Road Test: 2020 Volvo S60 T8 AWD Plug-in Hybrid

Stylish–Luxurious–Efficient

Volvo’s latest advertising says that from now on, all Volvos will be electrified. That’s a laudable claim. However, most of those vehicles will not be all-electric cars, but plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) like my recently tested 2020 Volvo S60 T8 E-AWD R-Design midsize sedan. It’s one of five Volvo PHEVs, including large and midsize crossovers, large and midsize sedans and a midsize wagon.

This worthy car, in Crystal White Metal paint, matches up a 2.0-liter supercharged and turbocharged gas engine with a 67-horsepower electric motor and 11.5 kilowatt-hour battery to deliver a spectacular 400 total horsepower and 495 pound-feet of torque. That means you can zoom from 0 to 60 in a mere 4.3 seconds. That could be good for a few stoplight drag race victories, if you care to show off.  

This drivetrain, per the EPA, delivers 30 miles per gallon for gasoline only but 69 MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) if you let it run on battery power. And the latter is much of what I could do, since I traveled locally most of the time. The official electric-only range is 22 miles, with an overall range of 510 miles. The EPA green numbers come to 7 for Smog and what appears to be a new split Greenhouse Gas number—it’s 9 for MPG and 10 for CO₂. Both fine numbers.

I racked up a surprisingly low 28.6 mpg during a week of driving with 23 electric-only miles. I assume that the car would deliver numbers closer to the EPA’s if you drove it longer over a variety of conditions.

The PHEV Option

Although all-electric vehicles are cleaner than anything with an engine in it, the plug-in hybrid is likely to be a major part of car companies’ strategy for this decade. That’s because it removes any hint of range anxiety. You can zip around town or on short commutes essentially gas-free, but the minute you get a hankerin’ for multi-state touring, just jump in and go. And even if you don’t go far, you know that you could if you wanted to.

Volvo has a long history of sturdy cars with great seats, and this one continues in that tradition. The last 20 years or so, the cars have stopped being plain boxes and can now rival the luxury marques from Germany, Japan and the U.S. The car is good-looking, with a rectangular grille featuring the “ironmark” symbol and “Thor’s hammer” headlamp pods up front and rakishly carved out parenthesis taillamps at the rear.

As expected, the leather-wrapped seating in my tester was sublimely comfortable and adjustable. The “Danish Modern” styling is less stoic than in older Volvos, with handsome detailing and top-notch materials.

The Inside Story

It’s 2020 now, so my car offered a large 12.3-inch center touchscreen with all the information you could want. Volvo was one of the first companies to offer multiple screens accessed with a swipe of your finger, like your laptop or phone. The most-recently used items reside in stacked bars on the vertical home screen for instant use. It is one of the best-designed user interfaces in the business in my opinion.

Like so many luxury cars, the S60 T8 boasts an impressive list of standard equipment, but you can add lots more to make it even nicer. For example, while heated front seats are standard, the optional heated rear seats and steering wheel ($750) make sure the driver and every passenger are happy.

The Bowers and Wilkins audio system is superb. You can set up the type of room you want it to sound like. So, while studio is “normal,” you can also hear it in the Gothenburg Hall with the touch of a button. I tend to prefer the studio sound, but I sampled some classical music in the concert hall to test it. It felt like I was sitting in the middle of a huge space, as advertised. You can also focus the sound at the driver, everyone, or just the rear seat if you want to.

An International Effort

This vehicle is truly an international effort. Volvo is a Swedish company owned by Geely—a Chinese firm. This vehicle’s parts are sourced 20 percent from Belgium and 15 percent from Sweden, with transmission parts from Japan. And—final assembly was performed in Ridgeville, South Carolina.

Pricing for the S60 varies depending on model. The S60 T8 E-AWD R-Design model like mine bases at $55.400, but with various options, including an upgrade to handsome 19-inch alloy wheels ($800), metallic paint ($645) and the other mentioned items, it retails at $10 shy of $62,000.

Volvo has an all-electric crossover, the XC40 Recharge, coming soon, but for now, the S60 T8 is a good way to move closer to clean transportation and still enjoy all the luxuries of modern automotive transportation.

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Disclosure:

Clean Fleet Report is loaned free test vehicles from automakers to evaluate, typically for a week at a time. Our road tests are based on this one-week drive of a new vehicle. Because of this we don’t address issues such as long-term reliability or total cost of ownership. In addition, we are often invited to manufacturer events highlighting new vehicles or technology. As part of these events we may be offered free transportation, lodging or meals. We do our best to present our unvarnished evaluations of vehicles and news irrespective of these inducements.

Our focus is on vehicles that offer the best fuel economy in their class, which leads us to emphasize electric cars, plug-in hybrids, hybrids and diesels. We also feature those efficient gas-powered vehicles that are among the top mpg vehicles in their class. In addition, we aim to offer reviews and news on advanced technology and the alternative fuel vehicle market. We welcome any feedback from vehicle owners and are dedicated to providing a forum for alternative viewpoints. Please let us know your views at publisher@cleanfleetreport.com.