Our six month term with the world’s first diesel plug-in hybrid production car seemed to come to an end pretty quickly.

However, in that time the world of plug-in hybrids has marched onwards with company car drivers being offered more choice.

Before the Volvo 60 there was just the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, which offers half the potential zero-emissions mileage of the Swedish car, but we now have the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with a plug-in Mercedes-Benz S-Class on the way. Others will no doubt follow.

The V60 has an impressive set of figures, including CO2 emissions of 48g/km. For a company car driver the 5% BIK tax band this attracts will offset the near £50,000 P11D value.

We said in the last update that ultimately the V60 is a compromised package, and perhaps not the best platform to demonstrate Volvo’s fuel-saving powertrain.

The boot is the smallest of any Volvo estate, the potent but relatively thirsty (and noisy) 2.4-litre diesel disappoints for fuel consumption on a motorway journey, and it isn’t the roomiest car in the D-sector.

But it is lavishly equipped with most of the features available on the V60 as standard, has supremely comfortable seats and a handsome looking vehicle.

We know Volvo will be rolling out the technology to more vehicles in future with a more economical four-cylinder engine as part of the package.

The first new model to showcase the new technology is expected to be the long-awaited XC90 replacement which will be seen in public for the first time at the Paris motor show in October, while future Volvo models will be offered with plug-in hybrid technology.

Therefore the company will have learned a lot from the V60 and feedback from its customers, and should be in a strong position to making more rounded products that will have broader appeal for the next generation of cars.

Simon Harris