Volvo XC70 returns as a PHEV with a massive EV range

Volvo axed the XC70 nameplate back in 2016 with buyers seemingly favouring the best-selling XC60 SUV instead. But now it’s back and thanks to patent filings in China we know just how it’ll look.

We’d already been given a solid look at the XC70 thanks to some official teasers revealed a few weeks ago. However, these new images show how the car has changed drastically from its old high-rise estate bodystyle to one that sits between the XC60 and flagship XC90. 

It’s clear that the XC70’s design has been heavily influenced by the updated XC90 and the all-new EX90. Volvo’s trademark ‘Thor’s Hammer’ matrix LED headlights are a prominent feature, as is a blanked-off upper grille with cooling coming through a lower air intake, which houses active shutters to optimise aerodynamics. At the rear, the XC70 has vertical C-shaped taillights similar to the EX90’s. 

It’s no coincidence that the XC70 images that we unearthed came from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), because the new car will be restricted to the Chinese market. A Volvo spokesperson previously told Auto Express that "there are no current plans to sell the XC70 in the UK market”. However, the firm says it is “exploring potential additional markets at a later stage” and if there is demand, it’ll look into bringing the new model to this country. 

Being an ‘XC’ rather than ‘EX’ (like the new EX40 and EX90) also means the the XC70 isn’t a pure-EV, favouring plug-in hybrid technology instead. Unlike the XC90, which sits on Volvo’s SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform, the XC70 is underpinned by the new SMA (Scalable Modular Architecture), which Volvo calls a “premium extended-range plug-in hybrid architecture”. There’s no word yet if this new platform will form the basis of any further models in the future however. 

Volvo also says the new XC70’s range-extending powertrain “is designed to meet the demand for longer-range plug-in hybrids in China, where it will be available for order later this year”. Full technical details on the range-extender have yet to be released, but we know it’ll provide an electric-only range of 124 miles - albeit under China’s CLTC testing regime, which is more lenient than the WLTP system generally used in Europe.

The system consists of a turbocharged four-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine with 160bhp. We expect this to power different plug-in hybrid set-ups with various sizes of battery giving up to a claimed 200km (124 miles) of range, according to Volvo. In the patents there are also two different kerbweights – 2,110kg and 2,275kg – and a selection of alloy wheels ranging from 19 to 21 inches. The XC70’s 4,815mm length is slap bang in the middle of the XC60’s and XC90’s, although it’s 10mm lower than the XC60 – and narrower too.  

According to Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson, “the XC70 marks our strategic entry into the extended-range plug-in hybrid segment, a perfect bridge to full electrification, offering a highly attractive alternative to customers who are not yet ready for fully electric cars.”

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