New Volvo XC40 T5 Plug-in Hybrid is the DEATH KNELL for diesel engines

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The T5 plug-in hybrid drivetrain revealed by Volvo in the concept for the new XC40 compact SUV will see the end of diesel engines within a decade.

The new Volvo XC40 SUV Concept was revealed just last month, and apart from signalling a new range of compact premium models from the Swedish car maker, its T5 plug-in hybrid powertrain will probably signal the end of diesel engines within a decade, believes Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson.

Speaking to Car and Driver, Samuelsson said that he sees the cost of delivering diesel engines which comply with ever tougher emissions regulations increasing sharply in the coming years, and the cost of delivering petrol electric hybrids – like the new XC40 T5 – falling considerably in the same period.

Samuelsson went on to say that the petrol-electric hybrid is a very attractive alternative to a diesel engine, delivering lower emissions, and performance and economy on a par with a diesel.

With the current daft official emissions testing, plug-in hybrids get endowed with silly economy figures, but, as Samuelsson says, in the real world the economy is very similar to a diesel.

This week we’re running an XC90 T8 Twin Engine, admittedly a more complex hybrid than the T5 for the XC40, but we’re seeing economy in normal running of around 30mpg, pretty much what we got from the D5 XC90 when we reviewed that a few months ago.

The hybrid setup in the new T5 uses a three-cylinder petrol engine, but unlike the T8, the T5’s electric motor is on top of the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, delivering its torque to the output shaft through one of the dual clutch’s input shafts.

It’s a clever solution to offer electrically assisted power to a front wheel-drive car, and in the T5 it means 180bhp from the forced induction ICE, another 70bhp from the electric motor and a total output of around 250bhp.

Add to that the sort of real-world economy a 250bhp diesel would deliver (around 45mpg), a 0-62mph of under 6.0 seconds and the ability to run for up to 30 miles as an EV, and it’s no wonder Samuelsson sees the new T5 as the diesel engine’s nemesis.