Bought V60 D6 Hybrid

[johng007]

Just saying hi.
Lurked for a while and put in a couple of posts before but have now taken the plunge and bought 2014 R-Design Lux Nav Hybrid with loads of goodies on. Picking it up Saturday 10th.
Can hardly wait.
See you around the forum as I get to grips with all the knobs n whistles the V60 seems to offer! Any hybrid advice most welcome .. .especially curious if I have some kind of pre-heat option in the winter???
Cheers .. John.

[Charlie70]

I'm only 10 days into driving my first volvo, also a D6 hybrid.

Best advice? Download and start reading the manual! Coming from a manual 2004 Audi, trying to figure out the gadgets as well as the auto gearbox makes for a steep learning curve. Throw in the very vocal information system and you'll never feel bored or lonely again! ;o)

[GMcL]

Look forward to reading updates from you both and your hybrid experiences. My wife has a petrol hybrid which is surprisingly frugal. I'm keen to hear how the diesel hybrid shapes up.

There are only another couple of D6 folks here.

[acb5]

Welcome to the Hybrid club as noted there are not many of us. I am sure you will not be disappointed. I have done almost 30,000 miles now so any questions I am more than happy to help out.

[JRS80]

Welcome, I hope you enjoy your new purchase.

If you haven't already seen it, CAR magazine have one on long term test, which may be of interest to you;

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-rev...m-test-review/

[volvo for ever]

perhaps nice to drive ??

but a nightmare to work on im guessing new xc 90 will be worse will no soon enough

[DieselElectric]

Originally Posted by JRS80

If you haven't already seen it, CAR magazine have one on long term test, which may be of interest to you;

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-rev...m-test-review/

That article says:

"The V60 hybrid’s boot doesn’t even have space for a can of sealant, given it’s packed with batteries"

I think he needs to RTFM. There's sealant and a compressor in a side compartment. I've used the latter but only because a friend's car had a flat.

And this... "According to British Gas, the cost to me would be a trifling £115 for a 16amp charger, or £214 for a 30amp charger, which would juice the V60 in five hours"...
AFAIK, the V60 charging system maxes out at 16amps.


One, rather ironic, important tip:
If you are using the VOC app to set the times your car charges up, e.g. to use off-peak power, turn it off before you go away on holidays. In less than a week, I've twice come back to a completely flat 12V battery.

The dealer contacted Volvo and found out that when the timer is set, the car frequently wakes up the entire 12V system to check if it's time to charge the main battery. After a few days this is enough to drain the 12V battery so much that finally the alarm goes off and flattens it completely. You then have to use the the mechanical key to get into the car which is not fun if the passenger door is quite close to a wall.

Turning off the timer while you're away seems to solve it. My dealer has told me a software fix is "on the way" but at least the work-around helps.

DE.

PS: I don't do very many miles and regularly charge the battery but, depending on what display I look at, the car's currently getting between 1.9 and 2.0 l/100km (which seems to be well over 130mpg) plus about 0.3kWh per km. Obviously you won't get that with long journeys but it works brilliantly for me.

PPS: Sorry about the metric figures but the info display on the centre screen is much better in metric mode.

[nonexecdirector]

Originally Posted by acb5

Welcome to the Hybrid club as noted there are not many of us. I am sure you will not be disappointed. I have done almost 30,000 miles now so any questions I am more than happy to help out.

I have just acquired a V60 Twin Engine hybrid. My query concerns the charging timer. How does this work, because if you plug it in to a power source, it starts charging immediately - no matter what time you set the charging timer to?
I also think it would be great to be able to operate the charging remotely anyway. I have solar panels and it would be very satisfactory to be able to switch the power on and off depending on the weather conditions. Any thoughts, experts? Thanks

[Charlie70]

The timer is for temperature preconditioning, not charging. If the cable is plugged in, and the car is ready to accept charge, it will charge until complete or you unlock the car.

I would avoid temptation to timer / switch the AC supply; it's not recommended. It may end up damaging the controller.

[nonexecdirector]

Originally Posted by acb5

Welcome to the Hybrid club as noted there are not many of us. I am sure you will not be disappointed. I have done almost 30,000 miles now so any questions I am more than happy to help out.

I am getting between 2.5 to 3 miles per kWh from my V60 twin engine hybrid - and that's in this cold weather. At current electricity prices (12.5p per kWh) that's around 4 - 5 p per mile. The ICE probably costs 12p - 14p per mile so that's a hefty saving. Apart from occasional longer journeys I am not using diesel at all, except when the windows steam up and the engine kicks in to clear them. The preconditioning works a treat so I leave the car connected all night so it will warm up in the morning through the mains supply rather than using the battery or fuel.