Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine gets to 62mph in 5.6 seconds

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Volvo has confirmed the final performance and economy figures for the production version of the XC90 T8 Twin Engine Hybrid – 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds and 134.5mpg.

Back in December, Volvo released full details of the economy, emissions and performance for the hybrid T8 Twin Engine version of the new XC90, which were impressive. But now, with the T8 soon to be in the hands of real owners, Volvo has revealed even those impressive figures have been improved upon.

In truth, the only figures for the T8 you can actually take as fact are the performance figures (and then they assume you have charge in the batteries to work the electric motor), which have improved to a very impressive 5.6 seconds to 62mph (Volvo previously claimed 5.9s).

The figures you can’t take seriously (although they’re valid as comparison figures) are the economy and emissions, with the economy figures dictated by official testing that was designed before hybrids, and emissions that are a straight calculation based on the official economy figures, with no actual emission testing at all.

Still, that applies to all cars, and the T8’s very impressive official figures of 49g/km and 134.5mpg make the T8 XC90 a really appealing company car, with BIK rates that would save the average taxpayer enough for a decent family holiday compared to anything remotely comparable that’s powered by just petrol or diesel.

The joy is that you appear to be sacrificing nothing in terms of enjoyment for the low taxation, with the T8’s combination of the 316bhp Drive-E engine and the 86bhp electric motor (that’s a total of 402bhp on tap) delivering acceleration almost on a par with a 5.0 litre V8 S/C Range Rover, and the ability to run in pure EV mode for up to 25 miles, you have the best of all worlds.

Dr Peter Mertens, Volvo’s R&D Senior VP, said:

We have been working hard to earn our competitive edge and to give our customers the ultimate combination of performance and low fuel consumption. Our Twin Engine technology has enabled us to build on our heritage of efficient powertrain development in a completely new way.

Thanks to our new scalable product architecture, and our world class four-cylinder engines, we have a clear and leading position.

Volvo claim  the T8 version of the XC90 is the world’s most powerful and cleanest SUV. It also strikes us as a more appealing option than the Audi Q7 e-tron plug-in Hybrid we saw revealed at Geneva in March.

We think it might sell. Rather well.