[SeattleCat]

Trying to find out how folks are doing with their P8s.

 

[JonTheBaker]

One of the great things about the P8 is that you don’t pay a big penalty for the few times that you want to zoom. If you had a ICE 8 cylinder car you are using lots of fuel when just driving around town, getting low fuel mileage for the privilege of being able to zoom that 1% of the time that you do. Not so with the high horsepower electric.

 

[He Keith]

I want to be happy and maybe once the new model quirks get worked out I will be. When everything is fine the car is great, but so many annoyances and Volvo a(and Pirelli) are clueless about that it takes that new car euphoria luster off the purchase. While I have a bunch of quirks I am at least lucky enough to not have the more serious issues others have posted such as brake/axle, blank instruments or needing to reboot hung infotainment.

 

[He Keith]

Needless to say the fuel savings. So far my P8 has not really cost me any electricity. I have a plan that provide for 400kWh free every month from 12am-6am and other than the first charge which I did L1 I have done all charging indie that window and even with other power usage in the home has not exceed the free allotment. I do believe now as the wife starts to use the P8 and her T8 because the alternate vehicle we may go over a few months, but even then is it $0.45 / kWh. Even if I had to pay for it according tot he Wallbox stats other than first charge i would have paid $5.63 to drive around 400 miles.

 

[nomoregas]

I absolutely love my Recharge.

I love the metallic sage. I love the sunroof that actually opens and the sunshade that actually closes. The styling is perfect and the seat height is perfect. It has better ground clearance than the competition; everything else is more car than crossover but this is more small SUV. We test drove the Recharge first, then we test drove the Mach-E a few days later, and we couldn't wait to drive that thing back to the dealership and buy the XC40 Recharge. There isn't anything quite like it on the market yet.

Driving the I-70 corridor through the Rocky Mountains has never been less stressful than with this vehicle using OPD and Adaptive Cruise Control with Pilot Assist. Going uphill doesn't even feel like it's trying, and going downhill I don't have to worry about braking or the cars in front of me braking, it's just so effortless. I know that a lot of YouTube reviewers knock this car for it's efficiency, but it's a lot better than people realize. Tesla never gets it's EPA stated range (remember it's not the EPA doing the testing and reporting that figure, it's the automaker reporting to the EPA) but the XC40 Recharge almost always does. One tester drove the car 100 - 0 and got 244 miles. While I never plan on driving this until it dies, I can drive through the mountains from Denver to Avon and back and only use 85% of my battery, 50 there 35 back. That's 200 miles with lots of elevation.

I love Android Automotive. I know that because this is a new infotainment system there are going to be quirks and difficulties, but I think it's worth the price of admission to be an early adopter. Google Maps is seamless, and I was already a YouTube Music user. It syncs with my PocketCasts, and Google Assistant can actually understand what I'm asking. I wish my assistant voice preference, Issa Rae, carried over from my phone, but that's only because hers is a "special edition" voice assistant whereas my wife's English lady voice carries over. I get that the app ecosystem is not totally there and it should get a lot better, but it already does the basic stuff and I don't have to take out my phone while I'm driving. Most vehicle infotainment systems suck when you buy the car and only get worse. As more automakers adopt AA, it's going to dominate the market. When Volvo says their future is VolvoOS, they are talking about their UI/UX, not a whole different kernel. Like when phone makers call there software OneUI, ColorOS, OxygenOS, et al; they are still talking about Android.

 

[mpepper]

I absolutely love my Recharge.

I love the metallic sage. I love the sunroof that actually opens and the sunshade that actually closes. The styling is perfect and the seat height is perfect. It has better ground clearance than the competition; everything else is more car than crossover but this is more small SUV. We test drove the Recharge first, then we test drove the Mach-E a few days later, and we couldn't wait to drive that thing back to the dealership and buy the XC40 Recharge. There isn't anything quite like it on the market yet.

Driving the I-70 corridor through the Rocky Mountains has never been less stressful than with this vehicle using OPD and Adaptive Cruise Control with Pilot Assist. Going uphill doesn't even feel like it's trying, and going downhill I don't have to worry about braking or the cars in front of me braking, it's just so effortless. I know that a lot of YouTube reviewers knock this car for it's efficiency, but it's a lot better than people realize. Tesla never gets it's EPA stated range (remember it's not the EPA doing the testing and reporting that figure, it's the automaker reporting to the EPA) but the XC40 Recharge almost always does. One tester drove the car 100 - 0 and got 244 miles. While I never plan on driving this until it dies, I can drive through the mountains from Denver to Avon and back and only use 85% of my battery, 50 there 35 back. That's 200 miles with lots of elevation.

I love Android Automotive. I know that because this is a new infotainment system there are going to be quirks and difficulties, but I think it's worth the price of admission to be an early adopter. Google Maps is seamless, and I was already a YouTube Music user. It syncs with my PocketCasts, and Google Assistant can actually understand what I'm asking. I wish my assistant voice preference, Issa Rae, carried over from my phone, but that's only because hers is a "special edition" voice assistant whereas my wife's English lady voice carries over. I get that the app ecosystem is not totally there and it should get a lot better, but it already does the basic stuff and I don't have to take out my phone while I'm driving. Most vehicle infotainment systems suck when you buy the car and only get worse. As more automakers adopt AA, it's going to dominate the market. When Volvo says their future is VolvoOS, they are talking about their UI/UX, not a whole different kernel. Like when phone makers call there software OneUI, ColorOS, OxygenOS, et al; they are still talking about Android.

I totally agree on AAOS. Automakers can't wait to abandon their halfbaked OS for an alternative. It will be the dominate infotainment system period.

 

[CaymanR]

I also would tend to predict that. At the end of the day, no matter how much money a car manufacturer would put into OS development, it will always fall short to how much money Google would put into the same software development (assuming it stays interested in potentially dominating the car OS market ... I would given such a potential size of the playing field). I also would tend to think the caliber of software engineer talent would be higher at a company that prizes such and pays the salaries to back up that desire.

 

[He Keith]

I also would tend to predict that. At the end of the day, no matter how much money a car manufacturer would put into OS development, it will always fall short to how much money Google would put into the same software development (assuming it stays interested in potentially dominating the car OS market ... I would given such a potential size of the playing field). I also would tend to think the caliber of software engineer talent would be higher at a company that prizes such and pays the salaries to back up that desire.

But a car maker will spend all their effort focused on their cars, while Google is trying to be all things to all people. Unfortunately Android is so fractured that Google needs to keep least common denominator in mind. And how much priority does car maker A get over car maker B when asking for fixes and features? And I have yet to have a car with such a half baked OS. So maybe in 2 years when this thing matures I may change my mind.

I like what I have seen of the new 22 Lexus NX OS, seems to support natural language search and functions. ‘

 

[CaymanR]

But a car maker will spend all their effort focused on their cars, while Google is trying to be all things to all people. Unfortunately Android is so fractured that Google needs to keep least common denominator in mind. And how much priority does car maker A get over car maker B when asking for fixes and features? And I have yet to have a car with such a half baked OS. So maybe in 2 years when this thing matures I may change my mind.

I like what I have seen of the new 22 Lexus NX OS, seems to support natural language search and functions. ‘

It's not hard for me to imagine that the number of mechanical (and probably increasing electrical) engineers employed in a typical car project will out number the number of software engineers. Certainly that was true in the not too distant past and would be interesting to see the trend now. Google, on the other hand, is "all in" on software engineering ... thousands and thousands of them. And while they won't all work on Car OS's, surely technology from one area helps others (take for instance how well google voice control understands us). While this is just my opinion (which is only worth $.02), I just see a world where the "might" of google software engineering resources will always be able to out feature and out schedule Car manufacturers. I don't think dominance will happen overnight, but slowly as it has more and more to offer consumers will just prefer and insist on it over less solutions.

I do hear what your saying abut Android being fractured and Google trying to keep all happy. That will fight against how fast it can move.

It's an interesting time we live in now where many products, not just computers themselves, are starting to be measured by the computer/software engineering side.

 

[improvius]

I dunno, Google has half-assed plenty of projects. How many years did it take them to make Wear OS not garbage?

 

[He Keith]

I dunno, Google has half-assed plenty of projects. How many years did it take them to make Wear OS not garbage?

Exactly, as massive as Google is they have so many projects and good talent is limited. I am surprised some of the car makers did not pool resources more, especially the smaller ones. My limited drives in the Mach-E I was impressed with with Sync4.

 

[BainbridgeIsland]

Here's a good article that describes the increasing software-engineering challenges that traditional automakers are facing:

How Software Is Eating the Car - IEEE Spectrum

 

[mpepper]

The manufacturers are supporting Google as part of the Open Automotive Alliance. They're ready to make the pivot. Unless something disruptive comes Google is already positioned to be the dominate OS in vehicles moving forward. The best part is the manufacturers don't have to wait on Google to implement features; it's completely open source besides play services. They can develop whatever feature they want and commit it upstream. Ford already jumped ship. This is providing a stable open source code base that devs can take and run with instead of stitching together a halfbaked OS that receives no support and is connected to the internet.

I just want to drive home that Android Automotive is Android. It's not a fork or parallel development; it's the same codebase.

 

[SeattleCat]

What software is released and is 100% stable and bug free?

Apple iOS fails on this from minor issues to major issues.
Windows has had ups and downs and many patches to keep it “stable”
Games from major companies range from quite good with some bugs to major dumpster fires

If companies that are only focused on software cannot produce perfection why are we surprised when a company doing some software added to hardware complexity has issues with version 1 of a product?

Going back in time to more mechanical less software cars there have been many recalls to lower the death rate of specific cars released by major manufacturers. So cars having issues is nothing new. At least (knock on wood) our issues are either on software not abounded to be working that is not working yet and some issues from parts which have plagued a minority of owners ( sorry for those who got unlucky ) but it has not been to lower death rates …

Other evs also having problems.

Porsche recalls Taycans over sudden power loss problem

At least a dozen owners have complained, but no injuries.

www.theverge.com

 

[sbixby]

Mustang Mach-E's have issues too, like PaaK -- people have been unable to get in or drive their car from time to time. I was following a lady that has an MME and a M3 on youtube -- "EV and Chill" channel. They were pretty upset with a dealer's response to an appointment to fix that.

I also seem to get plenty of "T" reddit posts talking about problems, although TFanBoys tend to be more ardent...

 

[He Keith]

I agree they all have issues, but it is how the manufacturer and dealer handle them that matters. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think the Mach-E or the ID.4 were shipped as half baked as the P8, and that is subjective. I never looked at T because of all the things I read and videos I watched. It does not help when Volvo has not adequately communicated with customers, dealers or their own support people.

 

[nomoregas]

I definitely can't argue with anyone having an issue with dealerships. I certainly can't boast about my experience buying the P8. Although one of the things that turned me off from the Mach-E was my issues with my last vehicle and experiences with Ford. Ford Sync is a hot mess and Sync 4 is a pig with lipstick. On our Mach-E test drive, the vehicle downshifted hard despite not having a transmission and the only word I could leave that vehicle thinking was, clunky.

The ID4 was never an option for me because I had to have AWD and wasn't going to wait around for it to be made available when there was already the P8 which I adored. Same goes for the Ioniq 5.

I really do like the idea of how T handles showrooms, purchases and repairs because dealerships are not customer friendly. I think they have a lot of things going that other automakers need to emulate, and fast (like gigapress & 4680) but they have software issues too, like the center screen rebooting while driving causing the vehicle to shutdown and the driver forced to pull over until the unit reboots, not to mention quality control issues.

It breaks my heart that some P8 owners have had such problems, and I can't blame you for having such differing opinions than mine. I can only hope that your experience improves drastically to match mine.

 

[mpepper]

I definitely can't argue with anyone having an issue with dealerships. I certainly can't boast about my experience buying the P8. Although one of the things that turned me off from the Mach-E was my issues with my last vehicle and experiences with Ford. Ford Sync is a hot mess and Sync 4 is a pig with lipstick. On our Mach-E test drive, the vehicle downshifted hard despite not having a transmission and the only word I could leave that vehicle thinking was, clunky.

The ID4 was never an option for me because I had to have AWD and wasn't going to wait around for it to be made available when there was already the P8 which I adored. Same goes for the Ioniq 5.

I really do like the idea of how T handles showrooms, purchases and repairs because dealerships are not customer friendly. I think they have a lot of things going that other automakers need to emulate, and fast (like gigapress & 4680) but they have software issues too, like the center screen rebooting while driving causing the vehicle to shutdown and the driver forced to pull over until the unit reboots, not to mention quality control issues.

It breaks my heart that some P8 owners have had such problems, and I can't blame you for having such differing opinions than mine. I can only hope that your experience improves drastically to match mine.

One good thing about that is Ford has already committed to pivoting from Sync to AAOS.
Ford and Google to Accelerate Auto Innovation, Reinvent Connected Vehicle Experience | Ford Media Center

 

[nomoregas]

I had heard that and thought, it's about time. My wife and I had a conversation a couple weeks ago about AAOS and how much sense it makes for automakers to stop building infotainment software. When we look at phones and computers, how many companies make both the hardware and the software and do it well? Not many, and it wouldn't be realistic to expect every automaker to be the Apple of the auto industry and excel at both.

 

[Kaustuv]

Picked up XC40 Recharge today at my local Volvo dealer. Pulling out of the dealership almost got rear ended because the dealership had not deactivated “Transport” mode - which caps the car’s speed at 18 mph! Limped back to the dealer (hazards on and relying on the awareness of other driver’s during rush hour to not get rear-ended multiple times).

Forty minutes later back on the road … except now the Google info system completely blanks out twice(!!!) on a 15 mile trip. Center console black, map on driver’s display blank. I guess I should count myself fortunate that the speedometer still showed (unlike the other poster’s experience 😡).

Got home and car won’t see my very strong Wi-Fi signal (but sees my neighbor’s SSID).

This is my third EV, and I realize we have to expect teething pains and early adopter issues, but Volvo seems to be really far from ready to have released this commercially. Fairly certain that OTA updates won’t fix any of this (at least not any time soon) as I just signed an acknowledgment at the dealer that Apple AirPlay won’t show up until 2022.

Never been more disappointed in a car purchase in my life. And when you pay over $60K for the car that should not be the case.