Clever diesel hybrid combines strong performance with impressive economy. Volvo has spent 280 million developing what it reckons to be the worlds first series-production plug-in diesel hybrid and, happily for the company, Swedish utility firm Vattenfall has paid half the R&D bill. Why? Because it produces an electricity surplus in Sweden and is keen to see motorists buying volts, amps and ohms instead of oil for their personal propulsion. Volvo has developed this hardware for the V60 estate, although it plans to offer the technology in several models. Even though this V60 delivers a spectacular 155. 2mpg combined and CO2 emissions of just 48g/km – excluding grid-supplied go-juice – Volvo is pitching it as a performance car. And not without justification. This twin-engined, four-wheel-drive estate is good for 60mph in 5. 8sec, with a 142mph top speed. Thats not all. It can be front-wheel drive, four-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive, with enough grunt for a battery-powered top speed of 77mph and, say smiling Volvo engineers, the scope for excellent ice-lake drifting fun.
