XC60 T8 real world expectations

[PaulOxon]

Hi all

I'm looking to buy an XC60, most likely nearly new. I'm tempted by the T8 hybrid, but think I may be leading with my heart rather than my head!

In theory, most of my day to day journeys are under about 20 miles, and I can charge at home, so it would seem to be ideal to mainly use electric power, but with the ICE available when I need to travel further afield. The problem is that I live in a fairly rural location, so probably two-thirds of my 20 mile commute would be dual carriageway at around 70mph. Even if I take back roads, they are country roads so typically 50-60mph.

I assume that these sort of speeds aren't going to be done using the electric motor only, and that the ICE will cut in. If you have a T8, is that your experience?

I'm sure that the electric motor will be great once I'm in town, or for use in start-stop traffic, and it would be nice not to be so polluting, but I think the benefits will be hard to justify in these circumstances.

Would welcome anyone's thoughts.

Thanks

Paul

[TimNiceBut]

Originally Posted by PaulOxon

Hi all

I'm looking to buy an XC60, most likely nearly new. I'm tempted by the T8 hybrid, but think I may be leading with my heart rather than my head!

In theory, most of my day to day journeys are under about 20 miles, and I can charge at home, so it would seem to be ideal to mainly use electric power, but with the ICE available when I need to travel further afield. The problem is that I live in a fairly rural location, so probably two-thirds of my 20 mile commute would be dual carriageway at around 70mph. Even if I take back roads, they are country roads so typically 50-60mph.

I assume that these sort of speeds aren't going to be done using the electric motor only, and that the ICE will cut in. If you have a T8, is that your experience?

I'm sure that the electric motor will be great once I'm in town, or for use in start-stop traffic, and it would be nice not to be so polluting, but I think the benefits will be hard to justify in these circumstances.

Would welcome anyone's thoughts.

Thanks

Paul

I've had mine for around 6 weeks now. It'll happily do 20 miles on battery and will probably do up to 70mph or so without the ICE cutting in, as long as you're careful on the accelerator. I travel at 50/60 on the local single and dual carriageways as well as some back roads.

I had a 7Kw Pod Point charge station fitted at home to give a bit of future proofing (I think the T8 only charges at 3.6Kw) and it goes from empty to full in a little under 3 hours. I also have a mains charge point which is more like 5 hours to charge.

I like the challenge of keeping it off the ICE but am not always successful, especially when confronted with a hot hatch at the traffic lights Grand Prix, but the sudden dip is mpg is rewarded by the sound of supercharger and turbo in unison.

[MaDProFF]

If I recall ICE cuts in at 75 or 78 MPH cannot remember which.

I doubt very much you will get all 20 miles done on a full charge range, once you get around 60 mph it drains the battery quite quick, and off once around those speeds you will cut the ICE in quite easy if you want acceleration.

At a guess I would expect you to see a return of around 50 / 70 MPG on that journey, I assume that is one way 20 Mile commute, so ofc return it will drop some, so saving the battery for the rural drive is a must on the way home.

I get 40 to 50 MPG on a full charge on a 60 Mile journey that is 70% Duel Carriageway, and motorway, driving at way above 70.

If you want to bother with battery management you would get more, so hold battery, and charge on down hill sections.

And the added benefit that other short journeys you will get 150+ MPH

[jonnyu]

This type of discussion makes sense in a petrol vs diesel discussion. With an hybrid option, not sure why this is a discussion.

If you have the money to invest on a T8, it wont be your type of commute that will decide if a T8 fits better to your needs or not.
It's a different championship. Hybrids and EVs are the future and buying a traditional combustion engine it's because you simply cant afford an electrical variant.

[familymangreg]

Originally Posted by jonnyu

This type of discussion makes sense in a petrol vs diesel discussion. With an hybrid option, not sure why this is a discussion.

If you have the money to invest on a T8, it wont be your type of commute that will decide if a T8 fits better to your needs or not.
It's a different championship. Hybrids and EVs are the future and buying a traditional combustion engine it's because you simply cant afford an electrical variant.

I'm not sure about that. I am actually quite interested in this discussion, as I'm also trying to decide if a T8 could work for me. If the types of journey we often do will make the best of a T8, then it could be a good option, but if I'm to spend 90% or my journey lugging a great big battery pack around and getting low 20s mpg, then maybe not.

:wq

[PaulOxon]

Thanks for the real life feedback, it does sound like I would get more electric usage than I thought, which is good. It's a 10 mile each way commute, and the same to the supermarket etc. rather than 20 each way.

Originally Posted by jonnyu

This type of discussion makes sense in a petrol vs diesel discussion. With an hybrid option, not sure why this is a discussion.

If you have the money to invest on a T8, it wont be your type of commute that will decide if a T8 fits better to your needs or not.
It's a different championship. Hybrids and EVs are the future and buying a traditional combustion engine it's because you simply cant afford an electrical variant.

I'm not sure what you're saying here? The reason this discussion makes sense to me is that if my regular journeys saw little to no miles being done on the electric motor, it's hard to justify the additional expense and complexity of the vehicle. Of course efficiency isn't enough to justify the purchase and the other benefits such as pollution, environment or being able to rag it using all of the power available must be more significant factors.

Paul

[Wizzpop]

Originally Posted by jonnyu

This type of discussion makes sense in a petrol vs diesel discussion. With an hybrid option, not sure why this is a discussion.

If you have the money to invest on a T8, it wont be your type of commute that will decide if a T8 fits better to your needs or not.
It's a different championship. Hybrids and EVs are the future and buying a traditional combustion engine it's because you simply cant afford an electrical variant.

I don't accept it's a matter of being able to afford or not. I have difficulty justifying paying an extra £12k for the T8 compared to the T5, and it attracts the additional tax rate!!

[MaDProFF]

Originally Posted by Wizzpop

I don't accept it's a matter of being able to afford or not. I have difficulty justifying paying an extra £12k for the T8 compared to the T5, and it attracts the additional tax rate!!

Because a T5 is nothing like a T8, same as someone justifying more than 12k to get an S3 over an A3

[Philip Fisher]

I have a 45 mile commute each way. I used to charge at work only and typically got about 33 -35mpg (actual calculated from brim to brim). I have just started to charge at home too, it is early days but first few tanks have been 42 and 43. Current readout on dash is 47.7mpg for this week. I am driving with a slightly lighter foot too.

Journey is 90 percent motorway of the D2M, D3M and D4ALR variety.

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by jonnyu

This type of discussion makes sense in a petrol vs diesel discussion. With an hybrid option, not sure why this is a discussion.

If you have the money to invest on a T8, it wont be your type of commute that will decide if a T8 fits better to your needs or not.
It's a different championship. Hybrids and EVs are the future and buying a traditional combustion engine it's because you simply cant afford an electrical variant.

It’s a discussion because the t8 is only able to return anything lke it’s mpg when used for a daily commune of about 15 miles each way with a harvest in the drive and a charger at work.

The diesel however can do 100,000 miles without needing special provisions.

Hence it is a discussion worth having.