And neither Apple CarPlay nor Android Auto are ready yet, either, although they will come to the EX90 with a software update, Volvo said.
Tech companies have long been comfortable pushing a product out the door before it’s ready with the knowledge (or hope, at least) that future software patches will add in the missing features. Unfortunately, with the advent of the software-defined vehicle, it appears car buyers will have to get used to the same approach.
Then there’s the EX90’s third row. This is one of the SUV’s selling points, but it’s cramped in that last row, even by the standards of seven-seat SUVs. Small children might be happy back there after an hour, but anyone larger will start to complain, particularly if they have to share the row with another passenger.
The ugly
While some features were missing from the EX90, others were simply not working properly, at least on our test car. Volvo has moved to a phone-as-a-key solution for the EX90, which uses ultra wideband (like Apple’s AirTags) to detect the proximity of its owner (there’s also an NFC card as a backup). Unfortunately, our EX90 had trouble detecting the presence of the phone and at one point refused to start, requiring a technician to break out a laptop to give it instructions.
Similar gremlins affected the active driving assistant, which wouldn’t engage on some roads but would on others; the capacitive sensors on the steering wheel, which failed to register I was holding it; and maybe at one point the air suspension, which made the car curtsey briefly, dipping its nose down and then up while stopped at a traffic light. Those were all annoyances to varying degrees, but talking with colleagues at the event, our test car appeared to be something of a lemon-flavored outlier.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
I liked much of what I found with the EX90, but it needs a little longer in the oven.
Credit:
Jonathan Gitlin
Presumably, those bugs will be gone by the time customer deliveries start sometime in Q4 of this year. And I’m interested in revisiting the EX90 later next year once the lidar is functional, the ADAS is fully operational, and the tires are US-spec. But unless the need for a third row is not optional, it’s hard to ignore the Polestar 3, built alongside the EX90 in South Carolina, which is several thousand dollars cheaper and much more fun to drive.
