2012 Volvo S60 T5 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Daimler and Geely collaborate to develop 'a highly efficient modular engine'

BERLIN — German car maker Daimler said on Tuesday it will cooperate with China's Geely to build next-generation combustion engines for use in hybrid vehicles. Efforts to share development costs come as the growth potential for combustion engines faces the twin threat of the COVID-19 crisis and stricter fuel-efficiency and emission rules. "The companies plan to develop a highly efficient modular engine," a spokesman for Daimler said, adding that it would be used in hybrid drivetrains and manufactured in Europe and China. Geely declined to comment. The modular engine will be used in cars under different marques at Geely and Daimler, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as the companies are still in the early stages of developing the engine. News of the alliance was a surprise to Daimler's works council at its factory in Untertuerkheim, which specializes in electric and gasoline powertrain assembly. "We are speechless. There was not even a discussion about potential alternative manufacturing locations," said Michael Haeberle, the works council chief for Untertuerkheim. "We have the ability to build four-cylinder engines in Untertuerkheim, but there were no talks about it." Daimler said German factories will be retooled gradually to add electric drivetrains production. Most of the next-generation combustion engines will be made in China, business daily Handelsblatt reported. The alliance with Geely, which owns a 9.69% stake in Stuttgart-based Daimler, means that parts of Daimler's existing partnership with Renault could be pared back. A Renault source told Reuters that the Daimler-Geely project does not mean an end of cooperation between Daimler and Renault. Citing Daimler sources, Handelsblatt said the Daimler-Geely pact would save the German carmaker a "triple-digit million sum" — implying an amount above 100 million euros ($119 million) and less than 1 billion euros. Green Mercedes-Benz Volvo Hybrid Daimler Geely

2020 Volvo S60 T8 Long-Term Review Wrap-Up | Final verdict

Twelve months of motoring in the 2020 Volvo S60 T8 went by quickly. Our time in Volvo’s sharp, plug-in hybrid sedan is over, and itÂ’s time for a final verdict. The S60 saw two entirely different worlds in its time with us. We took delivery in normal days — you know, pre-global pandemic — but most of its tenure here was in a Covid-19 world. That being the case, it didnÂ’t get out and travel the country as much as our long-term test vehicles normally do. Prior to getting locked down, our S60 took trips to Chicago, Buffalo, the northern reaches of Michigan and elsewhere in the region. Even once its extended driveway sessions began, we snuck it away once to the East Coast for a quick back-and-forth summer trip. We limited our car swaps to once a month in an effort to stay away from each other on staff and keep each other safe. That meant that each of us got to spend longer stints than usual in the driverÂ’s seat — our normal routine wouldnÂ’t have encouraged this behavior pre-coronavirus. It was more like a true ownership experience, which is exactly what we aim to convey with long-term tests. We plugged it in every night, utilized the Volvo smartphone app to track it and integrated the car more fully into our lives. The odometer reading sat at 16,866 miles in the end. A great number of those miles were done under electric power, thanks to the carÂ’s 22-mile electric range when fully charged — our range testing saw it meet or exceed that figure if driven with a light foot.  And since the car was sitting at home so often, it was working with a full charge in most circumstances. Long highway trips saw us match the carÂ’s combined mpg rating of 30 mpg. Most fill-ups would return a much higher effective mpg number, though, as all the electric motoring helps it along. Folks with shorter commutes should take notice, as S60 T8 ownership will greatly reduce the number of necessary fuel stops. Due to the VolvoÂ’s long 10,000-mile maintenance gaps, it only needed to make one regular dealer stop in our time. Besides that, there were two other trips to the dealer. We had recall work done — there was an issue with the automatic emergency braking system — before the first regular service. And a sunroof snafu was the carÂ’s second and last unscheduled trip to the shop. Read on below for all of our final impressions on the 2020 Volvo S60 T8. 2020 Volvo S60 T8 View 15 Photos Road Test Editor Zac Palmer: The S60 T8 is a slightly sporty sedan, but itÂ’s no sports sedan.

Hyundai Sonata PHEV may be a game (and mind) changer

If you really, really want to consume volts instead of fuel on your way to work, school or shopping, you currently have just three options: pure EV, hydrogen fuel cell, or plug-in hybrid EV. Much as we love them, we all know the disadvantages of BEVs: high prices due to high battery cost (even though subsidized by their makers), limited range and long recharges. Yes, I know: six-figure (giant-battery) Teslas can deliver a couple hundred miles and Supercharge to ~80 percent in 10 minutes. But few of us can afford one of those, Tesla's high-voltage chargers are hardly as plentiful as gas stations, and even 10 minutes is a meaningful chunk out of a busy day. Also, good luck finding a Tesla dealership to fix whatever goes wrong (other than downloadable software updates) when it inevitably does. There still aren't any. Even more expensive, still rare as honest politicians, and much more challenging to refuel are FCEVs. You can lease one from Honda or Hyundai, and maybe soon Toyota, provided you live in Southern California and have ample disposable income. But you'd best limit your driving to within 100 miles or so of the small (but growing) number of hydrogen fueling stations in that state if you don't want to complete your trip on the back of a flatbed. That leaves PHEVs as the only reasonably affordable, practical choice. Yes, you can operate a conventional parallel hybrid in EV mode...for a mile or so at creep-along speeds. But if your mission is getting to work, school or the mall (and maybe back) most days without burning any fuel – while basking in the security of having a range-extender in reserve when you need it – your choices are extended-range EVs. That means the Chevrolet Volt, Cadillac ELR or a BMW i3 with the optional range-extender engine, and plug-in parallel hybrids. Regular readers know that, except for their high prices, I'm partial to EREVs. They are series hybrids whose small, fuel-efficient engines don't even start (except in certain rare, extreme conditions) until their batteries are spent. That means you can drive 30-40 (Volt, ELR) or 70-80 miles (i3) without consuming a drop of fuel. And until now, I've been fairly skeptical of plug-in versions of conventional parallel hybrids. Why?