Bought V60 D6 Hybrid

[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]

Thanks for your comments.
I do indeed use the timer for preconditioning.
However there is another facility within VoC that allows you to set up a charging location, then set a timer for charging the car. Surely this is designed to control the car's charging mechanism rather than interrupting the AC supply so should not cause any damage.
Sadly though, I can't get this to time anything because, as you say, as soon as you connect the charging cable it starts to charge, whereas it should delay the charging until the timer allows it.

[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.

[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.

Have you managed to get the charger timer to work?
I can't as when the car charger is plugged in it starts to charge even though I have set the timer for charging on the VoC app.

[ThwartedEfforts]

Originally Posted by 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.

As a side note Charlie, having spoken to my dealer I've established you can pay for the software update that allows you to precondition the car untethered, i.e. start cabin heating remotely without having to plug it in first.

Cost is hefty though at around £350 (though from memory this was the cost of the option when the car was originally optioned).

Both the current D5 and D6 2017 models do this by default

[Charlie70]

"included by default" means also added to the price. You get nothing for free.

My D6 is a 2016 spec but bought before it was in effect so got it at 2015 price. The list of changes was mainly 'hybrid' trims they'd removed and the colour I had chosen was no longer available but I saved the +/- 500EUR INCREASE for the 'streamlined' 2016 spec.

[johng007]

Originally Posted by nonexecdirector

Have you managed to get the charger timer to work?
I can't as when the car charger is plugged in it starts to charge even though I have set the timer for charging on the VoC app.

Yep - almost always works for me with just the occasional funny immediate charge when I plug in. I use the VOC app on my iPhone, "Battery" option, then save your current location ("home"), put "Scheduled Charging" slider to ON position and set Start Time, End Time then SAVE. Provided you have done this BEFORE you plug cable in, the car charging socket then shows BLUE LIGHT when you do plug in meaning charging deferred. Get up in the middle of the night like I do (good old bladder!!) and you see the flashing GREEN light on the car socket showing charging taking place.

I have 10kW PV array and during the summer I simply slid the "Scheduled Charging" slider to off + "SAVE" if I am home on a sunny day, dropped charge to 6A and charged for free. Gotta say that is a very very nice feeling.

[johng007]

I kicked off this thread over a year ago when I bought my D6 hybrid. Still loving it and no regrets at all for all those that asked.
Perhaps doing too many long distance trips to take full advantage of the hybrid but what a lovely place to sit in anyway and power + AWD on tap whenever you need it but also glide around locally for peanuts, especially last summer when I charged during the day using my PV array predominantly.
The Parking Climate pre-heat is fantastic now in the early morning starts.

Did tour of Scotland last Spring with Ferrari Owner's club mates. All Ferraris plus 1 Volvo. D6 did not disgrace itself and was much admired by the others. (I was the only one not washing my car every day!)

The eco tyres are lasting really well, a bit too well for me to change to some all seasons in time for this winter. I should really have bought a winter set but already done that with my Honda Civic ....

Which begs a couple of questions:
- what replacement tyres have other (R-design) D6 owners bought?
- do different tyres improve my only real D6 gripe - the somewhat vague steering when in 2WD modes?
- Anybody have all seasons such as Michelin Cross Climate?
- Am I the only one to have the DAB signal drop out so much - I can compare with my Honda Civic which has simple portable unit from Halfords with roof mag mount aerial - so much better in the Honda on the same routes

Cheers .. John.

[ThwartedEfforts]

John can you say what wheel rim size your car has, and what car you had previously? The D6 has one of the worst resolved ride/handling balances I've ever encountered, and though it is something that surfaces as a complaint in almost every review I've seen, I thought I could live with it (aka put up with it). But it's bloody awful and I'm not sure I can.

[johng007]

Originally Posted by soldana

Can anyone confirm that a V60 hybrid will happily charge from a 32A type-2 charger?

I have an existing 32A captive-cable type 2 charger at home (for a Renault Zoe). All I can find on the web is that the Volvo supports 16A charging. I am assuming that it would just happily draw its 16A from a 32A charger, but I can't find that written down anywhere.

Can johng007 (or anyone else) reassure me that a 32A charger (by Chargemaster in my case) will work OK?

Thanks.

Yep - I have a 32A charger in my garage for future proofing but will recognise V60 only takes 16A max and happily works like that.