1996 Volvo 850 Turbo Platinum Wagon on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2025 Volvo EX90 enters production after being delayed last year

After a delay of about eight months, Volvo's Ridgeville, South Carolina plant is now assembling the EX90 battery-electric SUV. Volvo's original plan was to get its new flagship in production toward the end of 2023 so that dealers might have models in showrooms early this year. There's also the reservation list, which filled so quickly that Volvo shut it down sooner than anticipated. However, after the car's November 2022 reveal, Volvo engineers confronted unexpected complexities with its software stack. In May 2023, the automaker officially delayed the start of production until the first half of this year. Part of the complexity was the brain in Volvo's EV push, the new VolvoCars.OS software platform running on a new "core computing" system developed with Nvidia and using the tech company's Drive Orin chips — the same chips Rivian uses for its new, streamlined electrical architecture in the Gen 2 R1 models. In Volvo's words, the core computing system "is made up of three main computers. These support each other in operating vision processing and artificial intelligence, general computing and infotainment respectively," this fundamental change in vehicle brain layout allowing the automaker "to gradually separate hardware from software. This means the company can introduce more frequent hardware cycles, so that new Volvo models can be equipped with the latest available hardware." Rowan said he believes the delay will ease the path for what's coming; the code written for the EX90 will see use elsewhere in the lineup, what the coders learning during this hiccup serving the automaker all the way through to an eventual transition to the Global Product Architecture that will succeed the EX90's SPA2 architecture. Back to the South Carolina plant, the first customer car off the line, done up in Denim Blue, will be delivered later this year. The plant's got more good news as well from the other vehicle it builds, the S60 sedan, with year-to-date sales up 255% compared to 2023. Related video: 2024 Volvo EX90 exterior and interior walkaround review

Volvo teases minimalist, no-button EX90 interior

The march to the November 9 reveal of the Volvo EX90 takes its next step with these renderings of a pared down interior. We'll see soon how it looks once the new materials, textures, colors, and tunnel console are added, but for the moment, there are four elements: An instrument panel with a demure HVAC vent, broken up by a steering wheel, a small, uncovered screen behind the wheel, and an infotainment screen. The portrait-oriented tablet carries over from current Volvo design, so too a three-spoke wheel. Everything else in Volvo's current interior schemes is thrown out, including the knobs and buttons on the center console. It looks like the premium brand's version of the interior we were introduced to in the Polestar 3. Fitting, since both vehicles will ride on the same platform and be built at the same U.S. plant.  The cabin's physical design and the car's technology share a same philosophy, which is, "What you need, when you need it." Volvo says that the sensor suite around the EX90 will give the car a 360-view of what's happening outside and inside the car. " Thomas Stovicek, head of UX at Volvo Cars, said, "Since the car also understands its surroundings and you better than ever before, we can create an even safer situation by reducing mode confusion, distraction and information overload." On the infotainment side, we're told this will be done by the vehicle providing contextual options and menus on the two screens. The center screen, which looks larger than the current XC90 unit, performs the roles we've come to expect of it. Autocar spoke with automaker developers and said the screen "will also show information based on context. If you’re simply driving along, a bar near the bottom of the screen will show media information; if youÂ’re on a call, it will show other controls; if itÂ’s cold, it may show the defrost button, etc." This situational knowledge will be especially important as more roads are opened up to hands-free driving and as self-driving capabilities become more capable. Swedish engineers point to the handover from hands-free and autonomous driving back to hands-on driving as a crucial moment. It wants to make that handoff "effortless and intuitive." The display behind the steering wheel is where the driver will go first for traditional info like speed and range, also to understand the operational state of the driver aids.

Volvo denies boss Jacoby is taking a run at Opel CEO post

It seems that every news report that involves the name "Opel" is eventually followed by a report that says, "Uh, never mind." Executives fill positions, then they're gone, or they're supposed to fill positions but duck out before doing so, five-year product offensives turn into grabbing for life preservers, and turnaround plans are followed by... new turnaround plans. With the recent departure of Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke, Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri reported that Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby topped the list of candidates to sit in Opel's very hot seat.
Volvo spokesman Stefan Elfstrom has piped up to say "Mr. Jacoby is fully occupied with running Volvo and has no plan for leaving his present job." Stranger things have happened, though, and who knows what the truth is, but we have to admit we'd be surprised if Jacoby jumped off the Volvo express - recently given an $11-billion boost by parent company Geely - to take his chances in the Opel maelstrom.
So Opel's search for a CEO continues. At least we have the Adam to look forward to.