Geely’s Volvo Cars has introduced a new, improved Recharge plug-in hybrid powertrain for its 90 and 60 series models, extending electric range while lowering CO2 emissions, increasing performance and improving driveability.
The latest powertrain brings the all electric range up to a projected 56 miles (90km) on a single charge. It was 79km previously for the XC60. The company claims average premium car owners travel fewer than 31 miles (50km) each weekday so most owners with home charging will be able to do their daily motoring on pure electric power.
The main improvements are a new long-range battery, featuring a third layer of cells to increase nominal energy from 11.6kWh to 18.8kWh, and a more powerful rear electric motor now delivering 145hp. The additional electric power results in a total combined output of 350hp for Recharge T6 and 455hp for Recharge T8 models, making the latter the most powerful Volvo cars ever produced. Besides the new powertrain, new upgrades include one-pedal drive on specific models.
Volvo estimates the new powertrain has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to around 50% under the WLTP drive cycle.
The new and improved e-motor ups the power to the rear wheels by 65%, enhancing performance and driveability. Together with the boosted battery, the upgraded e-motor also enables better all-wheel-drive capability, which can prove particularly useful at low speeds, when towing, or when driving on slippery roads that demand extra traction and stability.
One pedal drive, already on pure electric models, gives the driver the option of controlling both acceleration and deceleration with only the accelerator pedal. It will be rolled out initially on the XC60, S90 and V90 PHEVs.
The new powertrain is introduced for all PHEV models based on the Scalable Product Architecture (SPA).
Along with the powertrain improvements, the turbocharged T8 petrol engine is upgraded for higher fuel efficiency and performance.