Volvo On Call Smartphone App now shows how ‘Part-Time’ your ELECTRIC use is on PHEVs

Volvo’s On Call smartphone App has been updated with new functionality to show drivers how much they use electric driving on PHEVs.

Volvo are on something of a mission to get drivers of plug-in electric hybrids do what a chunk of them don’t do – plug-in their car to charge the battery.

It might seem a bit daft to get a PHEV and then not make use of its ability to run as an EV, at least for some of the time, but tax breaks, particularly for business users, mean the advantage is in those tax breaks and not in having a ‘Part-Time Electric Car’ as Volvo has now taken to calling plug-in hybrids.

We’ve already seen Volvo deliver free electricity for a year for PHEV buyers – and extended the offer – but now an updated On Call Smartphone App aims to give drivers clear and concise data of EV usage in plug-in hybrids to encourage them to plug-in regularly.

The new functions allows drivers to see how far they’ve managed to drive in full electric mode together with electric and fuel consumption figures, and will also add details of their CO2 footprint and estimates of fuel costs saved by driving in EV mode later this year.

Bjorn Annwall, Head of EMEA at Volvo Cars, said:

Just like a step counter helps people exercise more, I believe that by giving people better insight into their driving patterns, it will help them to drive in a more sustainable way.

We see plug-in hybrids as ‘part-time electric cars’ that encourage changes in people’s behaviour and help pave the way for a transition towards fully electric cars.