- Volvo’s CEO says the company is ahead of other legacy automakers
- The EX60 is its first truly software-defined vehicle
- A range of 500+ miles and 400 kW charging is promised
Volvo has been on the PR offensive this week, teasing information about its upcoming EX60 electric SUV before finally revealing it at a glitzy event in Stockholm, Sweden.
For good reason, as its XC60 (the vehicle the electric car will largely replace) has sold over 2.7 million units since its release in 2008, making it the best-selling Volvo of all time.
Given that the brand’s flagship EX90 got off to a rocky start thanks to software and computer gremlins, it has a huge task to ensure success – not least because it will consider Tesla and BMW among its fiercest rivals.
But Volvo president and CEO Hakan Samuelsson is fully behind the latest compact SUV, which the company says is a “game changer” and will “put an end to range anxiety” thanks to its 500+ mile range and ability to puff electrons at a rate of 400kW. It can add up to 211 miles of range in just ten minutes – that’s mighty impressive.
“I think we’re way ahead of the others, and good luck, the rest of you,” Samuelsson said in a roundtable interview, according to The Drive.
Michael Fleiss, Volvo Chief Strategy and Product Officer, then expanded, saying that the EX90 is a software-defined vehicle that Ford tried and stopped.
“Volkswagen is still trying, not achieved. And we’ve made it,” he added. Although he admitted it took “a little while” to get there.
The EX60 is powered by what Volvo refers to as the latest generation of its HuginCore (it’s named after a Nordic bird) superset stack that includes hardware from Nvidia and Qualcomm Technologies.
This massive amount of computing power powers the latest Android Automotive Operating System, which will be the first in the automotive industry to have Google’s Gemini AI assistant baked in from the start.
This powerful hardware setup not only allows for “ultra responsive” infotainment, it also powers advanced driver assistance and safety systems, as well as paves the way for higher levels of autonomous driving.
Learning from mistakes
Despite Volvo’s launch event, the Swedish company was quick to admit that its path to a true software-defined vehicle has not been easy, with Michael Fleiss admitting that he feels Volvo is “one of the few legacy OEMs that has it”.
“Our customers suffered from the EX90 quality issues we had in the past, which have been resolved now, since the last software update. So it was a painful development,” he said. It referenced the fact that the company’s flagship seven-seat SUV was shipped without the computing power to run its advanced LiDAR-based suite of safety features.
Much was made of the technology at the time of its launch and its ability to reduce the intrusion of safety systems, effectively giving the driver a pair of eyes and opening the doors to high levels of autonomous driving.
But LiDAR remained offline until the company began recalling EX90s to replace their computer chips, and now that Volvo has terminated its contract with supplier Luminar, it looks like it will now become useless.
On top of this, there have been a number of forums frequented by early EX90 owners plagued by all sorts of bugs and gremlins, which in turn have forced the Swedish brand to recall cars and even replace them entirely.
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Volvo’s latest electric SUV will be launched without LiDAR technology due to the breakdown of its relationship with its supplier Luminar. In addition, the decision to use the technology on the ES90 has also been reversed, which is great from a design point of view, but raises many questions about the effectiveness of the company’s camera and radar approach in the future.
The Volvo EX60 is undoubtedly a very advanced EV that offers a huge range and ultra-fast charging speeds, but Volvo’s recent confidence comes from the fact that it finally feels it has beaten the complicated software issues that tend to blight legacy automakers.
But with the imminent launch of the highly advanced BMW iX3 (another game changer), Porsche’s latest electric Macan and Tesla’s continued dominance with the Model Y, it will struggle to achieve the kind of numbers its best-selling XC60 managed.
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