Volvo XC60 - The IMPACT of charging the battery whilst driving (2024 T6 Recharge)

[@whygamewhy]

11L/100km-7.3L/100km is 3.7L 100km. He drove 50km so 11Lx50km/100km= 5.5L of petrol consumed in total. and 5.5L over 50+21km =71km of total range would be come 5.5L/71*100km= 7.7 L/100km. So charging ur Vehicle while on the highway is a little bit less efficient than driving the Vehicle as a regular hybrid. However, I think if you are going into the city after the high way, or for see heavy congestion coming alone the path, then charging while you are still on the high way make sense. Driving into the slow and stop and go traffic with a petrol engine, even a hybrid one, would result in much higher fuel consumption. For reference, my S60 T8 recharge consumes around 6.5L/100KM on Highway with no battery vs 8.0L/100KM in the city. By charging the Battery up, you get to drive in pure ev mode in slow traffic, which is probably more fuel efficient and better for the environment. It also depends on the weather, I would favor charging in summer. In the summer, charging is much more efficient and Cooling AC run more efficient with battery than Petrol generated electricity. In the winter, The battery charges extremely inefficiently, and Petrol engines provides free heating of the cabin vs the EV battery.

[@Rossi593]

On a long journey without recharging eventually the engine’s efficiency will determine the economy or otherwise. For stop start the braking regeneration helps the overall efficiency vs pure petrol or diesel. It’s sad to me that diesel has been demonised because it’s way more efficient than the petrol equivalent engines and with Adblu a,most zero NO2, the gas we should worry about. We drive an X1 25d which gets 5.6 l/100km. Our 220d V class manages 6.3 l/100km. I think both are excellent especially the 3.2 Te V Class.

[@nickhoare8906]

I reckon on the 50km at 11l you used 1.75 litres more than at 7.5l. At £1.45/litre that’s £2.54. Assuming 70km on a full battery and 14.9 usable kWh in the battery that means the 21 km range represents 4.5 kWh. 4.5/2.54 this gives 77p per kWh. Pretty much what MWay services charge. Conclusion : you may as well get the car to charge itself rather than pay Motorway charging prices. If petrol is cheaper or if there are charging losses and you need more than 4.5kw to get 21km then self charging comes out better. If petrol is more expensive self charging might not pay (self charging saves time too)

[@onixtubejes]

👏👏👏👏 excelente análisis

[@AndyFerdean]

It would've been interesting to drive further those 21km in pure mode and see what the fuel consumption would've been then.

[@johor-01]

Wow nice video , my T8 charge twice a month. In car recharge only during long distance , awesome very minimal petrol consume ❤

[@Cylon_23]

The comment thread for this video makes me very happy! I own a 2017 Hyundai Sonata p h e v that also has the ability to charge its battery with the engine while driving. Always wanted to know the pros and cons and the Nitty Gritty math involved in determining its efficiency

[@ZorgFS]

Amazing Thom - that is exactly what I was looking for, strangely not many people does that and I was looking for this model specifically. Thank you very much. The only question remains, what if I don't charge the battery AT ALL, meaning mostly using a petrol part, and occasionally charge while driving, I wonder if that will somehow damage the battery or not.

[@justtosee6692]

Hay muy poca diferencia en eficiencia. Para hacer 50km con la batería vacía gastó 3,65 L. Para hacer (50 + 21) 71km gastaría 5,18 L En modo carga gastó 5,5L para hacer los primeros 50km y 0L para hacer los 21 km siguientes en modo eléctrico puro. Es decir gastó 5,18L de gasolina vs 5,50L de gasolina para hacer 71km 👍

[@arminvanhengel672]

Just for reference: in auto hybrid mode you drove at 7,3l/100km. In charging mode you drove at 11,0l/100km, i.e. spending 5,5l but then you gained an additional projected 21km in electric mode, i.e. 5,5l for 71km, i.e. 7,8l/100km. The auto hybrid mode is more efficient, in short. That 7,3l/100km is still quite good. I'm expecting mine in April next year so am curious to see. Now, with my S60 T6 AWD (the 3 litre / 310hp one still) I used to do around 7l/100km on the motorway...

[@sizwesithole9574]

Love the review been considering this machine and now I am confident it will work for my daily trips. Thank

[@thom-lov]

Glad to be of help! 😊

[@richardhale2117]

Thanks, Thom. I haven't seen anyone try to actually calculate this "live", but this bears out what everyone has said. The charge mode is inefficient and should only be used when a charge is needed to be able to run on battery when zero emission is required. Some city centers in Europe? I don't think there is anywhere in the U.S. that requires zero emission. On a related note, I've also read that the car will always maintain a charge without driver intervention for driving the rear wheels when required for safety. Can anyone confirm that?

[@RoadToTheSky]

That's correct

[@thom-lov]

Thanks Richard, indeed for some EU cities this will soon come and this functionality is than useful. On the other hand, then you burn extra fuel to drive with zero emissions in the city center. Not sure what’s better… anyway, the car will indeed always save a bit of energy for full functionality of safety, driving control etc.

[@kentgabriel3572]

Great video as always Thom 👍 I thought the same thing about the visibility when I test drove a V60 CrossCounty on my last visit to dealer for service on the XC40....None of the 40 series have very good rearward visibility....the Blonde interior is so nice... but my personal favorites are the Amber or the grey Wool interiors. Looking forward to your EX30 vids in the coming days!!!

[@JeffMonks-u6t]

So for 50km you've used an extra 1.85 l of fuel, about €3.70 (11.0-7.3) X 50/100. And you've generated 21 km of charge, which is about 5kWh. So that's cost you €0.74 per kWh. How much would you pay for charging at home or from a commercial outlet?

[@thom-lov]

Thanks! At home here for free; solar panels. Public charging about .50 to .70 cents so I’ll head to a charger.. 😉

[@davids4696]

I've never understood the point of charge mode.

[@davids4696]

@samisaarinen9649 thanks Sami point taken. That would be quite hard to enforce! Taking that rationale aside it seems there is never an energy efficiency argument for using Charge.

[@marcellowithtwols]

Can you post your findings?

[@andrejdivjak-j4j]

Hey, excellent work, great review!! I think it would be interesting to compare the consumption of “empty”t6 to a normal b4/b5 (gasoline engine). Keep up the good work👍👍💪💪

[@thom-lov]

That would be! From my experience the B engines are very efficient, I think it would be a close call.

[@volkswagengolfmk7-tipstric583]

Should I buy this engine in case I don't plan to charge batteries at all? Are any pros of such choice?

[@SteveDion]

Thanks for this video. I was looking for this information.

[@thom-lov]

Now we know 😅 Thanks,

[@ton123linden]

Dag Thom, Ik heb mijn nieuwe Volvo XC60 T6 Recharge 2 weken geleden op mogen halen bij de dealer. Een prachtige auto!!! Echter een paar dingen die ik niet helemaal begrijp. Ik laad de auto op in mijn eigen garage aan huis. De eerste paar keer gaf hij 70 km aan na volledig laden. Nu kom ik niet verder dan 57 tot 58 km. Dit alles bij een gelijkmatige temperatuur in mijn garage. Bij aanvang van de rit (hybride mode) geeft hij een range van 57 km aan. Bij aankomst bestemming (amper 10 km) nog maar 30 km. Nadat ik na 6 uur weer in mijn auto stap geeft hij een range van 15 km aan……geen meter gereden, dus waar zijn die 15 km gebleven? Lagere temperaturen verlagen de capaciteit van de batterij maar de impact van die paar graden vind ik wel erg groot. Ik heb nog niet gekeken hoe ver ik kom in de pure mode in de stad, snelweg enz. Heb jij een verklaring hiervoor c.q nog wat tips? @volvodriver

[@ger5881]

@@ton123linden hi Ton, de reden waarom de computer steeds varieert met de km is dat hij nog te weinig informatie heeft opgeslagen in de computer, en daarvoor nog geen goede berekening kan maken. Ten tweede als je korte stukjes rijd dan weet de auto dat en geeft dan ook minder km op het beeld. De verder je rijd elke dag of elke keer de verder je kan rijd3n op electric only. Mijn T8 doet gemiddeld 74 km op electric only hier in NZ, zelfs op heuvel en bergachtig terrein, in het begin is de meters waar je naar kijkt meer quessometers als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel, je auto moet gewoon meer data krijgen, ik hoop dat this all made sence. Groet from new zealand, het is een supercar echt waar

[@6229013]

You are good Tom!

[@thom-lov]

Thanks 😊

[@paulbaratta1566]

Love that Boston Bruins cap

[@thom-lov]

Go Bruins! :-)

[@The_s_d]

Did you drive in B Mode to get back braking energy? so, can you charge in B Mode while not in this charging mode? thx for sharing your information to us

[@thom-lov]

I did!

[@whygamewhy]

A common misconception for the volvo car owners is some of them think regenerative braking only happens in the B mode. But in D mode you get the same thing by pressing the brake pedal. All B mode do is switch the regenerative braking from the first half of the brake pedal to the lifting of the throttle, or enabling 1 pedal drive, which for me, is useful for slow traffic driving but super uncomfortable and inefficient on the high way.

[@AndyFerdean]

Can you also do a video about the coasting feature on Volvos? I had no clue that mild hybrid Volvos had the coasting feature until I bought my S60 MY23 B4. I was pleased to see that I can get 6.6l in mixed driving from a full tank (807km, 39km/h and 70km left)

[@thom-lov]

Good one! Will keep it in mind

[@vincelio373]

Very interesting thank you !

[@timbodenseher7209]

I use it only after a long run and when i have to enter the inner circle of a city.

[@Itsme-vo4fx]

I’m a little confused. You state that your car is a T6 with plug-in capability. Isn’t the T8 the plug-in and the T6 a hybrid that only charges while driving?

[@thom-lov]

Nope that is the B6. The T6 is the same as the T8 (PHEV) but with less mechanical HP from the front petrol engine.

[@wim040358]

Zeer interessante test Thom. Rij zins kort ook een XC60 T6 recharge LR. Kom van een XC60 T5. Ik mis inderdaad diverse zaken in de boord computer tov Sensus waaronderhet actueleverbruik. Ook staat het verbruik niet meer in het ritten logboek. Het ergste vind ik van het Android Automotive systeem dat je geen muziek van een usb stick meer af kan spelen, is dit in je C40 ook zo? Wat ik ook storend vind dat de achteruit rij camera niet blijft staan op achter camera maar vaak naar 360 graden beeld springt.

[@thom-lov]

Hi Wim, bedankt voor je reactie. Ik verwacht dat deze zaken met komende over-the-air updates zullen worden toegevoegd. Het wordt daar ook wel tijd voor moet ik zeggen. Wat de usb betreft, de C40 heeft dit ook, alle nieuwe volvos helaas. Ik gebruik zoals gezegd spotify dus heb hier geen problemen mee maar ik kan mij goed voorstelllen dat dit voor jouw muziek collectie een ander verhaal is. Ik gok dat hier wel oplossingen voor zijn? Een usb-a naar usb-c omvormer of draadloze verbinding oid? Wellicht heeft je dealer wel een oplossing van een andere klant gehoord?

[@wim040358]

@@thom-lovheb nog wat gegoogled. je moet de app Audiowagon installeren dan kan je via de witte USB C muziek afspelen. Enige is dat telkens als je auto opstart er een foutmelding komt dat de usb niet gelezen kan worden, als je dit accepteerd werkt Audiowagen wel

[@bernardboutet378]

Si vous conduisez en mode hybride batterie non chargée, quelle serait la consommation? Merci

[@thom-lov]

Still pretty decent, check out my video of last week where we experience that during a roadtrip!

[@olovsjobergh6417]

Hej! Jag förstår faktiskt inte av din beskrivning, vad det är som du har undersökt. Har du kört 50 km i Power läge o 50 km i Hybrid läge o jämför konsumtionen? Förklara gärna tack. Jag funderar på att köpa en T6a. 😊

[@cosettapessa6417]

He drove with an empty battery while recharging it and compared it with hybrid mode

[@pogococo2246]

Do you have the Plus or Ultimate model?

[@thom-lov]

This is an ultimate with all options!

[@pieterbeeckx4350]

Is het ook mogelijk de batterij zo te laden zonder te rijden ?

[@thom-lov]

Ja je kan de auto met AC kabel opladen

[@RoadToTheSky]

The only purpose of the charge function is if you have to drive in a "zero emissions" restricted area. It's always inefficient

[@bernardboutet378]

En Amérique du Nord , les animateurs de magasine automobile, dise que le véhicule n’a pas une grande fiabilité, est-ce la même chose en Europe, merci ❤

[@will2574]

Anyone intellectual enough to convert into miles per gallon?

[@Thyme2sea]

1 L/100km =235,215 mi/gal

[@Thyme2sea]

10L/100km=23,521 mi/gal

[@Thyme2sea]

15L/100km=15,681 mi/gal

[@timob.6570]

Hm I hope people do not do this in real life. The worst you can do efficiency wise.

[@thom-lov]

Yep 😂

[@ger5881]

I have a xc60 t8 ultimate, and when I charge while driving I am getting on average 5.4 l per 100 km

[@thom-lov]

Thanks