Tag Archives: mileage

Why Do I Need A Hybrid, When I Am Getting 30 mpg (& More) On My 2021 ‘Volvo XC60’?

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by Anura Guruge
on August 23, 2021

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Click to ENLARGE. At ‘Topsham’ after 88.5 mile drive. See below.
Click to ENLARGE. At ‘Topsham’. Full display.
Click to ENLARGE. At ‘Biddeford’ prior to getting on I-95/295.
Click to ENLARGE. The trip to Maine last Friday.

I had noticed that I was getting, at least per the Volvo trip-computer, very good mileage on my 4-month old Volvo XC60 — with under 2,500 miles on it.

Two weeks ago on my trip to ‘Boothbay‘, Maine (on August 12, 2021), I noticed that I was getting 30 mpg (or a tad more) on my trip out & 29 mpg on the way back.

Then last Friday, August 20, 2021, I basically did that same trip again. Same route. That, i.e., from home to ‘Biddeford’, Maine & then I-295 north, is my fastest route into Maine.

The first leg, from home to Biddeford is essentially via secondary roads with 25-, 30- & 35-mph stretches & some traffic lights. Only a few places that I can (legally) do 50- or 55-mph. Plus, the first 2.6-miles are on a dirt road. So, I can’t really stretch the Volvo’s legs. Since I am not known for my slow driving, I can assure you that at NO STAGE did I drive below the speed limit. So, yes, until I hit I-95 & then shortly after I-295, I was NOT driving freeway. Once I was on the freeway I never drove below 60-mph. (Just in case you were wondering, I, like I-295, ‘through’ ‘Portland’, to taking I-95. It is the more direct route to Downeast.)

As you can see I was getting 31 mpg on the first leg. That is not shabby. Then, with freeway driving (& 70-mph is permitted in Maine), I was still getting 30-mpg. I am not complaining. And this is still a very new engine. Under 2,500-miles. It is still not fully ‘broken-in’. So, I am happy, that in the end, I opted against getting a hybrid. Today’s hybrids still do not make much sense to I. The battery is too heavy for the benefits. I don’t want to lug around a 600-pound battery. Just seems wrong.

Anyway, I will keep you posted on what I continue to get on mileage on this Volvo XC60. I will be returning it to Volvo on September 13, 2021. Then I have to wait for my 2022 XC60.

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Volvo 2022 ‘XC60’ ‘Mild-Hybrid’ Loses Horsepower To The Electric Motor Rather Than Gaining Any?

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by Anura Guruge
on July 30, 2021

I got an update to this directly from Volvo. Though you will find this, as yet, on the Volvo Website, I was told, with some evidentiary printed documentation, that the ‘mild-hybrid’ electric motor, i.e., the ISG (below), delivers 13hp when acting as a motor. So, the electric motor can add 13hp to the overall HP giving the 2022 XC60 B5 a total of 260hp. OK? So, 10hp more than the ‘old’ T5 — albeit this HP only kicking in when you want acceleration, typically from a standstill.

Click to ENLARGE.
Click to ENLARGE. This ISG is BOTH a generator cum motor. Dual role. Most of the time a generator, occasionally when more power is needed a small, auxiliary motor.

The above picture of the ‘ISG‘ (which I also used in yesterday’s post) kinds of tells you why this is — if you think about it.

In a ‘Mild-Hybrid‘ you don’t have a big enough motor (or for that matter battery) to drive one set of wheels (let alone two). You have a small motor that kicks in, intermittently, to add a little bit of extra power. The rest of the time, as I explained yesterday, the ISG acts as the car’s alternator. But, it is a BIGGER more power-hungry alternator than what you would get in a non ‘mild-hybrid’. Hence, the drop in HP. Notice that the torque is not changed — since that is what is produced by the internal combustion engine.

From what I have read, mainly from Europe, in the case of the Volvo XC60 the extra mpg of the mild-hybrid, at best, is 3 mpg! Yes, an additional 3 miles per gallon. In my 2021 Volvo XC60, without trying, I am getting 29mpg, per the car’s computer. I am pretty sure I am unlikely to get much more with the XC60 mild-hybrid. So?

This is ONLY a solution that Swedes could have come up with. It is worse than a ‘No-OP’. It is, from what I can see, a ‘Negative-OP’. I am hoping that Volvo proves me wrong. Appears they have. The ISG is supposed to provide an additional 13hp when it kicks in, as a motor, when the vehicle is trying to accelerate.