Volvo’s sexy XC60 has all the driver-assistance tech you can think of

“THAT’S the car I’m getting.” I’ve just arrived at the seaside Airbnb and my staycation buddy is more excited to see my Volvo XC60 than he is me.

“Oh right,” I reply, “why’s that then?”

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The answers comes thick and fast. He wants a Volvo because he has an 18-month-old son and is conscious about safety.

Fair point. Safety is a Volvo trademark and the XC60 has all the driver-assistance tech you can think of.

What else? Economy. He lives in London and spends most days running errands for work and ferrying his older kid to and from school.

So this XC60 Recharge T8 plug-in hybrid fits the bill. If you are doing 20mph runs in the city, you can more or less run it as an electric with its 32-mile range.

Also it’s not too big, which the XC90 can feel in the capital’s clogged roads.
And?

Boot space. He carts around a lot of expensive stuff for his job so needs room for that – and for it to be safe.

The XC60 is aimed squarely at drivers who want a proper family car that takes all the stuff they need to cart . . . and everything they don’t.

Its 505-litre capacity is plenty, if slightly less than others in its class. I am keen on all that stuff too.

But I am more interested in its power and how the car handles. That is the sweet spot for me.

And the XC60 is even more impressive here. The T8 pops likes the proverbial s*** off a shovel – even with three passengers and a boot full of suitcases.

With a beefy 303 horses, doing 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds, it can be an exhilarating and rock-solid ride. You will pay for all this, of course.

The model I drove had some extra tech you could easily live without – a fancier sound system, wireless phone charging – but was a chunky £65k.

I was sad to hand back my test car after a week tackling the windy roads of Suffolk.

But when I fancy another spin in an XC60, there is at least one fella in London I know who will be taking delivery very soon.

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