Most Efficient Driving Method for MPG on XC60 T6
 

Hi all

New to the forum and new to Volvo (just come over from, BMW). I've got a XC60 T6 Recharge being delivered within the next month and as it's my first hybrid, I'm trying to read up on the more efficient driving method for fuel economy.

My commute is circa 20 miles one way (40 in total) with a large chunk on the motorway. I'm wondering if leaving it in hybrid and letting the car do it's thing is more efficient as opposed to running it on pure until the battery is out of juice then just using petrol until I return home.

Any thoughts or experience would be gratefully appreciated.

Well, first off congrats on your recent purchase and soon to be collection, hope you enjoy it.

Onto your query, Hybrid and Pure are almost identical apart from in Pure, A/C is deactivated to increase range so whichever you select will try and utilise the battery as much as possible until its empty and switch to petrol unless you request more power than the electric motor can provide and the ICE will kick in to fill the gap.
The most efficient way would be to charge it at both ends of the Journey provided there is the option to charge at work. If that is possible, you will likely get 95% of the journey done on electric and use very little petrol.
If charging at work is not achievable, experiment with selecting 'Hold' when on motorways so it only uses the ICE at higher speeds and leave the battery for all the other stuff. Driving in electric at higher speeds tends to utilise alot of battery power when its probably more efficient to use petrol.

Hybrid driving requires a little bit more concentration and planning that your standard petrol/diesel driving as knowing when best to kick into petrol or utilise the hold mode takes a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of it, the advantages can be huge. On journeys between 25-30 miles each way and being able to charge at both ends, I've achieved economy figures approaching and sometimes exceeding 200mpg. Very useful.

As above, drive in hybrid and go to battery hold on higher speeds (anything over 50mph) if you can’t charge at the end of journey 1.
The B gear mode also enables regeneration from braking and easing off whilst driving which surprisingly has helped the battery.

It’s all a learning curve 😊

Not sure if its the same with Volvo but with some manufacturers, if you set the sat nav then the car will determine the best use of the battery to maximise battery use and economy so that may be something to try out too.

If it’s 20 miles and you can charge the other side. I would just leave it and not over think it. It will cover you with electric.

If no chance to charge. I would, as above, set the sat nav to destination and return. The car will then work out when best to use the electricity. And you should find you get home to zero charge. Rather than just use the electricity for the first 20 miles.

In pure mode, the amount of press down on the gas pedal needed to turn on the ice goes higher, it’s more forgiving to keep the ice off.

Thats a brilliant response and thank you for taking the time to detail it. Fingers crossed the delivery isn't held up too much longer and I can put some of the advise in to practice

Just had a read up on this and you're right, it certainly does. Very clever trick and useful to know that! This is the link to the Volvo manual incase anyone else wants it

How do you set the the sat nav to "destination and return", with Google nav I have only managed to set the sat nav to destination where the battery is then at zero and use petrol with a little regenerated electric for the return journey.

You need to do it from the start and create an itinerary in sensus maps

That's the problem Sensus maps has been replaced by Google maps, or maybe I have missed something as my previous Volvo was pre sat navs!