Volvo is preparing to roll out "one of the biggest over-the-air updates in the history of the world" later this year when it remotely installs a new infotainment interface in 2.5 million cars worldwide.
Every Volvo equipped with the company's Android Automotive operating system – which was launched in 2020 on the XC40 Recharge (now badged EX40) – will receive the new Volvo Car UX (user experience) that features in the EX30, EX90 and new EX60.
It means that a 2020 Volvo will effectively have the same displays and functionality as the latest models.
The update had been planned for last year before being pushed back for further development, but now Volvo chief technology officer Anders Bell (below) has told reporters that "it's in the final stages of testing validation" and will be launched in the coming months.
Hailing it as "one of the biggest over-the-air updates in the history of the world", he said the aim is to essentially bring those older models up to date, which is widely touted as the main benefit of modern cars being 'connected': with the ability to update remotely, they can stay 'in-date' for far longer than before.
Bell acknowledged that Tesla regularly performs huge fleet-wide updates of its cars but said Volvo operates in more countries, making this one of the most significant yet.
He also said all updated models will have essentially the same infotainment as the EX90, allowing for some slight differences because of the older silicon processing chips and smaller screens.
"We're going to deploy that back to those cars to give them a necessary, very nice upgrade of the owner's interaction experience with the car."
Anders added that once the system has been updated, "it's a pretty easy update to replace the current Google Assistant with Gemini", referring to the EX60's newer and more advanced Google voice assistant - but there is no set date for this separate update, and Volvo has yet to confirm exactly which cars will receive it.
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What car should I buy today that doesn't have tech so old that it doesn't need a USB cable to connect my phone?
Buy anything apart from a Volvo or a Polestar.
When I was looking to change my car last month, I considered XC40 or XC60. The XC40 was one of the very few cars I test drove. One thing that put me off was the antiquated tech. As I drove along, I tried to connect to Andriod Auto to hear what their HK speaker system sounded like and the message appeared - please connect via USB cable. My phone was already charging on their wireless phone charger!
If they upgraded the driver display at least that'd be something because that tech looks over 10 years old too, but no. Didn't have anything against the car, but I just felt I was driving something from a different era.
I have one but when you own it no need to actually connect your phone. The built in system has multiple music apps, google maps, wave, audio books etc. So no need to connect your phone at all. Just login once and it's all set up.
And given Volvo's recent software troubles, if I owned one of these cars I'd be looking to disable the update, at least until inevitable bugs have been fixed.
From my perspective, that's utterly appalling. If you bought a car in 2020, you are used to it's user interface and quirks. So now one day, you will get in, and it will function totally differently, and you'll need to re-learn it? Is that a benefit?
Yep, I guess you'll either have to or get another car tha not a Volvo.
Optional, only in that going forward you won't be able to pick and choose ANY updates, safety ones or otherwise.
When Google get your hands on yer, that's it!
Meant 'get THEIR hands on yer'.
Of course I can. But it's a car. The potential for confusion should be minimised, to avoid accidents.
I have a 2023 Volvo and am looking forward to this. But I will wait until the inevitable v2 update bug fixed before I hit 'install'