Volvo officially announced European pricing for its V60 diesel plug-in hybrid wagon. The vehicle, which is scheduled to launch in 2012, will start at 57,000 Euros (US $75,200). In the UK, prices will start at £45,000 (US $70,142 US). All prices exclude any government subsidies for plug-in vehicles.
The European pricing signals the direction Volvo might move when it launches a plug-in hybrid in the United States in 2012—but the U.S. version is unlikely to use the V60 platform or utilize a diesel-electric system. Therefore, it's too early to equate the European price with what American consumers might be offered.
Proclaimed the world's first diesel plug-in hybrid, the V60 offers three driving modes: Pure, Hybrid or Power. In Pure mode, the V60 is powered solely by its electric motor and boasts a range of up to 31 miles. In Hybrid mode, the diesel wagon uses both it oil-burning engine and its electric motor. In this mode, fuel consumption is estimated at 124 miles per US gallon—the figure is based on results from Europe's lenient fuel economy tests. Finally, in Power mode, the V60's diesel engine and electric motor are optimized to crank out a combined 285 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque. In this mode, the V60 plug-in can zip from 0 to 62 mph in 6.2 seconds.
The Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid is powered by a five-cylinder, 2.4-liter turbodiesel engine that sends power to the front wheels while an electric motor spins the wagon's rear wheels. The electric motor gets juice from a liquid-cooled, 11.2-kWh lithium-ion battery pack installed under the vehicle's rear cargo area. The plug-in wagon is capable of hitting speeds up to 74 mph in electric-only mode.
Volvo expects to sell at least 1,000 V60 luxury plug-ins by the end of 2013. "There is immense interest from the markets. We are convinced that the first thousand cars will be sold even before production gets under way next autumn," said Jacoby. How does Volvo define "immense?" The Swedish automaker predicts that its production volume will eventually jump to 4,000 to 6,000 units per year.
I think their estimated sales are realistic at that price point. Will these vehicles be manufactured in Sweden or in China? Recall last year Volvo was sold to Geely Automobile of China for $1.8 billion.