Why Volvo Is Replacing Every EX90's Central Computer (insideevs.com)
- Reference: 0179500664
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/23/2139249/why-volvo-is-replacing-every-ex90s-central-computer
- Source link: https://insideevs.com/news/773202/volvo-ex90-software-issues/
> On Monday morning, I spoke to a Volvo EX90 owner who reported a litany of issues with her 2025 EX90: malfunctioning phone-as-a-key functionality, a useless keyfob, a keycard that rarely worked quickly, constant phone connection issues, infotainment glitches and error messages. I was surprised not because I hadn't heard of these kinds of problems, but because I experienced them myself over a year ago at the EX90 first drive again. At the time, Volvo said software fixes were imminent. Today, we know the issues go deeper. To solve them, Volvo announced on Tuesday that it will [1]replace the central computer of every 2025 EX90 with the new one from the 2026 EX90 . It's a tacit admission that the company can't solve the EX90's issues while simultaneously launching its next-generation software-defined vehicles, and that it's easier to replace the original computer than to build bug-free software for it. But for some, the damage to the Volvo brand has already been done.
"I say without exaggeration that this car is a dumpster fire inside a train wreck," InsideEVs reader and EX90 owner Sally Greer told InsideEVs.
The report notes that Volvo will replace the computer inside the 2025 EX90 with a Nvidia Drive AGX Orin-based core computer that has contains over 500 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second) of power, which Volvo says will help power its autonomous driving ambitions.
[1] https://insideevs.com/news/773202/volvo-ex90-software-issues/
Used to be jokes about the Microsoft Car (Score:1)
back when Windows 95 would bluescreen if you looked at it funny and flagship apps would segfault like they were written for a freshman homework assignment. By a C student.
Also get off my lawn.
Life immitates art, it seems.
You don't need all that in a vehicle (Score:2, Interesting)
Your car is not a flipping home computer. Cameras, sensors, "infotainment" systems, huge tablet screens. All it does it drives up the price of the vehicle, not to mention the repair costs! Just bumping into another vehicle these days is a multi-thousand dollar repair, given all the sensors & cameras in vehicles today. malfunctioning phone-as-a-key functionality, a useless keyfob, a keycard that rarely worked quickly, constant phone connection issues, infotainment glitches and error messages.
well (Score:2)
Having recently bought my first Volvo EV, a used C40, I can say that their software team is either sub par, working to impossible delivery deadlines by their managment or vastly understaffed. All of these are ultimately management issues. I have been lucky in that the software works just fine for us. but we came from a very non techy Honda CRV, so a non perfect interface is fine. However there are people on the C40 forums screaming about how terrible it is and that they can't possibly live without their Pic
Re: (Score:2)
Until the car won't charge, won't unlock, won't go into gear and spontaneously shifts out of gear while driving. All problems my Polestar has, and for which more than 50% of the time it sits at the dealership. The problem isn't that I use the car as a cell phone, it's that I try to use it as a car.
Re: (Score:2)
> it's that I try to use it as a car.
You're holding it wrong.
This is why Lemon Laws were created (Score:2)
[1]Lemon Law [wikipedia.org] - know your rights.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_law
Who could have seen this coming? (Score:2)
Everyone, once Geely bought Volvo around 2010. The two companies only started merging their operations in 2020. Now the new Volvos seem to have more and more crappy electronics.
Embedded software is hard (Score:4, Insightful)
Not super hard but you have to plan and architect it and you have to have a little bit of discipline with documentation and not allowing crappy code to be submitted. Unfortunately this low bar is well beyond 95% of companies. Most places think a project manager, who knows nothing about code but does know Jira and agile, can run a project by having the test team create bug tickets and randomly assigning tickets to engineers.
Re: Embedded software is hard (Score:1)
One more level of subtlety required, grasshopper.
You can have all 10x coders on staff and in management, but if they all failed freshman physics (or avoided it at all costs, as many I know would have liked to), their embedded code isn't going to be functional if it controls real moving machinery in the real world.
What kind of absurd logic is this? (Score:3)
> It's a tacit admission [...] that it's easier to replace the original computer than to build bug-free software for it.
How the hell is replacing the computer going to do anything to fix anything at all?
I see it as simply dropping 100% of software support and then moving onto the next model. This is exactly the kind of shitty corporate behavior that made me avoid getting an over-engineered and under-tested computer car.
Go further (Score:2)
Replace the SUV altogether. Fuck SUVs.
Oddly, not the complaint (Score:3)
"... which Volvo says will help power its autonomous driving ambitions."
So, while the original computer system was buggy as all hell. Volvo are replacing the computer not to rectify a single bug but rather to improve their AD ambitions.
Re: (Score:2)
"We under-spec'd the ECU to save money". Now they spin it as some type of altruism that you get an "upgrade".
Re: (Score:2)
Again, underspec'd wasn't the complaint.
Re: (Score:2)
It is easier to have one target platform than two.
Re:Oddly, not the complaint (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, the older control unit may no longer be produced. Not always a bad thing if it had problems and they'll swap it out on recall. As a software defined vehicle, the 2025s probably don't get all the 2026 model year bells and whistles by default.
I was putting new brake pads in my 46 year old truck last week. The guy at the parts counter looked up the make and model and sad, "There's a note here. The pads for that have been discontinued. There's a replacement part number with a remark. The new pads no longer contain asbestos."
Re: (Score:2)
> Again, underspec'd wasn't the complaint.
It's not the complaint, but it's the offered fix. It's hard to believe that an underpowered processor is the reason for buggy software. Maybe there are some extra features on the Nvidia chip that aren't on the current chip, but there's no mention of that and it would be hard to believe anyways.
It's also hard to believe that Volvo decided to include a lidar that is not doing anything and yet also decided to include an underpowered processor. It almost sounds like they don't know what the problem is and th
Re: (Score:2)
Where is the spin that you claim? It's you asserting it is an upgrade.
incompatible mix (Score:2)
Even if not a guise but actually true, it's probably a bad idea for a car manufacturer to get into the auto-drive business because they are very different kinds of endeavors. Those who try to be both hardware and bot-software keep choking, including Tesla and Apple. If the top players choke at it, then a second-string like Volvo is more likely to win the lottery while getting struck by lightning while chewing gum on a unicycle than succeed.
Let bot co's build bots and car builders build cars. Instead Volvo