Other than a few modest updates here and there, sometimes the addition of Apple CarPlayThe infotainment systems of most cars on the market will be the same as when they were built. A lot of things change between generations of vehicles, so it’s not always feasible. But Volvo is trying something new by making its latest infotainment available for older models of vehicles. In fact, cars built since 2020 can be upgraded.
To be more specific, the infotainment system that will be available is the one that will be marketed. EX30, EX90 And updated XC90. We tried it out briefly a few times and it has some notable benefits, such as more shortcut buttons that are always available, meaning less tapping and back-jumping to switch between functions. We’ve complained that some of these newer models are overly reliant on the touchscreen, but that will hopefully be less of an issue on older cars that have more information and functionality elsewhere in the vehicle (like an instrument cluster and more physical switches).
Volvo will be sending out the updates over the course of next year. They will be over-the-air updates. The Volvos that will be compatible are those with an Android-based operating system built in 2020 or later. This includes a long list of models, including the following: C40, XC40, EX40EC40, S60, V60, V60 Crosscountry, XC60, S90, V90, V90 Crosscountry And XC90.
Volvo hasn’t said if there will be a charge for the update, so we’re assuming it will be a free update for owners, similar to updating the operating system on a mobile phone. We’ll be interested to see how well the new system runs on older hardware. Ideally, it should work in essentially the same way, but we’re prepared for the possibility that it might run a bit slower on older cars. Let’s hope Volvo’s software team has truly optimized the new infotainment for old hardware.