Volvo confirms gasoline-burning V60 plug-in hybrid coming to America
It won’t happen until 2013 or 2014, but Volvo President and CEO Stefan Jacoby today confirmed that the V60 PHEV will be coming to America. Speaking at a seminar in Washington, D.C., Jacoby said that, while the V60 plug-in hybrid is first being prepared for the European market – Jacoby called the 50-kilometer (32-mile) all-electric range and diesel range extender “tailor made” for Europeans – and will then be adapted for American tastes. We don’t know all the details, but the big one is that the oil-burning mill will be swapped for a gasoline engine. This should make the V60 PHEV cheaper and more appealing for in the States. For more on the car, which will start limited production in November 2012, read this detailed post.
That the V60 plug-in hybrid will come to the U.S. isn’t a total surprise, but it’s nice to know for sure. Jacoby has hinted at this before and, when we got to drive the V60 last month, Volvo’s Karl-Johan Ekman said that the V60 PHEV would bow in Europe, but that other markets could follow. If you were in the U.S. and had your fingers crossed that this meant you, good job.
[Source: Volvo]