Speaking from personal experience, I believe the best way to get a feel for a vehicle is a trip from Vancouver to Abbotsford, and then Abbotsford back to Vancouver. This is one I often take for work, and/or because I love all the restaurants and events Abbotsford has to offer with its bustling farm country/community.
This trip is over 60km through backed up traffic, windy city roads, and highway straightaways. And this weekend I found myself in this very situation that I know all to well, but luckily I was equipped with the ideal vehicle to take it all on.
After all these years, we are already well aquatinted with Volvo. They are one of our brand favs, specifically their recharge model line. It give us both a blend of reliability and cost savings. The hybrid model allows for electric plug in charging, which is great for day-to-day driving, coupled with the ability to recharge the battery life through regular driving. Just by starting and stop at signs and lights you are accumulated energy. There is even a bar on the dash that helps you track how much you are charging, thus encouraging you to maximize this energy gathering.
With enough stored, it is nice to have as a little buffer, which turns into a big way to save money in the long run. This and the over 500km in tank, the 2024 XC60 Recharge goes long distance well.
To further its reputation as a great travelling companion: Volvo seats have some of the best lumbar support. An important piece for decreasing driver’s fatigue and hip issues from long periods of sitting. This coupled with one of the best massaging car seats on the market, you are as comfortable as you can get behind the wheel. This is despite only having three speeds and three intensity levels with their massaging featuring, whereas others brands have up to 5. The kneading and pulses are hard, you can feel it targeting specific points through waves, threads, and/or a combination of both. You can also have it focused on certain parts like the lower back or shoulders.
With safety features like lane merge warnings and lane assist, you can drop your shoulders and rest your arms during the straightaways. Both are a nice to have, alongside driver assist to avoid repetitive motion or static body positioning.
The cabin of the XC60 is compact with everything within reach. However, you still have a good bubble of space around you. Although, for the way I sit as a driver, I wish there was more armrest to better support my forearm. I was literally left hanging, and I found this more of an elbow pedestal.
Compartments are limited, binning is little. Small and shallow trays mean that you are utilizing the backseat and truck more for cargo storage.
There are no wireless phone charging mats for your convenience, but there are 2 c-cables located within the centre console. However, despite your cable type this is a slow charging process, a lesson I learned the hard way as I ran out of power while being plugged in. If your phone is plugged in utilizing the auxiliary feature to play music and guide you journey via GPS, you are spending more battery life than you are receiving from the plug-in charge. A 30 minute drive only gave me 2% of juice. I was not impressed, as I would consider this an essential for the modern vehicle and driver.
As for the way it handles the 2024 Volvo XC60 Recharge is as light as a kite. The wheel is so responsive that you don’t need a lot of motion to set it in motion. A learning curve I struggled with coming from my heavy clunker. Similarly, the brakes were very reactive and the Volvo does a fine job of rolling to an easy stop. In the same way, when looking to accelerate, you almost get whiplash, having the Volvo spring to life, and you being unfamiliar with amount of pressure needed to accelerate.
Overall, this was a really fun car to drive and it gave me a really enjoyable ride. This is a vehicle and brand I am proud to be seen in, and happy to declare as one of my favourites. Iconic with the Bowers and Wilkinson speakers at the front of the dash and the crystal gearshift below it.
