Bigger is better needn’t be right all the time. This is specifically applicable for cars. Bigger cars are hard to park, give ridiculous fuel efficiency levels and are pain in bumper to bumper traffic. It’s not a Harry Potter film where one can wave a magic wand and everything is fixed before you can say HAILA! Not everything can be fixed at one go, but a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. That one step is something that Volvo may introduce later this year.
The new Volvo XC90 will offer a combination of power and clean operation when it is launched later this year. The all-wheel drive seven seater makes up to 400 horsepower, but, has a carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of around 60 g/km (NEDC driving cycle). The company claims that no other SUV offers this level of power this cleanly.
Expressing his views, Peter Mertens, Senior Vice President Research and Development of Volvo Car Group said, “There are no compromises when you drive an all-new XC90. In the past you could either have power or low CO2 emissions. But with the all-new XC90 you can have both.”
The new XC90 offers a range of Drive-E engine options, all of which provide a combination of performance and fuel-efficiency. The main distinguishing feature of the Drive-E engine range is that they are all four-cylinder engines.
Mertens adds, “With our new Drive-E powertrains, we have created a family of intelligent petrol and diesel engines with power curves that give exciting driveability at the same time as delivering world-beating fuel economy. With seven people in the new XC90, carbon dioxide emissions per person and kilometre are outstandingly low.”
According to figures monitored by European car industry association ACEA, Volvo Car Group delivered an reduction of average fleet emissions by 8.4 per cent from 2012 to 2013.
Volvo Cars has made it possible for a four-cylinder engine to provide all the driving pleasure associated with a much larger engine and do so far more efficiently and cleanly. Drive-E engines will over time be introduced across Volvo’s entire range.
For the all-new XC90, the top of the range ‘Twin Engine’ will carry the badge ‘T8’ and be a plug-in electric car, hybrid car and high-performance car rolled into one.
Normal driving is conducted in the default hybrid mode. This utilises a two-litre, four-cylinder supercharged and turbocharged Drive-E petrol engine that powers the front wheels and an 80 hp (60 kW) electric motor that drives the rear wheels.
It uses the supercharger to fill in the bottom end of the power range to give the engine a big, naturally-aspirated feel, while the turbocharger kicks in when the airflow builds up. The electric motor on the rear wheels provides immediate torque.
But at the push of a button the driver can switch to quiet and emission-free city driving on pure electric power where the range will be around 40 kilometres, and then, when needed, immediately revert back to the combined capacity of the petrol engine and electric motor, with its combined output of around 400 hp and 640 Nm of torque.
The Volvo XC90 range also includes the D5 twin turbo diesel engine with 225 hp, 470 Nm with fuel consumption of around 6l/100 km and the D4 turbo diesel engine with 190 hp, 400 Nm and a fuel consumption of around 5l/100 km.
The range also offers two petrol engine options. The first is a T6 turbo engine with supercharger and turbo with 320 hp and a maximum torque of 400 Nm. The second is a T5 with 254 hp and 350 Nm.
Not only is there no compromise in terms of performance or efficiency, but Volvo Cars’ new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) chassis technology also allows for far more flexibility inside the car.
Well, the future is not only green but also more powerful (we are not talking about the Hulk). Performance machines of the future would be more eco friendly without compromising on the power. Just what the doctor ordered!
