Meet the new plug-in hybrid Volvo XC70 — not that you’ll be seeing it anytime soon.
In a world where a large numbers of buyers aren’t looking at a fully electric car for their next purchase, automakers are splitting the difference with fuel-efficient hybrids. Volvo, for its part, is taking this to a new level by offering its first “long-range plug-in hybrid” with more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) of driving range, at least using the Chinese CTLC testing method. Naturally, as Volvo has sadly been dropping its passenger cars and wagons from its lineup, the new XC70 Volvo revealed Wednesday will be another crossover. It also isn’t coming to the US anytime soon, it seems, as the automaker focused this launch on China, with a European launch to follow “at a later stage”.
At this point, Volvo didn’t release all the specs of the XC70 to the public. That said, it is closely linked to another car under Volvo’s parent company Geely: the Lynk & Co 08. That Chinese PHEV uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to a single 218-horsepower electric motor in its “Ultra Long Range” variant. Together, the PHEV manages 381 horsepower and 453 lb-ft of torque, while managing a range of up to 152 miles on a charge thanks to a 39.6-kWh battery pack. Again, that’s using the relatively generous CLTC method, so EPA figures for the XC70 were it to come to the US may fall in the 85-100 mile range, but that is a total guess.
For the XC70, Volvo claims drivers can go up to 1,200 kilometers (or 745 miles) without the need for recharging or refueling. When it comes to plugging in, the XC70 does support DC fast-charging. Again, the automaker didn’t specify the exact rate, but it did say drivers will be able to replenish the battery from dead to 80% in 23 minutes. Being a more modern PHEV, it also supports bi-direction (or vehicle-to-load) charging, so you can power some electronic devices, but you would need an adapter to do it.
On the styling front, the Volvo XC70 is one of the least surprising reveals we’ve seen in awhile. Have you seen the EX90? Have you seen the new three-row XC90? It’s sort of a cross between the two, with the EX90 influence making itself known in the front and side profiles, with a splash of little bit more of the XC90 at the back. Unlike those larger SUVs, though, this XC70 gets a two-spoke steering wheel and large, landscape-oriented 15.4-inch infotainment screen. For Chinese and eventually European customers, a 92-inch augmented reality head-up display will be an option.
Production has started, but tariffs will keep it away from US shores
Volvo’s Chinese website has the new XC70 available to pre-order now from 299,000 yuan. If we could directly translate that to USD, that would result in about a $42,000 asking price, which is on par with our XC40. We can’t directly translate that, however, since tariffs on vehicles imported from China are well over 100% at the moment. That would result in a small SUV priced above the three-row, US-built EX90, and that obviously makes no business sense at this point in time.
There is a potential silver lining: the new Volvo XC70 is built on the company’s Compact Modular Architecture (CMA), same as the XC40 and Polestar 2. So, a more likely scenario is that we may see a next-generation XC40 — and that model is in sore need of a major update — shipped over to the US from Belgium looking something like this.
As ever, only time will tell, as Volvo again made no indication of North American plans with this model.
