The Volvo XC70 Is Back, But This Range Extender Hybrid Is Not What You Expected

As much as I’m a Volvo fan (somehow, I’ve only owned two so far) I must admit I don’t know too much about their current US-market models. My affection for the brand is mostly rooted in their old stuff aka their ‘early period’: the 544 (and 444 that I didn’t know existed but saw recently in the WOB Classic Cars parking lot), of course the Amazon, and both the 100 and 200 series (with the 245 wagon being my favorite). So: basically all Volvos up through 1993. Then come the 700 and 900 series (I owned a 700 turbo sedan about 30 years ago, but other than it being big and faster than expected, I strangely don’t recall that much about it) which both have their plusses, but the very rectalinear shapes of their bodies doesn’t charm me as much as the older cars, with their overtly ‘classic’ boxy bodies with rounded edges and corners. No, I didn’t forget the 850: those are good too despite being firmly rooted in that ‘sharp-edged’ period… 850 Turbo sedans and wagons were lust-objects in my youth (oddly, the 800s never got a coupe body).

Then we come to the early 2000s or what I call their ‘middle period’ which includes the 11 years that Volvo was owned by Ford. My current ride (an ’04 XC90) was from this period, and it was the brands first actual SUV (and generally though highly of upon release). Of course, they eventually offered a slightly smaller SUV, the XC60, along with a nice variety of sedans (the S40, S60, etc…) and wagons (i.e.: the V40, V70, etc…) and lifted, butched-up wagons like the XC70 (they even offered lifted/all-wheel-drive versions of some of their sedans for a few years but I almost never seen any on the road, so I assume not too many got sold). These are also mostly worthwhile cars, with Volvo’s exterior design language evolving and (of course) modern technology finding its way through their offerings. I like some of these cars more (anything with an “R” at the end of its model name) than others (the S40/V40, while interesting, look less right carrying the then-current design language in a scaled-down package). Of note is the quirky C30 two-door hatchback, essentially a nicer Golf alternative, and the C70, a handsome convertible with a mechanically deployed hardtop that frightens me with its complexity. I will say that while I like (and have owned two) Volvos from this period, I can’t help but think of them as sometimes being overly complex under hood, and perhaps not quite as reliable as the earlier models, though of course all cars evolved like this over the decades.

And then there’s what I think of as Volvo’s ‘modern period’ which roughly coincides with the brands acquisition by China’s Geely from Ford. Now we’re into what seems like contemporary vehicles like the second-generation XC90, the top versions of which are ‘twin charged’ having both a turbocharger and supercharger, the slightly smaller XC60, and their graceful and mature-looking sedans like the S60 and large/long S90, with their wagon variants, the V60 and V90 (there are also the more outdoorsy plastic-clad versions of some wagons, which are no longer titled XC70, but rather V60 Cross Country …Volvo’s much more upscale Outbacks if you will. Some of their current models that are still ICE-powered also come in hybrid/plug-in hybrid versions, and while I admit that they all look pretty handsome and feature understated but luxurious interiors brimming with tech, I tend to think of some of these models as very complicated (the amount of plumbing and wiring under their hoods makes me instantly abandon any fantasy of doing basic maintenance or repairs in my garage) and broadly generalizing based on reviews by others, the hybrid models sometimes don’t provide MPG or driving experience improvements significant enough to justify their ample price tags. Their most appealing models (to me) tend to be the plain-ICE ones, though finding one like that without forced induction (sometimes multiple kinds of forced induction) is getting rarer as time goes on.

Also in Volvo’s current ‘modern period’ are their all-electric offerings, with the small EX30 crossover (which, no matter how hard I try, I still think is too much a Geely Zeeker X EV, with which it shares a lot …the Smart #1 is also built on this platform, though like the Zeeker, it hasn’t come to the states). I like the EX30, and even seriously considered a trip over to Galpin Volvo to put a deposit on one, but its delayed release due to software and other tech issues, along with a $10,000. bump in the base price (to about $45K from their still-being-advertised supposed $35K base) kind of put me off the car, even though the fact that it’s supposed to come with your choice of four different interior colors (including blue and green for petesake!) though I don’t know if that’s actually happened. And there’s their flagship EX90 large pure EV, which I don’t know much about yet, but my ignorance fuels my imagination, causing me to shudder from the thought of millions of lines of code that must lie beneath the svelte skin of these tech-laden, range-topping vehicles.

And now we (might eventually) have this new XC70 that Thomas has kindly told us about. I like the slightly-more-wagon-than-SUV shape of it, and the size seems right (smaller than the XC90, but not truly compact like the XC30) and it looks like a modern Volvo: handsomely understated, in what I imagine is a Swedish (albeit Chinese-controlled) way. Of course, I like the long, EV-only range, backed up by some unspecified ICE engine for longer distances. However (and not to jump to conclusions) the mention of things like motorized door handles gives me pause: new/current Volvos (both ICE and EV, along with the various kinds of hybrids in between the two) seem so complicated, and if reviews/ratings are to be believed, they don’t have anything like the reputation for solid reliability that the brand enjoyed decades ago. Even though I know the complexity is an unavoidable part of evolving the product line to remain competitive, that sheer massive tangled nest of tubes and cables underneath the hoods of most modern Volvos, along with some huge amount of software and processors to run it on, still makes me wonder whether I’ll ever own any Volvo made much later than 2010 (or so). 🙁

PS: I know that no one asked for my opinion on this topic, but since that’s never stopped me before, I figured I’d just have at it in this stream-of-consciousness musing about Volvo. I know that others have done the same far more eloquently and accurately than I’ve managed. 🙂 Also, what is it with age that it coincides with my growing affection for Swedish and French cars?