The 2024 Volvo V60 Recharge addresses the desire for better living through (battery) chemistry without sacrificing the need for speed. With a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivetrain that aims to balance pure electric driving with a massive acceleration upgrade over the gas-only V60 Cross Country, the car speaks to an ultra-specific luxury customer. That range of buyers gets even narrower when considering its wagon body style—a rarity in an SUV-soaked universe.
Photo: Benjamin Hunting
The V60 Recharge soldiers forward for the 2024 model year unchanged from the year before. It is available exclusively in Polestar Engineered trim.
In the sections that follow, our independent expert analyzes a 2024 Volvo V60 Recharge Polestar Engineered with no additional options.
The test vehicle’s price was $72,645, including the $1,195 destination charge to ship the wagon from its Ghent, Belgium, assembly plant to your local dealership.
The Recharge represents the pinnacle of the V60 lineup, and as such, it delivers an upscale cabin. This means maximum detail from Volvo's designers, including small Swedish flags appended to the bolsters of the vehicle's Nappa leather sport seats (heated, of course), metal accent trim across a charcoal dashboard, and the crystal shift knob that has become a signature for the brand. Aside from those bolstered seats, the only real giveaway you're driving the Polestar Engineered is the vehicle's bright yellow seat belts.
The wagon's midsize proportions guarantee easy ingress at all four entry points, and there are respectable amounts of leg, shoulder, and hip room front and rear. A standard full-length glass sunroof helps make the cabin feel that much larger, but there's a dearth of usable storage space up front. A small center console and a pair of door pockets are matched with a modest glove box, which means you'll likely be throwing larger items, like a purse, onto the rear seats on most trips.
The V60 Recharge features a Google-based infotainment system running Android Automotive OS built around a 9-inch touchscreen on the center stack. It includes features such as:
This touchscreen interface is easily one of the most frustrating aspects of the car. For starters, there are no hard buttons to access climate control features, which means you must use the small icons at the bottom of the screen for quick adjustments or access a sub-menu for more fine-tuning. Neither of these actions is easy to do while driving, as they require diverting your concentration. If you're wearing gloves, it's even more difficult.
The infotainment system heavily relies on Google integration. To use its various music and navigation apps to their fullest or download new apps from the Google store, you must sign in to the system with a Google account. This brings up privacy and data-tracking issues, as Google will have access to things like the vehicle's location, navigation queries, and, of course, all app and communications activity. Isn't it enough that our mobile devices are already tracking us?
If you own an iPhone, you can skip many of the above hassles with Apple CarPlay, but shockingly, the Google system does not support Android Auto. As an Android user, I employed voice commands as my workaround to access most vehicle functions, including seat heaters and navigation prompts.
The experience was occasionally buggy, however. When I tried to change the car's drive mode (which is only accessible via the touchscreen), it failed to load that menu and wiped out my current trip from Google Maps every time I tried. I also experienced the infotainment system giving me phantom alerts displaying text messages sent months ago.
The V60 Recharge Polestar Engineered features a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine matched with a single electric motor that powers the rear axle. All-wheel drive (AWD) is standard equipment, as is an eight-speed automatic transmission. Feeding from a 19-kWh battery, the PHEV setup is good for 455 horsepower and 523 pound-feet of torque.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the 2024 Volvo V60 Recharge Polestar Engineered at 31 mpg combined. It also features a 74-MPGe rating and offers 41 miles of electric-only driving on a full battery charge.
With so much power available, it's logical to assume that the Volvo wagon appeals specifically to enthusiasts, particularly those with a penchant for straight-line speed. In actual practice, the Polestar Engineered experience is more of a mixed bag and is heavily informed by the vehicle's startling mass.
With a curb weight of 4,500 pounds, Volvo's advertised 4.3-second sprint to 60 mph is an impressive accomplishment. However, the car feels much quicker with the pedal down at highway speeds than it does off the line, making short work of brief passing zones and rocketing toward triple digits on the dashboard with alacrity. All the above is contingent on selecting the Polestar Engineered drive mode, which erases both turbo lag and the hesitant switchover from EV-only motivation that is present when puttering around in hybrid mode.
You'll have to be content with the eight-speed transmission's gear selections, as you will find no paddle shifters with the Polestar Engineered. That might dull driver engagement for some, but the vehicle's ponderous mass doesn't exactly facilitate a lively conversation between pilot and pavement. All that weight also pushes braking distances—and pedal feel—to occasionally uncomfortable extremes when driving aggressively. That said, the chunky wagon sticks to the road well, smoothing out bumpier sections. At the same time, its AWD system provided sure-footed handling even on the occasional snowy patches that presented themselves on my mountain route.
If you want to get your hands a little dirtier, the V60 Recharge Polestar Engineered offers the single strangest piece of gear in its segment. Every wagon includes an Ohlins manually adjustable suspension system that requires owners to pop the hood or jack up the car's rear to make shock absorber adjustments. While I was happy with the car set to "full soft" regarding handling and comfort, no other luxury vehicle relies on a set of tools instead of a touchscreen selection when selecting suspension settings.
The vehicle's "Pure" electric-only mode works exceptionally well when driving more gently. Only the steepest slopes and hardest accelerator inputs caused the gas engine to kick in with an assist, and I could do 90 percent of my daily driving on battery power alone, even at speeds of up to 80 mph.
The V60 Recharge Polestar Engineered includes the complete list of Volvo’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). This includes:
Volvo's Pilot Assist feature is a step or two behind the state-of-the-art in keeping a vehicle in its lane or smoothly following the traffic flow. Steering inputs from this hands-on system felt incremental rather than fluid when holding the wagon between the lines on the road, and the adaptive cruise control feature takes its time when accelerating back to the set speed and pulling out to pass slower traffic. Volvo's driver aids have advanced little over the past several years, and their behavior can be frustrating during a long trip.
It's also worth noting that the system does a poor job of alerting drivers when it's active. A small icon at the bottom of the gauge cluster is the only clue regarding Pilot Assist's functionality, and it's easy to miss. The Polestar Engineered's head-up display picks up some of the slack by including this information in its over-the-hood projection.
With 22.5 cubic feet of cargo space available behind the second row—and a full 60.5 cubic feet with those accommodations folded flat—the Volvo can challenge similarly sized SUVs in terms of practicality. Keep in mind that the lift-over for the rear hatch opening is considerably lower than that of a crossover or the stilt-walking V60 Cross Country. This makes loading large items or accessing the vehicle’s roof rack easier.
The Polestar Engineered's EPA rating is 31 mpg combined and 74 MPGe. It offers 41 miles of battery-only driving range.
A PHEV's real-world efficiency is directly linked to its battery charge state. With a full power pack, I saw 60 mpg over a 75-mile trip, roughly half of that distance covered in EV mode. With the battery empty, the car delivered 30 mpg over the same route, which is respectable given the heft and power of the Recharge.
All the above occurred during cold March weather, with temperatures hovering just above or dipping just below freezing. This impacted the vehicle’s EV driving range, slicing it down to about 30 miles per charge. This puts the V60 about average when compared to other PHEVs under similar conditions.
Volvo claims a three-hour battery charge time when connected to a Level 2 station. This matched my experience with the vehicle.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rated the identical (in terms of safety equipment) 2022 V60 Recharge a Top Safety Pick+ for the 2022 calendar year. However, it has not re-evaluated the 2024 model using its revised testing procedures.
As of this writing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not rated the crashworthiness of the 2024 V60 Recharge.
The Volvo V60 Recharge price is $72,645, including the $1,195 destination charge.
In the JD Power 2023 Initial Quality Study (IQS), the Lexus IS ranks highest in the Compact Premium Car segment. The Cadillac CT4 and the BMW 4 Series are the next highest-ranked models.
In the JD Power 2023 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, the Lexus IS ranks highest in the Compact Premium Car segment. The BMW i4 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class are the next highest-ranked models.
Other competitors to the 2024 V60 Recharge include the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Genesis G70, Tesla Model 3, and the Volvo S60 sedan with which it shares its underpinnings.
The Volvo V60 Recharge combines excellent EV range with surprising performance, matched with a practical wagon body style that makes it a strong SUV alternative.
There are no direct competitors to the V60, given the lack of sub-$100K wagon options outside the crossover segment, which means buyers may be more willing to tolerate less-than-stellar ADAS and a clunky infotainment system to get their long-roof fix—especially if they crave AWD traction during the winter months.
Benjamin Hunting is a freelance automotive journalist who has been writing about cars for more than 15 years. He has been a regular contributor to MotorTrend, Car and Driver, Super Street, Hagerty, Inside Hook, the New York Daily News, and Driving Line, and is one of the hosts of the Unnamed Automotive Podcast.
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