Volvo's T8 plug-in hybrid system: how it's changed recently, how it stacks up against the

competition, and basically what's unique about this plug-in hybrid.

Volvo S60 recharge: this has under its hood and under the back Volvo's new 455 horsepower
plug-in hybrid setup. You'll find this not just in the S60 but also the XC60, the XC90, etc. On the
surface of things, Volvo's plug-in hybrid system seems an awful lot like the Hyundai, the Kia, and
the BMW plug-in hybrid systems. We have traditional automatic upfront, turbocharged engine,
all-wheel drive onboard, but when you start scratching the surface, you'll realize this is quite
different than either of those setups.

Versus the BMW system: that's a rear-wheel-drive-based layout, so longitudinal engine, not
transverse. This has a front-wheel-drive transaxle over there, eight-speed automatic by Ison,
and an electric axle in the back. That's also very different than the Hyundai and Kia hybrid
systems, which use a mechanical all-wheel-drive setup and a traditional six-speed automatic
upfront. In fact, in terms of theory of operation, this is most similar to the brand-new Lexus
Hybrid Max system we find in the Lexus RX: traditional automatic transmission, turbocharged
engine, e-all-wheel-drive setup in the back, but this is a lot more efficient than the setup that
we have in the Lexus vehicles.

There are a number of reasons for that, of course. One of them is the engine. The engine itself is
a lot more efficient than the one we find in the Lexus. Then we get the eight-speed automatic
instead of a six-speed automatic, so we get a larger gear spread, and then there is the way that
this vehicle uses the electric motor in the back. Because the Lexus is not a plug-in hybrid, the
battery pack is absolutely key to the capability of this system. This battery pack is the latest
generation one. It's just under 15 kilowatt-hours in terms of usable capacity and it spans from
just about the firewall to just about the back of the front seats. It's basically this center console
area. Since the vehicle has an e-all-wheel-drive setup, it doesn't need a driveshaft to go front
and rear, so they were able to use some of the waste space, I guess you could say, for the
positioning of the battery. It also puts the battery in a safer place in terms of side impact
collisions, and it helps move some of the weight from the front to the back, but it doesn't put a
big heavy battery pack in the trunk like you find in some plug-in hybrid systems.

Dynamically, that's not a great place to put the battery because if the rear end is overly heavy,
you can feel a little bit like a pendulum out on the road. So right here in the middle, it makes a
lot of sense. But then there's the way the battery pack is used in the system as well. You'll notice
that here in the infotainment system, we find four different Drive modes: Hybrid, Power, Pure,
and Constant all-wheel drive. Now let's talk about how everything works together.

If the battery is fully charged and the vehicle is set to do so, it will automatically start out in Pure
mode. That's full EV mode, basically. It's a rear-wheel-drive 143 horsepower electric vehicle.
That may not sound like an awful lot, but 228 pound-feet of torque is reasonable, and it's
enough to get this vehicle up to highway speeds in about the same 0-60 time as you'd expect in
a mainstream compact crossover. So not overly Swift but definitely acceptable.
If you needed more oomph, you simply dive deeper into the throttle, the gas engine comes to
life, and you get up to 455 horsepower and you can go 0-60 in about 4.1 seconds. Definitely
very, very fast. When it is at Full Throttle, most of the power is happening on the front axle: 312
horsepower up here, 143 horsepower in the back. But if you're not at Full Throttle and the
battery has a reasonable amount of charge, then this does some interesting things. It will
actually try to either balance the power 50-50 front and rear if you're in that Constant all-wheel
drive mode, or it may try to bias power towards the rear if you're in the Power mode. That's
definitely going to give this more of a rear-wheel-drive feel a lot on the road than any Volvo
since they actually had rear-wheel-drive Volvos in the 90s. That's the interesting twist with this
system and makes it very different than the Lexus Hybrid Max setup.

Because this battery can power that electric motor in its own right, and with the Lexus setup, it
can't because it's a much smaller battery, it's not a plug-in hybrid. So if, for instance, you're in
Constant all-wheel drive mode, yes, the engine is running, but it's running because it's either
trying to maintain the charge of the battery to send power to the rear, or it's running simply to
power the front wheels. If you are in a trickier situation, in say an XC60 or an XC90, and you
need to be able to crawl slowly up uneven surfaces, this will not have to over rev the engine up
front and the front tires to send power to the back in say a Lexus hybrid, the RX Hybrid. You will
notice that you have to dig deeper into the throttle, the front tires start spinning because that's
the only way it can generate enough power to get something to happen in the rear, the battery
is just not that large. This battery is about 15 times larger than the one on the Lexus, so it can
power that rear electric motor in its own right and really match the wheel speeds front and rear
more equitably. But also because it doesn't have a mechanical connection to the back like we
find in a BMW plug-in hybrid or a Hyundai or a Kia plug-in hybrid, the rear electric motor can
really do whatever it wants to. Say, for instance, you're out on your favorite winding Mountain
Road, pop the Drive mode into Power, and you'll notice that you will get rear-end rotation more
like a rear-wheel-drive biased all-wheel-drive system than if you're in the regular Hybrid mode.
That's because it can choose to overdrive that rear wheel whenever it wants to.

Now, it doesn't have a torque vectoring axle in the back in this setup, that's something that
would be really cool to see in some future version, but it still means that this has the ability to
effectively put more power and more torque to the rear than the front under a wider variety of
driving conditions than we found either in the previous T8 system with less power. That one was
around 400 horsepower because it had a much less powerful motor in the back or some of
those other e-all-wheel-drive systems you'll find in the competition.

The Volvo T8 system offers some unique advantages we don't find in competitive plug-in hybrid
systems. If, for instance, we take a look at a BMW or a Grand Cherokee plug-in hybrid or even
the Lexus Hybrid Max setup, when you're decelerating and regenerative braking

power is going from the wheels through the transmission to the electric motor, and that
transmission is downshifting as you're slowing down, so you will certainly notice that sort of
halting feel as the transmission is downshifting. It is smoother in some vehicles and rougher in
others. We don't feel that at all in the Volvo system because all the regen braking is happening
back here on the rear wheels thanks to that big electric motor, and regen braking is definitely
going to be more aggressive than in the Lexus Hybrid Max system because again, the battery is
15 times larger. So in terms of regenerative braking performance and regenerative braking
smoothness, this is actually much closer to the traditional Lexus hybrid system you'll find that in
the RX 350 with the traditional Lexus hybrid system than something like the BMW plug-in hybrid
or the Hyundai and Kia plug-in hybrids. Those also have to send power through a stepped
automatic transmission as it's downshifting.

Now, on the other hand, this is going to feel more traditional when accelerating because if
you're accelerating with 455 horsepower, you're going to feel the eight-speed automatic
transmission shifting, and that acceleration is going to feel more aggressive than any vehicle
with the same transmission setup up front because the electric motor can keep on going as
you're accelerating. So the engine is doing 312 horsepower, it's pausing a little bit as it's shifting,
but the rear electric motor is just cooking along the entire time.

Unlike a Serial plug-in hybrid system, say the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid that we
currently have as a long-term tester here, this is also going to be more efficient when operating
in hybrid mode because it will run like a regular eight-speed automatic transmission front-
wheel-drive vehicle without the mechanical losses of an all-wheel-drive setup. If it needs to
send power to the back, it can send some power to the back from the battery, it can also charge
the battery thanks to that 14 horsepower starter generator up front, but it can also operate in
the most efficient drive mode for the condition required, which for steady-state highway travel
with the depleted battery, is going to be front-wheel drive in eighth gear, really trying to get the
engine RPMs as low as possible but maintain a mechanical connection between the front
wheels and the road. That's one of the reasons that the Outlander plug-in hybrid is significantly
less efficient than any of the plug-in hybrid Volvo models, including the big three-row XC90 that
actually is a little bit more efficient even though it has about double the power that we find in
that Outlander plug-in hybrid.

A question I get asked frequently with hybrids and plug-in hybrids is what happens when the
pack is completely depleted. Well, the first thing to know is that with more powerful plug-in
hybrids like this or some of the BMW plug-in hybrids, you're probably going to notice it a lot less
and it's probably going to be harder than you think to achieve that condition. Here's why: we
still have 312 horsepower from the turbocharged engine under the hood, so even if you were
driving really aggressively up the Continental Divide in Colorado or say you were driving to
Tahoe from the Bay Area in California and you're going up those ten thousand foot mountain
passes, you still have 300 horsepower and that's still an awful lot for a 4500 pound sedan.

If somehow you could magically get yourself to absolute true battery zero, then yes, all you
would have left is 312 horsepower. 0-60s might stretch out to about six seconds, passing
maneuvers might take a little bit longer, but we're still talking a decent amount of pep and the
moment you let off the throttle a little bit, the software is going to kick in and start charging that
battery pack so you don't really have to be off the throttle very long before that battery pack
has enough oomph to give you all 455 horsepower for another minute or so as you're passing
something. So that is truly not much of a concern.

In off-road situations, you would still end up with a decent amount of power in the more off-
road capable Volvos. I wouldn't off-road in an S60, but it's the same setup that we have in the
XC60 and XC90. Again, if you hit true zero, here's what the system would do: it would use the 14
horsepower motor generator unit up front to generate power, charge the battery, or send that
much oomph to the rear axle. But again, the moment you slow down and you're not demanding
that much power, the software will kick in and start recharging the battery.

That's why this will run the engine on occasion when you're at a stoplight, for instance. Its
purpose in doing that is to charge the battery so that way it's at the right level to give you the
performance you expect when the light turns green. If you were truly concerned about it, Volvo
also includes a charge mode where you can command the vehicle to try and elevate the charge
of the battery pack to either give you EV range or give you that extra power for longer if you
really want to.

Now let's talk about how this hybrid system drives in the real world. First, let's talk about the
more performance-oriented modes. Right now, we're in Power mode, so the engine is on. If I
come to a stop and floor it, it takes a tiny bit for the power to get going and then there is a
whole lot of it. 0-60 happened in this model in four seconds. But the other thing you'll notice
versus a four-second BMW or Mercedes is the hint of torque steer. So if I floor it, the steering
wheel does tug just a little bit. You'll especially notice it around corners like this that you'll get a
bit more of a tug than in a BMW or Mercedes. That's because there's no mechanical connection
front to rear and most of the power is happening upfront.

Now on the other hand, we get a little bit less torque steer than in a number of other front-
biased vehicles because Volvo uses a double wishbone suspension upfront that definitely seems
to quell some of those torque steer issues. Now if I were to put this into Constant all-wheel
drive then motoring along at this speed at just 30 miles an hour gentle throttle application it's
sending more power to the rear than it really even was in Power mode. By all estimations in this
mode, the vehicle is trying to balance power front and rear to give you very sure-footed
handling. This is the mode you want to use if you're out on snow on ice, slippery surfaces, mud,
gravel roads, if you're worried about traction, etc. This is going to make this feel very much like a
traditional all-wheel-drive vehicle unless you are demanding more than about 295 horsepower,
more than about 450 pound-feet of torque, then it's going to have to bias that power and
torque to the front. This is one of the modes where this system is definitely going to feel
different than a Lexus hybrid system with the e-axle in the back, even though those vehicles
have maybe about a 90 horsepower motor in the rear, they do not have the ability to equitably
split power front and rear, 180 horsepower total say front and back, without the front wheels
spinning a little bit faster than you might want. You'll really notice that out on snow, on ice, on
gravel roads, etc. In order to generate power and send it to the rear,
 the front tires are just along for the ride and they're just spinning faster than you might want.
Some of those situations, that means that you can end up digging deeper into sand or snow and
actually getting a little bit more stuck. It's less of a concern in this system, although this cannot
send the entire output to just one axle.

I've now engaged Pure mode, so we have a rear-wheel-drive vehicle. Volvo allows a reasonable
amount of rear-wheel slip and traction control management in this mode while keeping the
engine off. So if you're worried about just a slight wheel slip intervention from traction control
turning on the engine, this will not do that. But if you have extended traction control
intervention, then it will turn on the gasoline engine because that's how it sends power to the
front. This motor is pretty torquey and you'll really notice that on this hill. The rear wheels are
definitely slipping going up here and you can have an awful lot of fun in rear-wheel-drive only
mode. This is definitely a lot more powerful than the outgoing model and Volvo has tweaked
the software to help it stay in that electric-only operation longer. Volvo also tweaked the
software to give us one-pedal driving. So if I move this back to the B mode, the vehicle will come
to a complete stop and it's pretty aggressive even when the battery is full because it's not using
the entire battery, it actually is leaving some reserve there and it allows you to basically fill up a
little bit more than you might think even when the battery is theoretically 100 full.

We were just there enough wheel slip that it finally decided to turn on the gasoline engine. Also
pretty aggressive on the throttle, but it then very, very quickly went right back to Pure mode.
Now if you are driving in Pure mode and it does start the engine when it's cold, it's going to
have to heat up the engine, it has to heat up the catalyst to comply with emissions regulations
so it'll take a while before the engine will turn back off. But this mode is definitely very capable
and in Pure mode I was able to do 44 miles of around-town driving, about 36 miles of 70-mile-
an-hour steady-state driving before the battery pack was depleted.

Hybrid mode is fairly self-explanatory. It's going to lower the threshold where the gasoline
engine will kick on if you're too aggressive with the throttle, but it will still stay in EV mode up to
60 miles an hour or above. You can definitely travel in highway speeds in hybrid mode but it's
going to prioritize the electric operation a little bit less than in the Pure mode. Then if we move
over to Power mode, the gasoline engine will turn back on again. The transitions are very
seamless because of the design of the system and this is where you're going to get the most fun
driving nature. When you're in Power mode and you're out on a winding road like this, even
mild throttle application gives this a solid rear-wheel-drive dynamic. Very minor throttle
application speeds around 20 miles an hour, the rear end was definitely moving out there
because the software is sending more power to the rear and it's driving those rear wheels a
little bit faster than the front. The extra power to the rear axle is not going to turn this into a
rear tire-strutting Ford Mustang or anything like that, but it is going to make this a lot more
dynamic out on roads like this than you've really ever experienced in a Volvo before.

Volvo's our products were an awful lot of fun but they didn't have this kind of rear power bias,
they were really more of a neutral all-wheel-drive thing. I actually had a v70r back in 2006. This
is actually more fun even though we get a little bit less grip and a whole lot of curb weight,
4,500 pounds here. This could use some wider tires but dynamically this is absolutely fantastic.
There are times that the suspension sort of skitters across the pavement, that coupled with the
all-season tires and just 235 width means that this feels very lively but lively in this strangely
balanced way that no Volvo has in quite some time. The battery pack location gives this a near-
perfect weight balance. Volvo won't give us specific weight balance figures but it's pretty close
to 50-50. That combined with the ability to send all that torque to the rear axle really gives this
a very different personality than you might suspect. Does that give this Volvo the dynamics to
match a BMW or a Mercedes in a word no, this is not that kind of dynamic all-wheel-drive
system but it is an awful lot of fun and it's very efficiency-focused.

We've been averaging nearly 35 miles per gallon over a week of driving when operating just as a
hybrid. That is absolutely fantastic and definitely solid electric range when operating as an EV as
well. Thanks for taking the time to check out this video. Hopefully, that answers all of your
burning questions when it comes to Volvo's plug-in hybrid systems. There are a few different
Volvo plug-in hybrids depending on where you're watching this video around the world but this
is the only one offered in the United States. If you're in Europe then you do have a really
intriguing dual-clutch based plug-in hybrid system which I really would love to test in the US but
Volvo has chosen not to bring it here in the XC40 so if you live in one of those countries
definitely check that one out it's kind of a cool system but also if you're looking for a solid high-
efficiency high-performance plug-in hybrid system with definitely some quirky features and a
really engaging drive that I think is kind of endearing in a different sort of way definitely check
out the Volvo plug-in hybrid system.

If you demand pure rear-wheel-drive dynamics if you really want a solid mechanical all-wheel-
drive system that is not going to be found in Volvo's plug-in hybrid system there are pros and
cons to this but the big advantage with Volvo's system is the way that it can handle that electric
motor on the back and the efficiency that the entire thing gives you. 31 miles per gallon in the
S60 is definitely significantly above the competition at the moment and you still get 41 miles of
all-electric range. Let me know what you think about all that down there hit the subscribe
button if you haven't already done so check out the related content and of course check out the
full video of the S60 you'll find that over on the other channel see all of you later foreign.