2027 Volvo XC60 facelift – third refresh brings long-range PHEV with 200 km WLTP EV range, Google Gemini AI

Can you believe it’s been over nine years since the second-generation Volvo XC60 made its debut? Neither can I, but such is the staying power of this Swedish compact executive SUV – and the slower than expected uptake of EVs – that the car has been given its stay of execution with its third facelift that will bring it well past the decade mark.

It’s a good job, then, that the XC60 is just as handsome now as it was all those years ago, bolstered by some significant exterior tweaks. The front end gains a wider grille that now encroaches into the headlights, mimicking the already-updated XC90. The slats now slant in the same direction as the diagonal chrome bar, rather than criss-crossing as per the last update from just last year. The bonnet and front fenders have been reprofiled to suit.

The lamps themselves feature a simplified Thor’s Hammer daytime running light graphic similar to the just-facelifted XC40, while the bumper has been mildly resculpted for a more upright look. Meanwhile, the taillights have been made slightly slimmer and come with visually striking light guides, and there’s also a cleaner rear bumper design.

Inside, the changes are much more minor, with only new silvery trim under the 11.2-inch infotainment touchscreen (which was added last year and still looks like an afterthought poking out of the dashboard) and a decor strip on the doors being the only visible tweaks.

You do at least now get visible ambient lighting (finally!) and a new Cardamom Nappa leather upholstery option. The Volvo Car UX Android Automotive-based infotainment system has also been updated and now offers Google Gemini generative AI voice control.

The XC60 can still be had as a petrol model, this being the carryover B5 AWD with a 2.0 litre turbo four-cylinder making 250 PS and 360 Nm of torque (10 Nm more than before). It’s mated to a 48-volt mild hybrid system that adds an extra 14 PS and 40 Nm in accelerative boost (zero to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds), as well as the usual eight-speed automatic gearbox.

The big news here are the T6 AWD and T8 AWD plug-in hybrids, which receive a much larger 41.2 kWh battery, more than double that of the previous models’ 19 kWh. This results in a commensurate increase in electric range to 200 km and a total range of 1,253 km for the T6, both on the WLTP cycle.

In Europe, the powertrain configurations were changed last year, with the rear-mounted electric motor boosted to 177 PS and 309 Nm of torque. This was not the case in Malaysia, where the XC60 soldiered on with a 145 PS motor; it remains to be seen if this will be the case with the latest model.

The petrol engines, on the other hand, were made less powerful to keep the combined outputs largely identical. In the T6’s case, the four-pot now makes 180 PS and 280 Nm, leading to a total of 357 PS and 589 Nm. This pushes the car to 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds.

As for the T8, it uses the same engine as the B5 for a combined 461 PS and 759 Nm. This enables it to sprint to 100 km/h in just 4.8 seconds, although the added performance does come at the cost of electric range, which drops to 187 km with total range also reduced to 1,233 km. One downside of retaining the old car’s design is that there’s no space to fit a CCS2 DC fast charging port, so you can only plug up to an AC wallbox for a full charge in four hours.

Safety-wise, the XC60 comes with Volvo’s latest driver assist tech, with the usual autonomous emergency braking with intersection and oncoming lane collision avoidance, evasive steering assist, blind spot monitoring, front and rear cross traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, speed limit assist, a door opening warning and optional Pilot Assist Level 2 semi-autonomous driving functionality with lane change assist. Production begins in the fourth quarter of the year.

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