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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

5 thoughts about the 2024 Volvo C40 Recharge

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. -- The Volvo C40 Recharge is a quirky yet elegant little hatch with a lot to talk about. Along with the XC40, it’s the first rear-wheel-drive Volvo since the 1990s. The cabin blends Google power with Scandinavian simplicity. I think the C40 looks like an early crossover from the ‘80s. So yes, I have thoughts. Five of them. The design reminds me of the AMC Eagle Stay with me here. Am I the only one who thinks this looks like an AMC Eagle? ItÂ’s the big wheels — these diamond-cut silver and black rollers measure 20 inches — and the silhouette. A slightly lifted hatchback is a crossover these days, but it shares some of the quirkiness and car-like quality of the Eagle, which could be considered an early crossover. Tenuous design connections aside, the slab front end, LED headlights and prominent Volvo emblem conjure the requisite premium feel. It does look the part of an EV, which is a natural vibe for Volvos in general. They exude quirky sophistication layered over Scandinavian minimalism and sensibility. Not your flavor of vodka? You may have heard the Dodge Charger is now an electric vehicle. I had an odd charging experience With a few minutes to kill on a Saturday morning, I pulled into a ChargePoint station to try to grab some bonus miles. I didnÂ’t have much time, but the ChargePoint chargers were literally across the street from where I was going. Might as well be plugged into one if IÂ’m going to sit in the parking lot, drink coffee and read Autoblog on my phone. Alas, the driver screen read “initializing charging” but never consummated the charge. I unplugged and re-plugged. No dice. ChargePoint charged me $2 for the pleasure of hooking up my car and not charging for five minutes. Like I said, I was just killing time and didnÂ’t absolutely need the juice, so away I went. I try to make a point of charging EVs on public infrastructure for each test car, and the results are uneven. This C40 had been recently charged, so I tend to think it was just a ‘bad handshakeÂ’ between the car and the charger, which seems to be common for EV owners. I suppose it could have been user error, too. In these situations thereÂ’s a tendency to assign blame. IÂ’m not. IÂ’m just saying it didnÂ’t work. ItÂ’s a fun little thing to drive The single, rear-mounted motor delivers 248 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque.

Future Classic: 2008-2013 Volvo C30

Volvo has a storied reputation of building cars that are safe and solid – vehicles that are as cherished for their function-over-form designs as they are their mechanical longevity. But Volvo is also low-key cool. The Swedish carmaker is beloved by enthusiasts for its commitment to offering wagons, and for its many motorsports efforts. Flying brick, anyone? That coolness doesnÂ’t always trickle down to VolvoÂ’s road cars, but every now and then, the company gives us something a little weird. And in the mid-2000s, Volvo introduced the C30: a two-door hatchback geared towards younger, hipper buyers. Was the C30 a luxury compact? A hot hatch? Nah, it didnÂ’t really fit either vibe. Still, the C30 was nevertheless cute and quirky, and compared to other Volvos of the era, it was truly one of a kind. Why is the Volvo C30 a future classic? The C30 rode on the same platform as the S40 sedan and V50 wagon (as well as the contemporary Mazda 3 and EuropeÂ’s second-generation Ford Focus), but had way more personality than both. VolvoÂ’s hallmark tall taillights flanked a huge piece of glass that extended from the roofline to the bumper, serving as the C30Â’s hatch. Of course, this expansive window also meant the items in the cargo area were readily on display, making them an easy target for smash-and-grab thefts. A range of powertrains were available around the world, including diesel engines and even a super-limited-production electric variant. In the U.S., however, we only got the T5 gas engine, which in its standard form produced a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-5 with 227 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque (more on the not-so-standard form later). You could get a six-speed manual transmission, which wasnÂ’t a terribly engaging gearbox, but was still more fun than the five-speed automatic. With the C30, Volvo put an emphasis on the hatchbackÂ’s ability to pump up the jams. An optional Premium Sound package had 10 Dynaudio speakers, an Alpine subwoofer and Dolby Pro Logic II surround. This setup could even play CDs with MP3 and WMA files, and included an AUX jack for things like iPods. Archaic technology by today's standards, but in the 2000s, this was clutch. 2013 Volvo C30 R-Design Polestar Limited Edition View 12 Photos What is the ideal example of the Volvo C30? One word: Polestar. In 2012, Volvo introduced a limited-edition C30 Polestar, only 250 of which were sold in the United States.