Two weeks into our appraisal of the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid, a member of the Volvo hybrid handover team visited us.

The intention is that any ‘owner’ of the car (whether corporate or retail) should spend a few days after a basic handover getting used to it. Then, in everyday use, questions might arise that can be resolved during the visit.

The session is planned to last for up to 90 minutes and covers every aspect of the car, including the multi-media interface and charging the vehicle.

Even though I must have driven thousands of miles in a Volvo S60s and V60s in the last few years, I hadn’t realised exactly how much could be controlled and set.

Likewise, there were numerous options regarding charging the vehicle, such as different settings to precondition the interior temperature.

For example, if charging indoors, the heating uses electricity from the mains. But when charging outdoors, diesel is used to fuel the heating.

One or both heated seats can also be selected to come on in time for departure.

The majority of mileage so far has been for commuting, with the engine running for perhaps only a few minutes each day.

It has meant we have comfortably achieved more than 150mpg in day-to-day use, although the reading for average fuel economy soon begins to drop when the five-cylinder motor kicks in.

One minor concern at the moment: how would the diesel particulate filter regenerate properly if I were to only see the engine run intermittently and only for a few miles a day?

DPFs require a spell as sustained high speed in order to burn away the trapped soot particles.

No doubt Volvo has thought of this, but I don’t know the answer just yet.