Back in the first week of July in 2017, Volvo made an announcement that seemed to set the automotive world on its ear—if only for a very short time. Some pundits misinterpreted the news and the world thought that the upstart Chinese-owned Swedish-based automotive manufacturer had taken leave of their senses. All Volvo models sold after 2019 will have an electric motor, making Volvo the first “conventional” car company to establish when and where the “old world” ends and the “new world” begins. As stated, there was some unfortunate confusion. The addition of an electric motor to a more “traditional” internal combustion engine (ICE) was overlooked. Some thought all Volvos would be all electric–battery electric vehicles (BEV). No, that was not to be the case. Volvo planned on augmenting fossil-fuel powered engines with electric ones—in most cases, through a plug-in option.
Our vehicle provided by Volvo Canada was the very latest in the S90 sedan lineup and featured an additional electric motor, making this car a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). What this means is that with a full charge, the vehicle has a maximum additional capacity of 34 kilometres. While this may not seem like much, it should be noted that it is feasible to “add” to that electric “tank” through normal driving and regenerative breaking.
