Hello,

I'm a relatively new owner of an XC90 Recharge, and have a couple questions about best practices for the hybrid mode.

I'm coming from an old 2005 Prius (non plug-in hybrid, just normal hybrid), which doesn't have a "pure" mode so it runs hybrid all the time and keeps the battery charged very consistently.

So far I've not taken any longer trips in the car, and have been mostly using it in the Pure mode which has been great. I got the car in like, early October and so far haven't even had to get gas.

However, I'm confused about what happens on a longer trip. My experience driving in Hybrid mode on the freeway is that the car tends to prefer using gas, which makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that the battery seems to deplete at about the same level in Hybrid mode vs Pure mode, which is confusing. Shouldn't the car, when in hybrid mode and using gas, automatically use the engine to charge the battery? As is, it just depletes the battery pretty quickly and then you have to go into the settings and turn the "Charge engine" option on.

Why isn't this done automatically in hybrid mode? Is there anyone who can point me to a non-manual resource for this because it seems confusing to me.

Thanks!
Will

 

Same ride here as well and I wondered the same thing.

What I found out is the engine, when running does NOT automatically charge the battery. You have to swipe right and hit the charge button. Quite an oversight in my opinion and annoying. lol Overall a great ride though.

 

Hmm. Yeah. Not ideal...

So if you are on a longer trip do you just burn down the battery in hybrid mode, then swipe over to "Charge" to build charge back up then repeat?

Thanks for the info...

 

I know...I was a bit annoyed when I discovered this. If the engine run it should just automatically charge the battery.
So what I do is basically any scenario where I have the engine running I turn on the charge function. Once I get to a stop and go scenario I turn it off and go hybrid or pure again.
On a bright note we got almost 800 miles out of our first tank!!!

 

Hellcat, I have been trying to figure out exactly this. I have a 2021 XC90 Recharge on order through Overseas Delivery Program. I make a daily drive (round trip of 85 miles) that is predominantly 75 mph highway driving. While we have a 240V outlet in our garage, my mid-trip destination does not. What mode should I drive in to get the best gas mileage and does it hurt to drive high speed for 50 mins in Charge Mode? The Owner's Manual states the car has software that allows you to plug in your predicted trip mileage so that the engine and batteries work together with the end result that battery usage is spread out over the miles and depleted by trip's end. Thanks for any comments you can offer.

 

Ive never used that function but I’m betting the gas mileage would be similar to if you just ran the battery out and then used the engine the rest of the trip.

on the highway I alway keep it in hybrid. Pure mode doesn’t have enough power to maintain high speeds and you’ll need the engine at times.

But once the battery goes I start to charge and just cycle back and forth once it charges to 10 miles or so. Seems to work well!

 

Something to consider. Even though my car is complete and waiting for us to pick it up, I still read through online reviews of the T8, hoping choosing the hybrid is the way to go. Have you had any issues with yours? Do you charge it up daily? Texas Ag

 

Yes we charge it daily. Ours is at 5k miles and we’ve had a few small issues. A TPS sensor failed and we need to bring it in to get replaced.
Had a couple of other strange things happen.

Once we started up the car and hear a very loud pop or bang from the dash. After that NO audio. No chimes, dings music etc. Turned they car off, restarted and back to normal. Very odd.

Then a couple of times when starting and going into reverse the car would go and all you’d hear is a clunk when giving it gas. It’s as if the rear motors froze up? Again turned it off and back on and it was normal. Very odd!

 

Hellcat
Yikes! Not very encouraging. Our nearest Volvo dealership is 3 hrs away so I'm hoping we don't have too many events like that!
Are you getting pretty good mileage? Thanks for your thoughts, Texas Aggie

 

Gas mileage has been pretty good for a 3rd row suv. It’s great for short trips. I can get to work (20 min drive) and back on mostly all battery. We did mostly short trips when we first got it and got 850 miles out of the 1st tank!!!
On a longer trip though you’ll see upper 20s for mpg. Not great but not bad at all for a big 3rd row suv. Overall we love it. Then B and W sound system is the best I’ve heard in a car as well!!!