Volvo XC40 Recharge
We're changing our tow car this year and are interested in going for a Hybrid. One car we are considering is a Volvo XC40 T5 R Design. Has anyone had experience towing with one of these and what are they like? I know this model has won a category in the Tow Car Awards but interested to here what they are actually like. Many thanks
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I suspect this is still too new to yet have many, if any, caravaner owners. The now Deleted User diesel seems to be a good towcar so I imagine the hybrid will be too save for the likely poor mpg and comparative lack of grunt compared with a diesel. Personally i do not think petrol hybrid is a replacement for diesel torque hence i have a Volvo diesel PHEV - good towcar but rubbish dealers (bare faced liers), no support from Volvo UK to resolve issues and lots of faults. My brother has just bought an ex demo XC60 diesel and he too is having a lot of problems including paintwork blemishes. My next car will not be a Volvo.
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We live near Bradford and were considering using the local dealership!
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You might get 50 yards down the road towing then the engine will need full power to give back to the batteries. I don't know much about hybrids but a lot are only to assist with the electric side of a vehicle as in wipers, heaters, radio etc. expensive to buy and expensive to use as a towcar. Stick with diesel.
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Practical caravan have carried a quick test, apparently it tows quite well., link not working well.
https://www.practicalcaravan.com/reviews?_review_type=tow-cars.
We tow with a 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2.4 it tow fine no problems.
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Many thanks for this link. Looks good.
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I still cannot really see the attraction of a Hybrid/recharge for towing. You are carrying a lot of extra weight in batteries etc that will makes things less economical when towing. You are also probably running a smaller engine so your pulling ability is also down.
For "normal" use I can see some sense, running electric most of the time on local runs and an engine for the not so everyday long run. But then again wouldn't an electric only fit that bill better.
A good diesel must still be the logical choice if you own a standard caravan. If towing something lighter then modern petrol engines have come on a long way and should be up for consideration.
Colin
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Colin I was the same, however I had the opportunity of PHEV test drive, I cannot believe how much we liked it, after some research we went ahead and have never looked back.
And my fuel bill is less than half including electric, a full charge off peak just under 50 pence for 30 miles.
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I see a bit in Saturday's Times Magazine, the Yaris three pot engine churns out 257BHP and 266lb of torque. Not that one would tow with a Yaris GR but it shows what they are wringing out of small engines. "There ain't no substitoot for cubes" is probably still a good maxim for tugs though.
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What PHEV did you buy?
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Interesting thought on electric cars. The Times recently reported a test that took into account the pollution created during the manufacturing process which when added to pollution created in use showed that you needed to drive the car tested 46,500 miles before it polluted less overall than a petrol car. That’s six years use for us.
Lies, damned lies and statistics from the green lobby?Is hydrogen a better way?
Stay Safe!
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Oscarmax, regarding Mitsubishi above. What does it get to the gallon.
I met an ex owner a few years ago who had got shut due to the mpg he was achieving, regularly in the 15/20 range.
Cartledge, I'd like to see hydrogen as the power source. I believe the by- products are oxygen and water.
Colin
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When we first started we were achieving 26.5mpg measure brim to brim as opposed to the screen display, now we have honed our towing technique we are achieving 28 mpg we set the speed limiter at 55mph.
When we first started we run the battery down until we reached the M6 Toll Road approximately 14 miles, we had 2 miles left, then we hit the charge mode.
On the return journey we used the charged after the battery depleted down to 80%, this improved our mpg. Now the ICE and drive train has loosened up a bit we are seeing 28mpg towing.
Ours is the latter 2.4 model, you may be referring to the older 2.0 model with the smaller motor and batteries, if you just leave the PHEV to sort it out when towing you will deplete your batteries leaving you no reserves for steeper inclines.
Mitsubishi recommend you use the charge mode when towing, when a PHEV is towing uphill the ICE unit power the front motor/wheels, under load the batteries power up the rear motor/wheels. The Outlander use a serial and parallel mode
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