who announced last year that it would focus on electrified platforms only, and began developing its own performance vehicles as well as tuning Volvo’s mainstream vehicles.

Because of this commitment to performance electrification, the Polestar S60 is a plug-in hybrid, competing with its ICE German rivals–the C63 AMG and BMW M3–.

The limited release Polestar S60 is based off the normal T8 (Volvo code for its plug-in hybrids), which comes with Volvo’s turbocharged and supercharged Twin Engine Plug-In Hybrid powerplant, combining a 313-horsepower gasoline engine with a rear electric motor adding 87 horsepower for a combined power output of 415 horsepower and 494 pounds-feet of torque.

The tuned Polestar S60 receives new brakes, wheels, suspension and engine control unit (ECU), which boosts the power output up to 415 horsepower.

The Other S60 Models

The S60 is also available in everyday T5 FWD and T6 AWD variants, which use Volvo’s four-cylinder turbo engine and four-cylinder twin-charged engine, respectively. The T5 offers 250-horsepower, while the T6 bumps the number up to 316-horsepower.

As the S60 shares Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform, safety technology and infotainment systems are shared with the new V60 midsize wagon, launched earlier this year, as well as the 90-Series cars and new XC60.

In typical Volvo fashion, a variety of safety features come as standard, including CitySafety with Autobrake technology, which can detect pedestrians, cyclists and large animals. The S60 can also be optioned with a Pilot Assist system that supports the driver with steering, acceleration and braking assistance on well-marked roads up to 80 mph.

A Subscription Service Option

The S60 is now the second of Volvo’s vehicles to be offered through its online/app-based lease service–Care by Volvo. The app allows customers to lease a vehicle with no money down and one monthly payment that includes cost of the vehicle, insurance, service and maintenance.

According to Volvo, a well-equipped S60 T6 AWD Momentum will be available for $775 per month through the program and the S60 T6 AWD R-Design for $850 a month.

This new lease system seems to be the future of easy automotive ownership, and those looking to experience the tuned Polestar S60 will find it only through a Care by Volvo lease. Well, you could have if you had been one of the first to sign up Thursday. It took only 39 minutes for the limited number of Polestar S60s to be snapped up.

MSRP numbers are reported as $35,800 for the T5 FWD, $40,300 for the T6 AWD and $54,400 for the T8 Twin Engine Plug-In Hybrid.

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