[Cuelaw57]

Today Volvo released several press releases regarding its path to full electrification by 2030. Among the things announced are:

• Volvo and Google to continue partnership
• Volvo Cars to focus on range and fast charging in next generation EVs
• Volvo Cars to harness real-time data from customers’ cars to set safety standards
• Future cars to run on Volvo OS as company takes software development in-house

Volvo Press Releases

Among the interesting things mentioned:

• Next generation EVs will have phone as a key through the Volvo Cars app
• Touting updates and new functionality delivered over the air
• Centralizing multiple ECUs into a powerful core computing system
• The upcoming 2022 flagship SUV will have Lidar and use NVIDIA Drive system on a chip

Most interesting is the following statement,
“The next generation of pure electric Volvo models, including the company’s first SUV on a completely new electriconly technology base, will run on Volvo Cars’ own operating system (OS), called VolvoCars.OS, for faster and more flexible development.”
I thought the XC40 Recharge is both its first pure electric model and an SUV. Clearly, Volvo Cars is looking forward to the pure electric version of the XC90. More importantly, how does VolvoCars.OS fit with the continued commitment to AAOS? Volvo describes VolvoCars.OS as an umbrella incorporating its various underlying OSs, like AAOS, QNX, AUTOSAR, and Linux.

It is notable that all of today’s PRs talk about its next generation of EVs. What does this news portent for owners of the 2021/2022 XC40 Recharge BEV? Does this verify that P8 owners are a group of beta testers? How much of the technology changes will be offered to P8 owners? Can we at least get OTA updates and a version of Volvo Cars app that works and is stable?

Is Volvo corporate blowing smoke to analysts in hope of a successful IPO of Volvo Cars, which was also mentioned today?

Link to Volvo’s Tech Moment

 

[He Keith]

Great leverage a handful of operating systems under one umbrella and be non-committal to any one of them. I get it Volvo and some of the other smaller brands 9Subaru, Mazda, etc.) do not have the financial clout to do their own thing, but with the backing of Ghelly I am surprised they don't pick one and double down.

 

[Welland canada recharge]

Today Volvo released several press releases regarding its path to full electrification by 2030. Among the things announced are:

• Volvo and Google to continue partnership
• Volvo Cars to focus on range and fast charging in next generation EVs
• Volvo Cars to harness real-time data from customers’ cars to set safety standards
• Future cars to run on Volvo OS as company takes software development in-house

Volvo Press Releases

Among the interesting things mentioned:

• Next generation EVs will have phone as a key through the Volvo Cars app
• Touting updates and new functionality delivered over the air
• Centralizing multiple ECUs into a powerful core computing system
• The upcoming 2022 flagship SUV will have Lidar and use NVIDIA Drive system on a chip

Most interesting is the following statement,
“The next generation of pure electric Volvo models, including the company’s first SUV on a completely new electriconly technology base, will run on Volvo Cars’ own operating system (OS), called VolvoCars.OS, for faster and more flexible development.”
I thought the XC40 Recharge is both its first pure electric model and an SUV. Clearly, Volvo Cars is looking forward to the pure electric version of the XC90. More importantly, how does VolvoCars.OS fit with the continued commitment to AAOS? Volvo describes VolvoCars.OS as an umbrella incorporating its various underlying OSs, like AAOS, QNX, AUTOSAR, and Linux.

It is notable that all of today’s PRs talk about its next generation of EVs. What does this news portent for owners of the 2021/2022 XC40 Recharge BEV? Does this verify that P8 owners are a group of beta testers? How much of the technology changes will be offered to P8 owners? Can we at least get OTA updates and a version of Volvo Cars app that works and is stable?

Is Volvo corporate blowing smoke to analysts in hope of a successful IPO of Volvo Cars, which was also mentioned today?

Link to Volvo’s Tech Moment

Great info - Thanks for posting - Interesting that they did not mention the XC40 P8 Recharge at all - you would think if they felt it was a success that they would have referenced it as the forerunner and that it was doing well - perhaps as we see/hear here - they are aware that it is not doing as well as they had hoped due to the issues we read about.

 

[He Keith]

I believe the XC40 P8 was a stop gap to get Volvo in the EV game sooner than later. IMO the XC40 P8 was released prematurely

 

[arijaycomet]

Keep in mind the XC40 is on a platform that is not bespoke. Although it shares underpinnings with the Polestar 2, the fact of the matter is this car was built on a GAS car platform (hence the "hump" between the two rear seats). This is not a BEV-only platform. Think "skateboard" architecture. Think Tesla.

So what the article above is talking about, to the OP, is the fact that the next EV SUV they make will be "electric from the ground up" -- not stealing an existing platform and just electrifying it from gas to EV -- but 100% EV from the onset.

 

[He Keith]

Keep in mind the XC40 is on a platform that is not bespoke. Although it shares underpinnings with the Polestar 2, the fact of the matter is this car was built on a GAS car platform (hence the "hump" between the two rear seats). This is not a BEV-only platform. Think "skateboard" architecture. Think Tesla.

True, but the many of the quirks and immaturity of the XC40 P8 has nothing to do with the ICE platform roots. They almost would have been better served taking the delay hit up front and do it right. My guess is since EVs in Europe are taking off them jumping in sooner than later got them in the game even in Europe as they work on a dedicated platform.

 

[arijaycomet]

True, but the many of the quirks and immaturity of the XC40 P8 has nothing to do with the ICE platform roots. They almost would have been better served taking the delay hit up front and do it right. My guess is since EVs in Europe are taking off them jumping in sooner than later got them in the game even in Europe as they work on a dedicated platform.

I've been following your replies here to these forums, and I have to say, I think you are an outlier. We have put 4,900 miles on our XC40 P8 in 6 weeks and have ZERO of the problems you have experienced. We setup the VOC service flawlessly from the get-go 6 weeks ago, on the March software with 3x keys. Our HVAC system works great. We just finished an 1,100 mile trip using 95% SIGNET chargers (EA network) with ZERO hassles or glitches. So again, you are sitting here basing your bias on your personal experiences. I think you need to "step outside the box" and consider that you may be seeing an extreme case, and an outlier.

And-- to that end-- how many people join this forum to learn/complain about those types of outlier cases? I'll admit, having owned 80+ cars and basically 1x of EVERY BEV on the market today, that the Volvo is a great SUV but not a great EV in the sense that its not efficient. 75kW packs in a Model 3/Y get 300+ miles of range (EPA) (250+ real world) and our cars get 208 EPA (180 real world). That is not great--- not even close to "decent" efficiency. Our trip was 400+ wh/Mi compared to ~300 wh/mi in a Tesla. But.... again, your experiences may not mimic the rest of us. Keep that in mind.

 

[He Keith]

I've been following your replies here to these forums, and I have to say, I think you are an outlier. We have put 4,900 miles on our XC40 P8 in 6 weeks and have ZERO of the problems you have experienced. We setup the VOC service flawlessly from the get-go 6 weeks ago, on the March software with 3x keys. Our HVAC system works great. We just finished an 1,100 mile trip using 95% SIGNET chargers (EA network) with ZERO hassles or glitches. So again, you are sitting here basing your bias on your personal experiences. I think you need to "step outside the box" and consider that you may be seeing an extreme case, and an outlier.

And-- to that end-- how many people join this forum to learn/complain about those types of outlier cases? I'll admit, having owned 80+ cars and basically 1x of EVERY BEV on the market today, that the Volvo is a great SUV but not a great EV in the sense that its not efficient. 75kW packs in a Model 3/Y get 300+ miles of range (EPA) (250+ real world) and our cars get 208 EPA (180 real world). That is not great--- not even close to "decent" efficiency. Our trip was 400+ wh/Mi compared to ~300 wh/mi in a Tesla. But.... again, your experiences may not mimic the rest of us. Keep that in mind.

As I said my opinion, and I know I may be an outliers, but have owned plenty of new cars, mostly Asian, but also German and the Volvo has had more feeling of unrefined unfinished than any of my cars. I know people on this forum do complain, but I see plenty that have owned multiple Volvos also complaining. I want to love this car, as I bought it for the long haul. I do hope they will resolve most of the issues. Ironically I believe I mentioned somewhere that half my problems are not even related to the EV portion. I am not even worried about the efficiency, I knew that coming in. I test drove a Mach-E and ID.4 and the XC40 P8 was better riding, handling and pleasure to drive. I think they bit off to much moving to Google and the EV portion. I thing the OS is what hurts them the most, after all I suspect if they stuck with Sense they might have avoided many of the "quirks" people are seeing.

 

[Woomi]

We became the beta tester for Volvo. Hope they pay back our feedback.

 

[arijaycomet]

@He Keith — perhaps you are right. But I will say this—- i had to reboot my Tesla OS far more than any other. Second worst was my Audi eTron which runs the same platform as their new Q8 and RS6 and other newer Audi cars. So far, we have had less issues with the Android Automotive OS than we did the Tesla/Audi EV vehicles. And we’ve had zero issues with the EV portion of the car.

Any time any new mfg comes out with a new infotainment system it tends to have bugs. That said our 2012 Nissan Leaf was perfect, 29k miles over 3 yrs with not a single visit other than “annual checkup” recommendation. Car always got perfect test score for battery health, charged to 80% daily, 100% before trips. And that infotainment was fine. Our Chevy Bolt EV? Also needed rebooted and it doesnt even have native nav. So if your beef is with the Android system, that is nothing to do with Volvo.

But it is part of the car, so surely, warrants your unhappiness I get that. I’m just saying, from my experiences, 6 weeks and 4,900 miles into this car— its been more reliable than other cars. We traded in an 8 month old 10,500 mile 2020 Tesla Model Y LR AWD for the P8 because the Tesla was buggy, and that was our 12th Tesla. So…. YRMV

 

[Cuelaw57]

So if your beef is with the Android system, that is nothing to do with Volvo.

Not completely true. While Google provides the base OS, the UX skin is developed by Volvo. That’s why the Polestar 2 AAOS infotainment looks different than the XC40. At a minimum, the fault could be with both Google and Volvo.

Android Automotive is skinnable, just like a smartphone. Car manufacturers can make it look like whatever they want, just with the Android code base, APIs, and app ecosystem underneath.

ARS

 

[nittanybro]

I have to add my two cents. I just completed a 5600 mile cross country round trip in the P8 (central PA to San Francisco). The P8 performed flawlessly. AC worked fine. Navigation was topnotch. The only charging glitches I experienced were with a few EA cabinets, such as slow charging speeds and errors in reading the EA mobile app.. The only complaint I have about the P8 is the harsh ride on poorly maintained roadways.

Not the best for mega road trips, but it got me there and back.

 

[improvius]

The only complaint I have about the P8 is the harsh ride on poorly maintained roadways.

Just curious, do you have the 19" or 20" wheels?

 

[nittanybro]

Just curious, do you have the 19" or 20" wheels?

20" wheels.

 

[Maribo]

OP asks “How much of the technology changes will be offered to P8 owners?” I am wondering the same thing. Given that EPA for the P8 is 208 mi, and that for Polestar 2 is (only) 240, the boxy shape still doesn’t account for the efficiency deficit of the platform. So I suppose the rest must be due to other technology such as efficiency of motors and other major electrical components. I wonder if we will be able retrofit updated components.

 

[He Keith]

I know I am frustrated, but I love the car when I am driving it, the issue is ion 4-5 weeks I have been without the car for 3 days while I waited on the replacement tire and now all the dealers here are backed up and I drop my car at my appointment and the guy says I get it back maybe Monday (they are open on holiday) likely Tuesday. Add to that all the back and forth with Volvo over keys and VOC and so on and it is hard not to be frustrated when in 32 days I am without the car 7-8 days.