We have rolled out our new Volvo Car UX to millions of customers

One of our ambitions when we develop cars is to try and make the lives of our customers easier, more enjoyable and more convenient. Regularly improving the user experience inside our cars offers us a great opportunity to do exactly that.

That is why we recently deployed our largest over-the-air software update ever, rolling out a new and more intuitive user experience to millions of our customers.

The new user experience, called Volvo Car UX, was sent to around 2.5 million Volvo cars across 85 countries around the globe. Customers driving a Volvo car with Google built-in* received the upgrade on their Volvo cars built as early as 2020 free of charge**, an initiative in line with our strategy to make our cars better over time with regular software updates.

Volvo Car UX centres on a more user-friendly new layout for the car’s central display screen, which allows you to enjoy a faster, easier and more intuitive way to interact with your car. It reduces the number of taps or clicks to get to the most-used features, getting you where you want to be more quickly.

“This update is one of the largest over-the-air updates in automotive history, leveraging years of investment in Volvo Cars’ tech stack to improve life with their cars for millions of people,” says Anders Bell, our chief engineering and technology officer. “Our new user experience delivers significant updates and improvement in areas most used by drivers, and directly addresses the needs and desires of our customers.”

Powered by the Android Automotive operating system and with several Google services as standard, Volvo Car UX aims to make your life easier behind the wheel. The new layout also includes more prominent navigation and a refreshed, more modern look, with many upgrades based on real-world research and feedback from customers. In other words, it’s simply better.

One consistent philosophy for all models

As one of the most comprehensive infotainment updates by any car maker to date, Volvo Car UX creates a contemporary and consistent design philosophy across all our models. A driver of a three-year-old XC40 now benefits from the same approach as an EX90 owner, for example.

The content on the screen represents the biggest change, with the most common apps and controls, such as maps, media and phone, presented on the home screen. This means for example that if you are following navigation directions and want to change the music, you no longer have to leave Google Maps to access the media feature.

Then there is the contextual bar, which changes what you see according to the situation and displays the most recently used apps. When driving at low speeds, the icon for outside cameras appears so you can get help manoeuvring in tight spaces.

For plug-in hybrid drivers, Volvo Car UX makes it easier to get the most out of your electric powertrain. Via ‘Drive Modes’ on the home screen, you can easily access ‘Pure’ mode alongside other options. That means switching from hybrid to electric-only power is now only one tap away, giving you more control.

For more information on what has changed, visit www.volvocars.com/au/cars/volvo-car-ux.

The small print

• * Or its equivalent in China and South Korea.

   

• ** Including C40, XC40, EX40, EC40, S60, V60, V60 Cross Country, XC60, S90, V90, V90 Cross Country and XC90 with Android operating system. Over-the-air installation of regular software updates are provided at no charge as long as your car has been updated with the latest software updates on a regular basis, and you have an active data connection. Otherwise you may need to visit an authorized Volvo Cars service center to be able to receive software updates, which may incur a fee. Please contact your Volvo Cars retailer for additional details if your car requires a service center visit.

   

• Over-the-air update availability will vary by market and model year.

   

• Google, Google Play, Google Gemini and Google Maps are trademarks of Google LLC.