Volvo announces the DRIVe variants of the S60 and V60

The star of the Swedish brand’s eco-friendly range will undoubtedly be the V60 plug-in hybrid, but until it goes on sale in 2012, the frugal DRIVe versions of the Volvo models, the “green” variants, will continue to be offered. The S60 and the V60 will receive theirs at the Geneva Motor Show next month, and they will keep company with the V60 Plug-in Hybrid.

In both cases the DRIVe models are based on the same 1.6 115 CV diesel engine already fitted to the equivalent versions of the C30, S40 and V50, which was upgraded last year to meet the Euro 5 emissions standard in force since the start of this year. It will be paired with a manual gearbox and will feature Start&Stop technology.

All of this will result in average fuel consumption of 4.3 litres per 100 kilometres for the S60 and 4.5 for the V60, along with CO2 emissions of 114 grams per kilometre for the saloon and 119 grams for the estate. With these two models, seven models in the Volvo range now emit less than 120 grams of CO2.

Those that will narrowly miss Geneva are the S80 and V70 DRIVe, which will be launched on the European market this spring and which, with that same powertrain, will both achieve CO2 emissions of 119 grams per kilometre. It would be strange, or somewhat disappointing, if they arrived with the same power output, since cars of their size perform better with a few more horsepower.

Source | Volvo