XC60 T8 - Towing & Wheels

[Saftlad]

I'm on the market for a MY21 XC60, probably Pro model for the air suspension and would like it to have ACC. After the Volvo weekend at the end of April, it looks like a lot of dealerships have pretty much cleared their stocks, so I'll have to wait for the right one to come along. 1st preference is a XC60, but XC90 is not off the cards, though it is a bit larger than needed.

Many of the current offerings come with 22in wheels, that I'm really not keen on. Such low-profile tyres have given a poor ride in the past in my experience, and the risk of kerbing so much greater. If I asked the dealer to swap them for smaller, what are chances of them agreeing? I guess if you don't ask...

The main reason for the post is that we tow a 1650Kg caravan currently, with a BMW 530d and love the torque, especially on the hills around Devon & Cornwall.

Does anyone with a T8 tow, and are there any issues when you've run out of battery and relying solely on the petrol engine for pull?

[Adrian888]

I am sure they will swap for a price! Personally i would look on ebay for a set of smaller rims and keep the O/E wheels for when you sell. The reality is most buyers prefer the bling of larger wheels.... however much they adversely affect the ride. As for the towing, you will only get a short distance before the battery is depleted and the car runs on the ICE (maybe 10-15 miles at very best). The engine isn’t a generator for the batteries for permanent electric drive. When i tow i leave the setting in ‘save’ and switch to pure when in a town/built up area or for driving round the site. Be aware that 99% of the time when towing you will be running purely on the ICE and being petrol, lugging what is already a heavy car will not be kind to mpg. The claimed range or economy of most cars are a myth irrespective of the motive power. I like my PHEV but they are not the planet saving fuel sipping solution the manufacturers and politicians would have buyers think. The fact is batteries are heavy and weight devours fuel (energy) in order to move it. My Volvo PHEV weighs over 300kg more than the non PHEV diesel equivalent.

[Polestar Pete]

The T8 only really makes sense if the vast majority of your trips are just pootling around town and you charge on a nightly basis. I did a 150+ mile trip at the weekend and my MPG took a nose-dive to 36MPG.

As Adrian said, when you're in caravan mode, you'll likely exceed the limitations of the electric motor and you'll be pulling in petrol mode (remember, the electric motor only has 87bhp).

When the electric mode runs out, you'll still benefit from the boost from the electric motor - I believe there's always a pool to draw from and the engine will naturally regenerate electric when braking/coasting.

In terms of torque, the B4 Diesel and B6 Petrol mild hybrids both have more torque than the T8.

[Director76]

Originally Posted by Saftlad

I'm on the market for a MY21 XC60, probably Pro model for the air suspension and would like it to have ACC. After the Volvo weekend at the end of April, it looks like a lot of dealerships have pretty much cleared their stocks, so I'll have to wait for the right one to come along. 1st preference is a XC60, but XC90 is not off the cards, though it is a bit larger than needed.

Many of the current offerings come with 22in wheels, that I'm really not keen on. Such low-profile tyres have given a poor ride in the past in my experience, and the risk of kerbing so much greater. If I asked the dealer to swap them for smaller, what are chances of them agreeing? I guess if you don't ask...

The main reason for the post is that we tow a 1650Kg caravan currently, with a BMW 530d and love the torque, especially on the hills around Devon & Cornwall.

Does anyone with a T8 tow, and are there any issues when you've run out of battery and relying solely on the petrol engine for pull?

Not a caravaner but have towed utility trailers >1 tonne with a T8. You always have AWD or power mode available (forced continuous ICE running) regardless of battery status. You’ll pay at the pumps however.

Note, though not yet physically confirmed on this forum I believe, but the fuel fired aux heater has, it seems, been dropped for MY22, so suggest check if your looking at MY21 / MY21.5 / MY22 cars

D76

[Cull06]

Originally Posted by Director76

Not a caravaner but have towed utility trailers >1 tonne with a T8. You always have AWD or power mode available (forced continuous ICE running) regardless of battery status. You’ll pay at the pumps however.

Note, though not yet physically confirmed on this forum I believe, but the fuel fired aux heater has, it seems, been dropped for MY22, so suggest check if your looking at MY21 / MY21.5 / MY22 cars

D76

Always been curious about the pros and cons of an aux heater being fuel fired vs electric.

Electric cars work fine preconditioning with electric. So I’m not surprised to see that change.

[Director76]

Originally Posted by Cull06

Always been curious about the pros and cons of an aux heater being fuel fired vs electric.

Electric cars work fine preconditioning with electric. So I’m not surprised to see that change.

Well, yes I agree, if you have a 70kW battery, I’m sure that electric preheat works fine but if you’re untethered in a T8 even with a full ish battery, you’d use a big chunk of it up just warning the car, plus no battery, no preheat (you only need to retain a small amount of hybrid battery for the fuel preheat to work)

In fact, I half remember reading that the US models, that have always had electric preheat only, wont preheat at all unless tethered (and that still used battery as it doesn’t entirely run off the mains).

I don’t think engine remote start works in a T8, so no alternative there, unless that has changed.

Ideally the T8 would have both types of preheat, but for me the preheat anywhere capability and sheer effectiveness of fuel preheat delivers one of the few real luxuries of modern motoring. It has been used a lot in our 3.5 years of T8ing!
D76

[Jonny C]

Hi there - I'm new to the forum and also looking at an XC90 T8 PHEV to tow my heavy caravan, almost 2000kgs! Daily the PHEV will be perfect for me so I will cope with poor economy while towing. Have you any towed with the T8?

[RussJ759]

Originally Posted by Jonny C

Hi there - I'm new to the forum and also looking at an XC90 T8 PHEV to tow my heavy caravan, almost 2000kgs! Daily the PHEV will be perfect for me so I will cope with poor economy while towing. Have you any towed with the T8?

I've used our T8 to tow a twin axle Buccaneer van and now an Adria Alpina with no problems. Car is heavy but stable and air suspension stops sag. You can add a Volvo retractable tow bar for about £1400 fitted. Electric is OK for manouvering but you'll soon be running on petrol on the open road. Should see mid twenties or so at a steady 55mph.

[rmvm]

Originally Posted by Saftlad

I'm on the market for a MY21 XC60, probably Pro model for the air suspension and would like it to have ACC. After the Volvo weekend at the end of April, it looks like a lot of dealerships have pretty much cleared their stocks, so I'll have to wait for the right one to come along. 1st preference is a XC60, but XC90 is not off the cards, though it is a bit larger than needed.

Many of the current offerings come with 22in wheels, that I'm really not keen on. Such low-profile tyres have given a poor ride in the past in my experience, and the risk of kerbing so much greater. If I asked the dealer to swap them for smaller, what are chances of them agreeing? I guess if you don't ask...

The main reason for the post is that we tow a 1650Kg caravan currently, with a BMW 530d and love the torque, especially on the hills around Devon & Cornwall.

Does anyone with a T8 tow, and are there any issues when you've run out of battery and relying solely on the petrol engine for pull?

I recently bought MY21 XC60 Inscription Pro B5 Diesel Mild hybrid, the car had 22" wheels in the showroom and for the reasons you mentioned I didn't want the 22" wheels. Out of sheer luck they had another XC60 for sale with 20" wheels fitted and they agreed to swap wheels FOC. The difference in ride was night and day.. I also tow my Swift 1650Kg caravan with the XC60 and its been faultless.

[Jonny C]

Thanks - so long as the car tows ok while just running on petrol -good to know as its a big investment