Has anyone got a T8 yet?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Whether it is the right car for my type of journey or not I have chosen the perfect car for my type of tax liability.....

well you will find driving it a completely different challenge , saving the electric power and harvesting energy when you can . quite a pleasant experience when you drive home through the city after a long run and it doesn't cost you anything in the city on electric only . ..

[I-S]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Whether it is the right car for my type of journey or not I have chosen the perfect car for my type of tax liability.....

Which reflects very poorly on the tax system, which for some years now has been pushing people into inappropriate vehicles for their needs.

Anyone with a modicum of scientific understanding knows full well that the only way to accurately tax CO2 emission is by taxing fuel - every gallon of fuel contains a known amount of carbon and will produce a given amount of carbon dioxide when burned.

I would very much like a T8 - for my uses it would be ideal as I would be able to commute every day on electric power and yet still be able to undertake long journeys.

However, for that sort of cost, I'd rather buy a Tesla S 70D, which would also fulfill those needs.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by I-S

Which reflects very poorly on the tax system, which for some years now has been pushing people into inappropriate vehicles for their needs.

Anyone with a modicum of scientific understanding knows full well that the only way to accurately tax CO2 emission is by taxing fuel - every gallon of fuel contains a known amount of carbon and will produce a given amount of carbon dioxide when burned.

Last time I bought some diesel there was a 59% tax on it. You want the government to raise it some more?

[AB-UK]

Originally Posted by I-S

I would very much like a T8 - for my uses it would be ideal as I would be able to commute every day on electric power and yet still be able to undertake long journeys.

However, for that sort of cost, I'd rather buy a Tesla S 70D, which would also fulfill those needs.

The XC90 is renowned for it's class-leading load capacity which "should" be one of the major reasons buyers should have in mind when considering this car.
4 sets of scuba diving kit and access to dive sites were my considerations when buying my first 2 XC90s.

To relate the T8 to a Tesla is really a Non sequitur - chalk & cheese you might say.

[I-S]

I'm very keen not to pay any more taxes - I wasn't suggesting that they should be increased.

My point was that that is the only way to accurately tax CO2 emission from vehicles. The tax system as it stands results in people purchasing plug-in hybrid vehicles and then never plugging them in because they are buying fuel on fuel cards. The tax liability is very low despite the high fuel consumption when used in this manner. On a 300 mile motorway journey a T8 will use more fuel than a T6 simply because the hybrid system has no opportunity to help under those circumstances and the vehicle is having to cart a lot of extra weight around.

Yes, of course some people buy the XC90 for reasons that mean a Tesla S wouldn't fit the bill (although a model X might, but availabilty/price put it out of the running at this point in time). However, there are some that could have the choice between them - I'd be among them (if I could afford such things!). Many company car buyers that would have bought XFs or 5 series bought mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs instead to reduce their tax liability - not because they wanted a soft-roader.

My complaint is directly aimed at the appalling tax system that is so full of ridiculous loopholes and based on unrealistic tests that some people, not necessarily anyone here, will buy plug in hybrid vehicles and not make proper use of them because they were bought to take advantage of the system. The same system that proclaims that a Porsche 918 or Mclaren P1 uses less fuel and emits less CO2 than a 3-cylinder 1 litre hatchback.

[Carl Sberglager]

It will be interesting to hear how the T8 performs, this review in the Telegraph casts doubts on economy and braking

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/volv...c90-t8-review/

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by I-S

I'm very keen not to pay any more taxes - I wasn't suggesting that they should be increased.

On a 300 mile motorway journey a T8 will use more fuel than a T6 simply because the hybrid system has no opportunity to help under those circumstances and the vehicle is having to cart a lot of extra weight.

Although the t6 will have more drag from the mechanical 4x4 linkage and also the weight from this system so perhaps the difference will not be that great if at all.

Additionally, unless the journey is up the m74 at a weekend, then many 300 mile motorway journeys will involve plenty of braking and 60 to 80 to 60 activity.... This should allow for some regen braking.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by I-S

I'm very keen not to pay any more taxes - I wasn't suggesting that they should be increased.

My point was that that is the only way to accurately tax CO2 emission from vehicles. The tax system as it stands results in people purchasing plug-in hybrid vehicles and then never plugging them in because they are buying fuel on fuel cards. The tax liability is very low despite the high fuel consumption when used in this manner. On a 300 mile motorway journey a T8 will use more fuel than a T6 simply because the hybrid system has no opportunity to help under those circumstances and the vehicle is having to cart a lot of extra weight around.

Yes, of course some people buy the XC90 for reasons that mean a Tesla S wouldn't fit the bill (although a model X might, but availabilty/price put it out of the running at this point in time). However, there are some that could have the choice between them - I'd be among them (if I could afford such things!). Many company car buyers that would have bought XFs or 5 series bought mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs instead to reduce their tax liability - not because they wanted a soft-roader.

My complaint is directly aimed at the appalling tax system that is so full of ridiculous loopholes and based on unrealistic tests that some people, not necessarily anyone here, will buy plug in hybrid vehicles and not make proper use of them because they were bought to take advantage of the system. The same system that proclaims that a Porsche 918 or Mclaren P1 uses less fuel and emits less CO2 than a 3-cylinder 1 litre hatchback.

The tax system is a nonsense in many ways, not just not for cars. However, be careful what you wish for as there is nothing ever so bad or useless or ridiculous that a politician can not then make it worse....

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Carl Sberglager

It will be interesting to hear how the T8 performs, this review in the Telegraph casts doubts on economy and braking

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/volv...c90-t8-review/

I saw that when it came out. Andrew English seems to have taken a dislike more for what the car stands for than for how it behaves. He gave it 3 stars. Every other review i have found seems to have given it 4 stars

[Rojah]

Hi there,

Bob from Lancashire here, and I am new to this forum.

I received my T8 the week after Christmas 2015, having had it on order from the lease company from January 2015. A long wait….

I have experience of hybrid and plug in hybrid cars since 2006, having “owned” an RX400h Lexus, a RX450h Lexus and a Toyota Prius Plug in Hybrid. I did over 85,000 miles in the Lexus cars and over 105,000 miles in the Prius.

I also have experience of Volvo ownership, 1998 V70 (still running with 250,000 miles on it), and two XC70’s.

Anyway, onto the T8. First impressions, it’s a big car, huge in fact. So if you have limited or tight parking, forget it! It doesn’t fit some NCP car park bays, so be warned.

So straight to the inevitable question of battery range and fuel economy, not forgetting that this is a 2.4 tonne, 7 seater SUV. Well on petrol only on motorways at 75 to 80 mph it will do about 30 to 32 mpg. At a steady 65 to 70 mph somewhere around 34/35 mpg. I think for a 300+bhp petrol engined large car that this is not too bad.

As far as plug in hybrid mode is concerned, the maximum hybrid mileage indicated on full charge (approx 9Kw) has been 21 miles, but when the temperature has been sub-zero as of this weekend, then it has been as low as 18 miles. In this weather, in reality during normal driving and commuting the actual all electric range is about 15 miles total in hybrid mode, and maybe plus another 2 miles if you run the car in “pure” mode. Nowhere near where the press hype says, but then again the Plug in Prius never achieved the range that was implied by the manufacturer.

I am not complaining though, because with familiarity with the cars systems, and when the warmer weather fi9nally arrives, then battery range will increase.

So far the Volvo has done 1839.7 miles at an average fuel consumption of 39.6 mpg. Real world. I charge the car at night on economy 7, and commute 26 miles to work. I am fortunate to have a charge point at work, so my daily commute of 52 miles yields a fuel consumption of between 65 – 85mpg. My route has some quite steep hills for a third of the journey.
With the battery charge exhausted, and in hybrid only mode, I drove from Liverpool to home, about 24 miles, and this gave 34.5 mpg. Again not bad for a such a large car, and slightly better than the 2 Lexus hybrids I used to own. The Prius in similar battery empty hybrid mode would have done exactly the same journey at over 70mpg.

I still have to work out the cost £ and in mpg of the parking heater use, and the heating boost, both of which are very useful in keeping a hybrid car warm in very cold when petrol engine is running or required. I suspect it isn’t much, but I bet it’s a few litres of fuel per hour – so that’s why I only run it for a few minutes at a time.

The best bit about this car. Well, set to “performance mode”, there’s over 400+bhp on tap. And does it fly, fearsome if not fully prepared for a 2.4 tonne slab being persuaded to change direction quickly. The noise it makes too is quite addictive.

So there you have it. I daresay that I will post more and ask questions of the infotainment interface that I am trying to learn