Volvo XC60 T8 Black Edition

Volvo XC60 T8 Black Edition | Test Drive

12 May 2025 Redazione News, Tested

Words Matteo Lavazza / Photos Alessio Becker

Some think that gigantic displays, fake sound coming out of the speakers and a poshy badge are enough to convince customers to leave a big check. Nothing could be more wrong. If you put all this appearance aside for a moment and instead pay attention to what really matters, you often find yourself with a purchase that is not worth the money spent. The standard-bearer of quality above all else is Volvo, a brand that over the decades has literally cemented its image around safety for drivers and people all around. After all, being born in the cold and treacherous Scandinavian lands it could not have been otherwise.

Many years have passed since Volvo introduced seat belts and literally offered them to all manufacturers, a well-known story that deserves to be repeated, just to clarify that we are not talking about an unsuspected outsider, but ‘bout someone who knows how to do their job where it is really needed. With a current range increasingly rich in models and versions that – surprise surprise – tend to underline the obligatory commitment of all brands towards fully electric mobility, we find the XC60. Not just any version, but the T8 Black Edition, the so-called top of the range. And when I say top, I really mean TOP.

Rechargeable Plug-In hybrid unit, with a 2-liter 4-cylinder internal combustion engine flanked by a 19 kWh battery pack. Let’s not beat around the bush, the overall power is astonishing and not just for the house with Thor’s hammer in the front lights: 455 horsepower and 709 Nm of torque. Obviously we have all-wheel drive and obviously the T8 will be extremely fast in its movements, but all this pot of horsepower mixed with electrons and Newton-meters are not limited to reducing travel times, especially those favored by the comfort offered by the passenger compartment and therefore on long journeys. No, the XC60 T8 provides the driver with enough power to move the 2,163 kg of weight in less than 5 seconds on the 0-100 kph, electronically limiting the maximum speed to 180 kph. You will ask yourself why and right here we find the answer behind the ultimate sense of this model.

When we tested it last year, albeit not in the new Black Edition trim, we had already proven its incredible qualities as a kilometer-munching vehicle. Everything is black now, with privacy glass, 21” wheels and badges, in addition of course – but do I need to say it? – to the body and interior color. After all, total black has always benefited by enhancing the design, even when talking about relatively generous dimensions like those of a medium/large SUV like the XC60, which has been around for a few years now but still incredibly fresh thanks to a line that embodies the minimalist style of the house. After just over 12 months and with the more than favorable opinions expressed at first glance clearly impressed, we can do nothing but dig deeper and understand how much and where this product has remained at the top of the food chain of a motoring panorama that in 365 days can change considerably.

It is one of those cars that you feel like you have known all your life, a trusted friend like those that exist only in the most romantic TV shows. This is why it is legitimate to ask whether having 455 horsepower is not something superfluous, especially considering that there is no way to act on the ratios of the 8-speed automatic transmission and that there is no real Sport mode, except for the management of the hybrid unit, which can be set to Power and thus always have the grit of the ICE and electric horsepower available together. The T8 is not for you if you plan to launch it between the curves as you would with a Stelvio Quadrifoglio. The set-up is soft and remains sly, with steering that accompanies the curves with grace. Traction – four-wheel drive – is a guarantee on slippery surfaces and to avoid wasting power, but it is precisely the nature of the XC60 that does not lead to sinking the gas as if it were a matter of life or death. The power is there for you to use and comes in handy when overtaking, and then it goes back to bed like a ferocious guard dog that just by looking at you is able to intimidate who wants to break into your house for stealing your cookies.

This is the meaning of the T8. Power at your feet, the awareness of accelerating and covering 500 kilometers while the passenger next to you still has to finish writing the good morning message. Said and done, too easy. And then the leather-smelling passenger compartment can accompany you for entire days without ever making you get out to stretch your legs and back, with a sound system that would make the stage at Woodstock pale in comparison and a satellite navigator with Google maps that will make any other system you try later seem obsolete and imprecise. Things are done properly here.

You can feel the rolling of the tires, especially on downhill stretches where I suggest driving in Brake mode and recharging the battery pack, very useful in urban areas in order to save liters of precious petrol and thus find yourself with a more than surprising overall mileage. Any references? We are talking about distances in the order of 750/800 km with a full tank (petrol + batteries at 100%). Yes, you read that right. And no, I did not take into account an out of town old man driving style.

The T8 is a clear and rare example that power does not have a single direction, that of performance as an end in itself, but represents the most unexpected way to a more relaxed total coexistence, guaranteed precisely by an engine that will not struggle under any circumstances and will therefore offer margin whenever you feel the need. The XC60 starts at around €54,000 for the B4 diesel, and goes up to €76,000 for the T8 Black Edition, but the question is once again different from the first one that would come to mind when talking about such important figures. What we should ask ourselves is not whether this car is worth the money, since there is not the slightest doubt about that. The question is why others don’t try to do something as good, since in the end they ask even more, palming you off with models that can offer much less.