2022 BMW X3 vs 2023 Volvo XC60

What's the difference?

The X3 xDrive30e is a sporty SUV with fantastic ride quality and slick driving characteristics, although its specs seem a bit behind on the electrified front despite it being the most expensive PHEV of its peers.

This leaves it with an odd split personality of being particularly limited to tight city driving to make the most of its EV features, while its engaging nature beckons more to the open road than some of its rivals. A jack of two worlds perhaps, but a master of neither.

The XC60 continues to be a suave European premium SUV, which doesn’t need to try too hard to be sporty or luxurious, because it just is.

The electrified features of this Recharge version fall to the wayside behind the wheel, enhancing the quietness and comfort of the XC60 without making it feel too foreign for first-time electric car adopters, yet beneath the surface there’s still a level of engagement to be had for enthusiasts looking towards a zero-emission future.

While plug-ins will continue to be a hard sell for Australians into at least the near future, this one nails the Volvo brand promise of being an approachable family SUV.

The X3 is iconic BMW, having come to be the face of the brand for many buyers, the mid-size SUV exemplifies the Bavarian marque’s ‘kidney grille’, sharp and tall lines, and strongly defined body.

It’s part dainty luxury car and part buff Germanic tourer in equal measure. Suffice it to say fans of the brand will love it, but it’s not going to make converts of anyone else.

Newer design elements which adorn the X3’s body include the striking tail-light design, and little plastic fills below which combine with its contrast bumper and dual-exhaust ports to make for a sporty looking SUV.

The wheels look enormous and add enough chrome to the picture to keep it looking sleek, while subtle badgework has always been a hallmark of a good BMW.

BMWs have always had a relatively minimalist take on the interior design, and overall this is a space in which progress has been made at a glacial pace throughout the brand’s history, wild 7 Series limos being the exception to the rule.

This means the X3 gets the iconic centre-panel, ever so slightly oriented to the driver which houses the two centre air vents and climate control buttons, and a small panel below which houses the volume knob and shortcuts for the radio.

The digital revolution has very much come to the interior of this SUV though, as the top of the dash is adorned with a single enormous panel, and a second one set in the instrument binnacle in a classic fashion. It will all be quite familiar, even if you’ve skipped a BMW generation or two.

The wheel is a key touchpoint, clad in a lovely soft padded leather but with a chunky three-spoke design and massive notches at 10 and two for you to rest your hands on.

I don’t like this wheel in the brand’s more dainty sports cars like the Z4 where it feels too big, but it definitely feels at home in the X3.

Quality materials with plenty of soft-touch plastics and leather trims extend their way into the door, while the software is appealing in its design and fast to respond; clearly backed by strong hardware.

A final thing worth noting is the X3 has one of the more dated interiors in the BMW range. While it has been augmented with digital upgrades over the years, it doesn’t feel as contemporary as the incoming range of cars with the next-gen design elements. Take a look at the iX’s spectacular interior for what you’re missing out on.

To me at least, the Volvo XC60 is one of, if not the best design in the luxury mid-size SUV segment. This is a car which effortlessly exudes its premium nature, unlike many of its rivals straying away from the temptation to hammer you over the head with sporty flourishes.

Simple lines and limited application of chrome pair with big wheels, tastefully applied gloss black highlights, and the Swedish brand’s signature ‘Thor’s hammer’ headlight profile to make for something friendly and approachable, but distinctly upmarket and uniquely Volvo.

This is more true than ever when this car is viewed from the rear, where it maintains Volvo’s signature upright tail-light designs, and text rather than a logo across the boot lid, which, for the record, the brand was doing before it was trendy.

On the inside this Scandinavian pragmatism continues with a brilliantly simple dash shape, with delicate highlight elements finished tastefully in patterned aluminium. There might be a touch too much piano gloss for some, this is a surface which is hard to keep free of dust and fingerprints, but the real highlight piece of the dash is the portrait touchscreen.

Offering slick Android software with mostly, mercifully large touch elements, and transitions mostly free of jarring lag, it feels good to use, too.

While the seats are sportier than some may expect from Volvo, they still have the comfort which the brand is well known for in the plush trim.

I wish more premium cars were designed like this Volvo. It’s distinctive, luxurious, and as you’ll find out next, practical, too.

The X3 is reasonably large on the inside, with a commanding road view and healthy space for an adult in both front seats. The tall roofline leaves plenty of room for someone my 182cm height, while leather-clad soft-touch finishes are present for your elbows and knees.

There’s a large bottle holder and thin bin in each of the front doors, and a wide centre console with a further two bottle holders with adjustable ridges and a large storage bay suitable for a phone below the climate cluster.

This area also houses a USB port and a little shaped notch for you to place the key, and the whole area can be covered over with a retracting lid.

Like all BMWs there are well hidden shortcut buttons for many of the functions which integrate into the design, and there’s a multimedia screen function for most functions, too, controlled through the centre dial system, or via touch.

It’s nice to have both, unlike some Mazdas which use a similar control system, but force you to rely on the dial.

The second row looks a bit flat from a distance, but you do sink into the leather-clad seats nicely, and unlike some rivals in this category, the second row is fixed and not on rails.

Room for a 182cm tall adult is decent, with a little more than adequate knee room and excellent headroom.

The leather trims continue, and true to the sense of being a premium brand the intruding piece of wheelarch is also clad in padded leather. No touching plastic in here.

A single bottle holder appears in each of the rear doors, with a further two in the drop-down armrest, and there’s a netted pocket on the back of each of the front seats.

Rear passengers get their own climate zone with an independent control panel as well as a 12V outlet and two USB-C ports.

Luggage capacity in the boot is rated at 450-litres (VDA), significantly down on the combustion versions of this car. Note in the pictures the stepped boot floor, which is adorned with a chrome trim piece for some reason, as though the car is always reminding you of the lost room.

Still, the squared-off space managed to fit our three-piece CarsGuide luggage set with relative ease and room to spare. There is a thin and narrow slot under the boot floor which serves as a location to place your charging cables.

The XC60 matches its squared-off exterior angles with a big interior. The driving position offers a high roof and plenty of adjustability, and while it compares well in terms of space compared to its rivals, there are electric mid-size SUVs which are now opening cabins up even more by deleting the raised centre console area.

While we always like to see a set of tactile buttons and dials, particularly for climate functions, there are shortcuts for the front and rear defogger, and a nice big dial for volume control.

Thanks to big windows and wing mirrors, the XC60 is easy to see out of in every direction, bolstered by its amazing 360-degree parking camera. For a mid-sizer, it’s a well equipped city-slicker.

The rear seat offers plenty of knee room for me behind my own seating position (at 182cm tall), and although the seat bases are higher than they are in the front and there’s a panoramic sunroof, I still had sufficient headroom.

The middle seat is an unfortunate story, as a large transmission tunnel (which now houses the battery pack) consumes any semblance of legroom, making it hardly suitable for adults.

Proving its family credentials, though, the XC60 range offers a built-in booster seat on the outboard rears, alongside the usual array of dual ISOFIX and three top-tether mounts.

In terms of storage there are nets on the backs of the front seats and small bottle holders (will fit 300ml cans or bottles but not 500ml ones) in the doors, with a further two in the drop-down armrest (as well as a ski port behind - naturally). There are also adjustable air vents in the B pillars, although the climate functions can only be controlled via the central touchscreen in the front. Finally, there’s an odd small shelf and dual USB-C outlets on the back of the centre console.

The XC60 has a boot capacity of 468-litres (VDA) which is big but not huge for the mid-size SUV segment. It easily fit the whole CarsGuide luggage set, and there’s a helpful amount of room under the boot floor for the storage of charging cables. This area also hosts the compressor for the air suspension and a tyre repair kit. Cleverly, when you park the car or open the boot, the air suspension lowers for best access.

This is currently the most expensive XC60 you can buy. Wearing a base price of $100,990, before on-road costs, at the time of writing, the Recharge plug-in hybrid sits atop a three-variant range, which also consists of the base B5 ($72,990) and B6 ($85,990) mild-hybrids.

It competes in the luxury mid-size SUV segment, which is most congested in Australia for plug-in hybrids. Rivals include the BMW X3 xDrive 30e ($107,000), outgoing Mercedes-Benz GLC 300e ($94,124 - the PHEV one won’t be replaced when the new generation arrives), and the latest arrival to the space, the Lexus NX 450h+ ($88,323).

The PHEV is only available in the ‘Ultimate’ XC60 trim level, which, as the name suggests, is the most feature-laden. While it is significantly more expensive than the standard versions of the car, Volvo throws in some serious, otherwise-optional kit to tempt you to go PHEV.

Standard gear includes massive 21-inch alloy wheels, full LED head and tail-lights, leather-accented interior trim with power adjustable front seats, charcoal interior colour scheme with aluminium mesh detailing, dual-zone climate control (the PHEV is the only one to get dual instead of quad), a 9.0-inch portrait-oriented multimedia touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay (but no Android Auto as it runs the Android Automotive operating system), a wireless phone charger, a 12-inch digital instrument cluster, and a 360-degree parking camera as part of its comprehensive safety suite.

Adding to the value equation, and closing the gap with the next grade down, the Recharge scores otherwise-optional gear, including an extremely good Bowers & Wilkins audio system (normally a crazy $4300 option), the very welcome air suspension ($2700), and a panoramic sunroof ($3250). 

This option-added strategy is replicated by its rivals, although it still places the XC60 as the second-most expensive of its peers. As with all PHEVs, though, there’s more to the story when it comes to range performance, and charging, so you’ll need to read further to see how the XC60 compares.

The PHEV version of the X3 pairs the brand’s usual 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with a relatively powerful electric motor integrated into its eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

On its own, the engine produces 135kW/300Nm, while the electric motor is capable of punching out 80kW/265Nm. When working together, the EV components can provide a further electrified boost, for a total of 215kW/420Nm, allowing for a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.1 seconds. This makes the 30e only slower than the M40i and 30d variants in the rest of the X3 range.

The xDrive30e is capable of travelling up to 135km/h under electric power alone, with a surprisingly small 12kWh battery delivering around 41km of pure EV range.

As the electric motor is mounted in the transmission it is capable of driving all four wheels via the brand’s 'xDrive' system with torque vectoring.

Somewhat amusingly, the German documentation for the X3 includes a section for “off road characteristics” (I suppose it is an SUV after all…) and for those interested the xDrive30e can ford at up to 500mm depth, has an approach angle of 25.6 degrees, a departure angle of 22.8 degrees, a breakover angle of 20.0 degrees and a ground clearance of 204mm. Enjoy the trails.

The plug-in hybrid world is just as, if not more complicated than the fully electric world, mainly because there are so many ways to implement a system which blends an electric motor with the driving force of the combustion engine.

In the case of the XC60, the solution is particularly clever. Up front is a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 233kW/400Nm. As though this wasn’t already enough performance, there’s an electric motor on the rear axle, producing a further 107kW/309Nm.

Interestingly, there’s no all-wheel drive hardware, with the centre tunnel being filled with battery instead. This means the XC60 theoretically has better balance than some of its rivals which simply place the battery under the boot floor, but it also creates the strange situation where this SUV is rear-wheel drive when driving in electric mode, but front-wheel drive under combustion power. The two blend nicely using software to facilitate all-wheel drive. 

The combustion engine drives the front wheels via an eight-speed traditional torque converter automatic.

The battery is particularly large for the segment at 18.8kWh, allowing the XC60 Recharge a 77km purely electric driving range according to the WLTP standard, which is ahead of its rivals.

Here’s the tricky bit. The X3 xDrive30e has an official combined fuel consumption of just 3.2L/100km, but this will depend heavily on how you drive it.

You see, the BMW hybrid system is very keen to drive under electric power alone, even in the so-called ‘hybrid’ driving mode. This will mean you will extinguish the battery’s 41km driving range (or 35km according to our test vehicle on a full charge) quite quickly, whether you like it or not.

Plus, the charging capability is a bit slow. At 3.7kW, the PHEV X3 charges its 12kWh battery up in 2.6 hours on a faster public outlet or garage wall box, or around five hours on a wall socket.

To put it in perspective, the Lexus NX 450h+ showed me nearly double the amount of electric driving range on a single charge (65km as-tested) and was capable of charging up at a rate of 7.2kW, meaning a two hour flat charge for twice the range on a public outlet.

The summary boils down to: If you charge up at home, this won’t be as much of a problem, if you need to rely on public charging, it could make a difference to the PHEV you pick.

You can prolong the life of the battery using the ‘battery level’ mode which lets you set a target for battery life and have the car switch to primarily combustion at that point.

This can come in handy if you have a lot of open-road driving, and want to conserve the battery for driving around town where it is most efficient.

On my week with the car I saw an impressive consumption figure of 2.2L/100km according to the trip computer, under the official number, while my energy consumption came in at 20.7kWh/100km against a claim of 16.4kWh/100km. I did make sure to charge the car up at every opportunity, however.

Like all BMWs the X3 xDrive30e requires mid-shelf 95RON unleaded fuel, and has a 50L fuel tank despite the addition of its high-voltage battery.

Like many PHEVs the XC60 has an impressively low official fuel consumption of just 1.6L/100km. This, however, assumes the battery gets charged. As with any PHEV, you’ll want to ensure you have a place to charge it, too.

This is primarily because the XC60, despite its long electric range and large battery, has a 3.6kW inverter, limiting its charge time (from the base level to full) to between four and five hours, no matter where you plug it in.

A charge speed so slow means it is difficult to maintain a level of charge using public AC sockets. This is a PHEV which needs to be charged in a garage overnight. If you live in a unit or have to make do with on-street parking, the Lexus NX 450h+ is a better pick, with its battery charging at twice the speed on a public outlet.

Once it is charged, though, the XC60 has one of the longer ranges for a PHEV in its class, with the 77km WLTP range working out for me to be about 65km in the real world. Not bad.

My consumption numbers for the week came out as 3.4L/100km of fuel, and 18kWh/100km of energy. Decent figures, especially since I ran it out of charge on more than one occasion.

One of the things I came to love most about this version of the X3 is how seamless the hybrid system is, and how unusually quiet and comfortable this car proved to be.

Sure, it’s a luxury mid-size SUV, but I came away particularly impressed with how the adaptive suspension tune pairs so nicely with the electrified acceleration to make for a sleek driving experience.

Despite its dimensions, the xDrive30e feels light and springy over bumps, filtering out the worst of the road while keeping a good level of control at the wheels.

The stock steering tune in the car’s standard ‘hybrid’ driving mode is nice and light, too, making this mid-sizer feel smaller than it really is to pilot, and you don’t feel the extra weight of the battery pack at all.

The combustion engine is so quiet it is at times difficult to tell when it enters the mix, aside from the fuel consumption meter on the dash suddenly coming to life.

It too is a smooth unit, providing partially electrically-assisted acceleration in most modes which makes it hard to tell when the transmission changes cogs. It’s as though you get the best of both worlds this way.

The car is a bit too keen to rely on its electric driving, and, as mentioned earlier, this will mean it drains its battery relatively quickly unless you take extreme measures like the battery saver mode.

The result is a car which is far better suited to shorter city-based journeys than long tours through the country. At least the turbocharged engine and BMW driving dynamics are left intact should your battery run dry.

The regen braking is mild (able to recoup a max of 20kW at any given moment), although the indicators on the dash are neat for letting you know the limit of your electric acceleration and how far you’ve travelled without using the combustion engine.

On my week with the car I managed over half the distance with the engine completely off. Think of the fuel savings.

Elsewhere the X3 offers great visibility thanks to a boxy shape with big windows, and solid electric acceleration, with decent handling, too. I’d say it feels sportier than the Lexus NX or Merc GLC equivalents, with the ride a bit more forgiving than that of the Volvo XC60 Recharge.

As an EV then the xDrive30e is notably limited, but as an SUV which threads the needle of being both engaging and comfortable, it’s possibly the best of the current premium mid-size SUV PHEV pack.

The XC60 Recharge is an interesting car to drive. The first thing you’ll notice is how quiet it is. The sound deadening is impressive, as is the smooth and silent electric drive, and even the engine, unless pushed hard, is quiet enough that it’s hard to tell when the car switches between its two power sources.

The steering offers a pleasant balance of electrical assistance and mechanical feedback, suited to the character of the car, and the ride is similarly forgiving despite the large alloy wheels.

This is a hybrid which hides the additional weight of its batteries well, again courtesy of the air suspension, which actively balances out the sway of the additional heft, and filters out what could otherwise be a crashy ride.

To give you an idea of the way this car feels, it’s nowhere near as sharp or sporty as the BMW X3 xDrive 30e, but feels better balanced, less cumbersome, and rides better than the Mercedes GLC 300e or Lexus NX 450h+. 

The software is very clever, not only seamlessly blending the combustion front axle with the electrified rear, but also having the digital dash showing you the cut-off points for both the engine turning on and where the mechanical brakes will take over from the regenerative braking.

On this topic, the XC60 doesn’t have single-pedal regenerative braking, at least not in the default hybrid driving mode, relying instead on a fully blended system. This means it will blend the regenerative properties in with the mechanical properties depending on how hard the brake pedal is pressed.

While this is a clever piece of software trickery, like seemingly everything in the XC60 Recharge, it seems to be designed to make the drive experience similar to combustion versions. This makes it approachable, but to extract the ideal level of efficiency from the electric features, you’ll need to factor in the ideal stopping distance from traffic.

With the battery charged it’s lovely as an electric car, but the combustion engine is a strong performer, too, with the two combining to make for a very fast SUV in a straight line.

Finally, in terms of altering the drive experience, the XC60 Recharge offers fully electric, hybrid, and fully combustion driving modes, with settings to offer control over the charge level. Want to drive it as a Toyota-style hybrid? You can; just put it in hybrid mode and ask it to maintain battery level. Want to run only combustion to save your charge for when you exit the freeway and are driving around town? You can do that, too. You can even ask the car to use the combustion engine to charge the battery. Not the most environmentally conscious feature, but one not all PHEVs offer.

There’s a lot to like then, it’s quick but not too sharp, focusing instead largely on being comfortable, familiar, and quiet, suiting the family-friendly appeal of the Volvo brand.

Another pillar of the Volvo brand is safety, and the XC60 wants for almost nothing on this front.

Active items include freeway speed auto emergency braking with pedestrian, cyclist, intersection, and even large animal detection, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, and traffic sign recognition.

There is a standard array of airbags for the first and second row, as well as the expected electronic stability, brake, and traction controls.

The XC60 range was awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2017, although the plug-in hybrid versions are excluded for the time being.

BMW languishes with just three-years of warranty coverage. The brand along with its Mini subsidiary has become a notable laggard in the space now, its last remaining Audi rival has moved on to match the five-year and unlimited kilometre promise of its VW parent.

Servicing on BMW models is ‘condition dependent’ meaning the car’s computer will keep track of when servicing needs to happen based on how the car is driven and other factors.

A five-year ‘basic’ service pack is available inside the first 12 months of purchase and covers visits inside this period or 80,000km whichever occurs first. It costs $2010, or $402 a year.

The XC60 is covered by a five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty, and there are four years of the Google connected services included, too.

The high-voltage components are covered by an eight year warranty.

Service plans are available in either three or five year forms, the pricing for which is at the more premium end of the scale.

A three year pack costs $1750 ($583 a year) while a five-year plan costs $3000 ($600 a year).

You get four years of Google’s online services included for the multimedia functions, and Volvo warns ‘additional costs’ may apply after this period to keep the car online.