Volvo to Produce Worlds First V60 Diesel Plug-In Hybrid

Volvo has started production on the new Volvo V60 diesel Plug-in Hybrid before the start of customer deliveries slated for early 2013. According to Volvo, they plan to produce about 4,000-6,000 more units of the vehicle after the initial batch of 1,000 Volvo V60’s. What’s special about the V60 is that it will be the world’s first diesel plug-in hybrid and it has been integrated onto the same production line as that of the regular V60 and other Volvo models at their production plant in Gothenburg, Sweden.

"We are first in the industry to integrate a plug-in hybrid in an established production flow together with other car models," said Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research and Development at Volvo Car Corporation.  "The integration in the standard production flow gives the plug-in hybrid buyer the possibility to choose in principle all options available for the standard V60."

The technology used by Volvo to achieve this record incorporates the plug-in technology with two separate and complete power trains and a powerful battery that can go up to 52km on pure electric power.