Blog: RALPH MORTON

Found myself having lunch the other day with boss of Volvo in the UK and the VP of global marketing – rather by accident.

I was at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and had just dropped by the Volvo stand to find out the final details of my drive up the hill – in the brand new Volvo V60 plug-in diesel hybrid.

I was sitting down with colleague Nick Ratcliffe and in came Nick Connor (UK Volvo boss) and Richard Monturo (VP global marketing). Gulp! Stop slouching and switch brain into gear, pronto.

• “The Volvo V60 plug-in diesel hybrid is a normal looking car that can run in zero emission mode but will always get you home”

Actually, I needn’t have worried. Both were relaxed and charming.

I told Nick how much I was looking forward to driving the V60.

It’s some car, too.

In EV (electric) mode it has a range of 50km and zero emissions. Yet is has 250hp, can dispatch 0-60mph in 6.0 secs, and has a (potential) official fuel consumption of 150mpg.

Oh, and did I mention the ability to switch into four-wheel drive and CO2 emissions of just 49g/km? (In  company car tax terms, the Volvo V60 diesel hybrid qualifies for a benefit in kind rate of just 5%.)

So it has a real range of abilities.

This hadn’t gone unnoticed by one firm. “One of the reasons I’m here is to see environmental company Land & Water,” confirmed Nick. “They’ve bought three without even seeing them. So they’ve come to Goodwood to drive them.”

That’s some leap of faith. At £47,900 before any government grant that’s a serious outlay. “I realise they are not for everyone at that price,” explained Nick. “But we have 125 coming to the UK this year and we expect to sell them all.

“What really interests me is when this technology becomes cheaper – as it surely will – and that it really will be a car for business car drivers.”

Richard Monturo added: “The problem with electric vehicles is that customers fear the cars won’t get them home because they’ll run out of juice. And the fact that they’re designed like toys.

“The Volvo V60 plug-in diesel hybrid is a normal looking car that can run in zero emission mode but will always get you home. That takes all the fear away.”

Driving the car up the hill later, it was truly impressive. Fast, well balanced (actually helped by the weight of the battery in the rear) it was also supremely quiet on the return to base in EV mode.