Volvo’s Polestar-engineered hybrid S60 is UK-bound

Should you be in the market for a small, posh, sporty-but-green saloon, this is a good week for you.

Only yesterday, Tesla finally revealed prices and specs for the Model 3 in the UK. It kicks off at £39,000, ICYMI. It’s expected that most buyers will be tempted to spend far more to unlock Tesla’s driver assist and longer-battery range options.

Meanwhile, Volvo has announced its flagship version of the S60, the T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered, will be ready to order later on in May 2019, costing around £56,105. The final price may yet be tweaked, but it’s unlikely to stray too far from there.

The T8 teams a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine – effectively the 248bhp powerplant from the S60 T5 – with an electric motor, to give a combined 390bhp and 472lb ft. That’s a lot of very torquey poke, and means that even though the S60 T8 is rather heavy, it’ll still go from 0-62mph in under five seconds. And when you’re not in so much of hurry, EV-only range could stretch to almost 30 miles.

You can have a non-Polestar Engineered version too, if you’d like – same power, but the suspension and brakes won’t have been breathed on by Volvo’s sportier offshoot, which is developing its own fully electric rival to the Tesla Model 3 (the Polestar 2). That’ll be on sale later this year.

Should you be in the market for a small, posh, sporty-but-green saloon, you’re spoilt for choice. Who’d get your hard-earned?