Volvo V60 iPhone App Monitors Charge Status

Tweet

Is it fully charged yet? This is usually a question that you might find yourself asking if you own a plugin hybrid or EV. With a new iOS application by Volvo, you can stop guessing.

Volvo is set to unveil the V60 plugin diesel hybrid at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show in March, and targets a release by 2012. But even as early as today, they’ve announced an easy way by which owners can monitor their battery charge: through an iPhone application.

The V60 takes a long time to fully charge-7.5 hours. With this in mind, Volvo is trying to make the wait a little easier by developing an iPhone application that can be used to monitor battery charge even while on the go. This is useful when you want to make sure your V60 will mostly run on electricity only. With a 32-mile range, this is a great fuel-saving option for short city trips.

If you’re in a hurry, though, you can simply skip the charge and let the Volvo V60 decide on which power source to use with its hybrid mode. You can also manually choose between three modes: electricity only, hybrid, and power, the last of which uses only the diesel engine, delivering 215 + 70 hp.