2023 Volvo XC60 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

When you go shopping for a new 2023 Volvo XC60, you’ll decide between three powertrains. The XC60 B5 uses a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, while the XC60 B6 employs a turbocharged, supercharged, and mild-hybrid engine. Both have standard all-wheel drive (AWD).

The upgrade model is the XC60 Recharge with a turbocharged PHEV powertrain. It uses a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder gas engine to drive the front wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Separately, an 18.8-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack powers a rear electric motor, providing an estimated 58 kilometres of electric driving before switching to traditional hybrid operation.

Across the lineup, 2023 Volvo XC60 prices in Canada range from just over $50,000 to more than $90,000, not including the destination charge, which Volvo Canada doesn’t declare in their published pricing. For the 2023 model year, trim levels include Core trim, Plus trim, Ultimate trim, and PHEV-only Polestar Engineered trim, paired with Bright or Dark exterior themes.

Our test vehicle arrived in Recharge spec with the Ultimate package and the Dark exterior theme. To this, Volvo added extra-cost Thunder Grey paint, a Climate Package with a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats, an air suspension, and a Bowers & Wilkins sound system. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) comes to $90,200 before fees.

Sitting on 20-inch wheels with its appealing paint colour and blacked-out exterior trim, our XC60 Recharge looked terrific. Volvo has been a style and design leader for years, and while the automaker’s overall theme is aging, it is doing so gracefully.

That goes for the interior, too, where classic Scandinavian minimalism, colourways, and materials are the rule. It can take some time to get acclimated to how everything works, but with several hundred kilometres of driving time, most of the XC60’s controls become second nature.

Our test car’s black leather could have easily made the cabin a dour place to spend time, but handsome wood trim, metal accents, nighttime ambient lighting, standard panoramic sunroof, and the Ultimate package’s Orrefors crystal gear selector knob made it downright opulent inside.

As far as the XC60 Recharge Ultimate’s look and feel are concerned, Volvo gets it absolutely right.

Recharge models have a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder gasoline engine driving the front wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. An electric motor powers the rear wheels, juiced by a battery pack providing an estimated 58 kilometres of electric driving range. Combined, these components produce 455 horsepower and 423 lb-ft of torque. Maximum towing capacity is 1,587 kilograms (3,500 pounds).

Accessible through the 9-inch touchscreen display in the middle of the dashboard, several driving modes govern the XC60 Recharge’s behaviour. They include Hybrid, Power, Pure, Off-road, and Constant AWD. Separately, you can select Auto, Hold, and Charge regarding battery usage.

If you want to maximize your electric-only driving, you can select Pure as the default mode each time you start the XC60 Recharge. Otherwise, it will automatically select Hybrid. Power supplies maximum performance while adjusting the steering and optional air suspension to provide a sportier feel.

The 2023 XC60 Recharge might look relatively sensible and innocuous, but it is exceptionally quick. Volvo claims it will zoom to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, and we believe it. After the drivetrain refresh in mid-2022, the XC60 Recharge and other Volvos using this same PHEV powertrain became the most powerful in the company’s history.

As a part of the updates, what’s new is that the XC60 Recharge added a more powerful electric motor, and you can sense the difference compared to the previous model. In Hybrid mode, the rear motor displays a torque-vectoring effect that we don’t recall from the previous version, and it contributes to making this Volvo fun to drive.

We began our evaluation with the XC60 Recharge in Pure mode and 58 km of indicated range. By the time the PHEV’s gasoline engine fired up, we’d gone 61 km traveling almost solely on electricity. (At one point, while accelerating, the XC60 automatically engaged Hybrid mode and the gas engine to meet the demands of our right foot.)

At this point, we were running the XC60 Recharge into the mountains and completely forgot to switch into Power mode. That made the XC60 feel soft, with plenty of body roll and motion, while the steering exhibited an irritating desire to return to centre.

Fortunately, before leaving the twisty mountain roads and heading back into the city, we remembered to switch to Power mode. That altered the SUV’s character, making it feel even more responsive to accelerator inputs while battening down the hatches as far as the ride and handling went. Still, you’ll want the Polestar Engineered version of the XC60 Recharge if you plan to fling one of these SUVs around for fun on a regular basis.

If instead you’re going to commute in traffic, run errands, drive in the city and suburbs, and take the occasional road trip in the Volvo XC60 Recharge, then the Pure and Hybrid dynamic behaviour will reward you with a soft, compliant, and absorbent ride quality. You can even use the one-pedal driving function to avoid stepping on the occasionally sticky-feeling brake pedal while maximizing battery pack regeneration. However, after a brief pause, the powertrain sometimes surges the vehicle forward as you set off from a stop, and it can take you by surprise.

At the end of our 105-kilometre evaluation route, the XC60 Recharge had averaged fuel economy of 4.3 L/100 km. If you owned one, plugged it in each night, started each day in Pure mode, and drove that far while commuting, that’s the kind of fuel efficiency you could enjoy on a regular basis.

Or, you can plug it in each night, leave it in Hybrid mode, and enjoy the best blend of performance and efficiency. The one-pedal driving system and regenerative brakes feed energy to the battery pack, helping to extend its charge and even recoup some range if you descend a mountain grade.

You can also switch to Charge mode. In this driving mode, the XC60 operates solely on the turbocharged gas engine and also recharges the battery as you drive. We tried this on an 80-km trip into the city and added 32 kilometres of battery range in the process, but got no better than 11.9 L/100 km—and we traveled almost exclusively on highways.

The Volvo XC60 is a compact crossover SUV, so it is best for carrying four people even though it will accommodate five when necessary. As is traditional for a Volvo, the front seats provide outstanding comfort, and in Ultimate spec they are wrapped in soft and supple Nappa leather upholstery, with heating and ventilation, and power cushion extensions for improve thigh support. They’re also a snug fit, but in a good way.

Likewise, the back seats are exceptionally comfortable, but there isn’t much room for spreading out. Remember, this is a compact SUV, so legroom is a little tight for taller people. However, it feels more spacious thanks to the large panoramic sunroof and the properly supportive seat cushions add to your passengers’ happiness. In addition, the test vehicle had heated rear seats, always a winner in cold climates.

Storage space is decent, if you know where to look for it. The console bin under the centre armrest isn’t the right spot, because it is small and shallow. Instead, open the storage and cupholder trays on the centre console to reveal practical spots for smaller items, while placing larger items in the wide door panel bins or the glovebox. Since the owner’s manual is available through the infotainment system, it need not reside in this common location.

A power liftgate is a mandatory option on the XC60 Recharge. When it opens, you’ll find 730 litres of cargo space behind the back seat, and Volvo shapes it so that you can stow full-size suitcases laying on their sides in addition to flat. Fold the back seat down and the space expands to 1,792 litres.

To the left side of the cargo area, you’ll find a netted space that can hold the XC60 Recharge’s charging cord. Opt for the air suspension, and buttons in the back lower the suspension for easier loading of heavy items. Volvo also provides a ski pass-through panel so that you can carry four people and their skis at the same time. Unfortunately, there is no underfloor storage space due to the XC60 Recharge’s battery pack.

A 12-inch digital instrumentation panel is standard, and you can use the vaguely cryptic steering wheel controls to operate it. It doesn’t take long to get the hang of things, but the XC60 arrived without the trip computer information showing and it took forever to find the setting to turn the data on. Why? Because Volvo locates it within the 9-inch infotainment system instead of the instrument cluster.

Fortunately, the infotainment system is easier to use. It’s a Google Built-in setup equipped with four years of complimentary access to Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Play. Naturally, it is Android friendly and natively operates much like Android Auto, but also supports Apple CarPlay. Additional highlights include Bluetooth, SiriusXM satellite radio, and Wi-Fi access.

The 9-inch touchscreen, mounted portrait-style, is on the small side, but the excellent graphics and simple, clean, intuitive interface makes that a non-issue. Plus, Volvo provides a volume knob flanked on either side by tuning buttons, making it easy to operate while driving. There are steering wheel controls for these functions, too.

The voice-recognition system impresses. However, it can throw a few curve balls. For example, when asking the technology to “find” a favourite local restaurant, Google Assistant instead gave us a full readout of the Yelp entry for this establishment. Switching to a request for “directions to” solved the problem.

Otherwise, we had no complaints. The XC60 Recharge’s Google Built-in tech properly filtered an urgent request to find the closest hospital to only hospitals, a test command that can sometimes trip up other voice recognition systems. You can also operate climate system functions by voice, which is good because they’re otherwise accessible only through the touchscreen.

More impressively, when we told the Volvo that we wanted to listen to reggae music, it asked which of several streaming music apps we wanted to use. We chose Spotify, and a playlist called “Reggae Classics” began to play.

Our test vehicle had the optional Bowers & Wilkins high-end sound system, and it is sensationally good. However, it is also expensive at $3,750. Since the Ultimate package includes a Harman Kardon audio system, that will likely suffice unless you demand the very best in audio components.

The Volvo Cars brand is synonymous with safety, and for good reason. The Swedish automaker introduced the three-point seatbelt in the late 1950s, and it has been a safety system innovator ever since.

Because our test vehicle was the Ultimate trim, it came with all of the XC60’s available safety features. The list included Pilot Assist, which is Volvo’s most advanced driver-assistance system, combining adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring with lane keeping assist and lane-centring capability on the highway. However, you need to keep your hands on the steering wheel for it to work.

And work it does. Pilot Assist excelled on multi-lane highways, proving smooth and accurate under a variety of driving conditions. When you change lanes to pass slower vehicles, it also accelerates the XC60 back up to the desired speed without delay. Plus, it successfully ignores highway off-ramps and on-ramps, which can befuddle similar systems from other automakers.

Oncoming Lane Mitigation can help you to avoid collisions with oncoming vehicles that may stray over the centre line marker. It can also tell when an oncoming vehicle is approaching faster than expected and brake, preventing an unsafe left turn across traffic.

As for Volvo XC60 Recharge crash-test ratings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not assessed the PHEV for safety. However, the XC60 B5 and B6 mild-hybrids earn top marks across the board.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the 2023 Volvo XC60 B5 and B6 a Top Safety Pick+ rating for the 2022 calendar year. The organization may carry that rating forward for the 2023 calendar year, or it may assign different ratings, so be sure to check the IIHS website for any updates.

We’re fans of Volvos, and the 2023 XC60 SUV is no exception. The XC60 has enjoyed a continual program of improvement since its last full redesign for the 2018 model year, making it one of the few vehicles that has gotten better with age.

The latest version of the XC60 Recharge is a revelation for its blend of style, performance, and efficiency. If want to give EV living a test-drive before fully committing to a pure electric vehicle, an XC60 Recharge lease is a good solution.

However, this SUV can get expensive in a hurry. While it’s close in size to the BMW X3, the pricing puts into competition with the larger BMW X5 xDrive45e PHEV. With that said, our well-equipped XC60 Recharge Ultimate test model’s MSRP even overlapped slightly with the bigger three-row Volvo XC90 Recharge, so from that perspective you might find value if you have no plans to carry more than three passengers at a time.

But, at an as-tested new car price in the low-$90,000s, it seems like Volvo is getting too far over its skis. The 2023 XC60 Recharge Ultimate is nice. But this compact luxury SUV isn’t quite that nice, if you get our drift.

Note: Images show a US model.