You can just look for a minute at the cabin and realize this is not an electric version of the xc90, the cost cuttings are a lot and widely spread all around the car, but since you drive it you can’t face some things. The betrayal of core volvo values like practicality are all here
The user interface is horrible. Just for example you can’t fold the side mirrors unless you are completely stopped, and you have to fold 6 (six!) pages on tablet to reach the right icon. You can’t switch off the lights even if you are parked, you can’t select the speed of the whipers, because at its first step it’s the car that decides for you the speed of the whipers, and to me it’s too quick. Bothersome. You have to switch on the power as when you start the car you get only one motor and unlike the xc90 when you select the dynamic driving mode, here you have to look for the sunspensions between pages and pages on thr tablet and select if you whant them soft or hard. No way to set them high or low.
Sunspensions are much more stiffer than on the xc90, on our bad roads in Italy the car is countinuously bouncing on the tarmac, another things that annoys me. That’s not only thanks to the sunspensions but also to the way too short shoulder of the tyres.
No way to see the odometer on the display, event total or partial, you can only see the total it when the car is in P.
Not even you can see the consumption of the display, again you have to browse 5/6 pages to see it.
Not a single light on the steering wheel. In the dark you don’t know what you are pushing. It’s true that when you touch the buttons you can see an icon on the display but this is AFTER you pushed it, you have to try multiple times to get the button you want. This is real crap.
The camera resolution is pretty low.
No comments on window controls, completely non spontaneuos to use.
As you have already read the car was delivered without vent seats and Volvo declines every possibility to install them now. I feel a bit like I have been raped.
I knew I had to accept the car as a new model and can’t find what I had on the xc90, but here you have to give up thinking to have a normal car. I really can’t believe why Volvo has introduced so many cuts, it seems they have in mind only safety and saving money when they built this car. Let’s built a safe on wheels and that’s all folks. The eye needs his part, you can’t deliver such a spartan product for that amount of money.
What was wrong with the old gear selector? With the previous display? They have removed everything and complicate everything, 99% of commands are counterintuitive.
They introduced the air quality monitor which gives you the percentage of allergens in the air (olive, grasees, pm 2.5 etc…) very good, but one I get this information, what do I do with it?
The lack of a sun shade. At the beginning of march you already need the A/C. Stupid stupid thing.
The good:
You can’t feel the weight of the car among the corners, it drives like a much more light car.
Power, I have the performance, it seems a cheetah with a firecraker in the a*s. Extremely fast!!!
Silence is excellent, it’s a very quiet car to live in.
Electrically foldable third row: very easy and practice to use
B&W stereo, very very good like the old one was.
The consumption is pretty low by far, 20kwh.
As you have read if you are still here it seems that all the technological progress has only gone through safety and non to practicality. Nothing is easy to use in this car, that’s the missing thing in the ex90.
I found that the autocar test was quite fair, the xc90 was a hit, this ex90 it’s a medium level car maybe 2,5 or 3 stars out of 5, there are too many missing things to satisfy the owner, I mean what exactly did they have in mind when they removed the lights on the steering wheel? What was the goal? Really save a led? Where is the gain?
Would I buy it again? I don’t know, I like the car, but I can’t say I am completely satisfied to own it, there’s a better way to spend money on a car, that’s my humble opinion.