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2022 Volvo C40 Recharge Interior Review | Stylish, spartan and Google tech

The 2022 C40 Recharge is an all-electric, all-or-nothing proposition from those delightfully stylish Swedes over at Volvo, whose designers put their typical minimalistic spin on this crossover-coupe EV. While Zac was a bit more fond of the all-blue interior in our tester than I was (you can also get it in black), I was at least equally as impressed as he was by its new tech suite. The "you can get it any way so long as it's loaded" American-market C40 arrived sporting the latest version of Google’s Android Automotive OS infotainment system (like other Volvos). In what may be the most stereotypical display of Silicon Valley chicanery I've seen so far in 2022, this new infotainment system doesnÂ’t support Apple CarPlay at launch, so it was almost poetic when the iPhone I used to shoot the above video fought me tooth-and-nail when I tried to share it via Google Drive. Relax, iPhoners. Volvo says an OTA update with CarPlay support is coming. But let's face it, when it comes to maps, Google is Google, and since you get it natively here, it works exactly the way you'd expect it to. Google Assistant is there to handle your voice commands too. There's even ample room in the rear for a future Google Bathroom Attendant, should you feel that you're just not getting quite enough Google in your diet.  If you've driven a recent Volvo, the infotainment system will probably look familiar to you. Despite the architectural overhaul and obvious Google ecosystem UI elements, it still feels like a Volvo system. I suppose that could be either good or bad, depending on how you feel about Volvo's user experience, which tends to eschew menu-diving in favor of pretty much putting every possible feature on the screen at the exact same time. That may sound overwhelming, but there's an organizational method to this pixelated madness.  Google's approach uses a simple scroll when you run out of home screen (yes, like a smartphone) and has collapsing drop-downs in the app menu for categories with more icons than will fit in the allotted span. For apps, settings and other such menus, this works a treat. Obviously, you don't want to be scrolling through things like cabin temperature or fan speeds, so you get more conventionally laid-out menus for both, for better or for worse.

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 Concept Estate hauls in great expectations [w/videos]

You're looking at the third leg of Volvo's award-winning concept trilogy, the Concept Estate. Despite its banal name, this sweeping longroof showcar has our attention like few other cars at the Geneva Motor Show.
It's not just that we have a weakness for shooting brakes or Volvo's take on the genre in particular (we can see some P1800ES in this design). We just think this car is exceptionally well surfaced, with a fantastic stance and the sort of clean lines that are singularly appropriate of a Scandinavian design. We also appreciate the details that are expected to inform future production models, including the T-shaped headlamps, strong rear shoulders and floating grille mount. In fact, the vast majority of the Concept Estate's design idiom is expected to make it to showrooms in future models, starting with the long-overdue, second-generation XC90 crossover.
We hope - but don't expect - that attitude carries over to the interior, which has stunning, white leather, floating clamshell seats backed in plaid. If there's one cabin feature that's expected to make it to production, it's a derivative of the car's new infotainment system, which features a massive touchscreen with tablet-like gesture controls.