Source: Gasgoo Author: Xing Yun
Text
According to foreign media reports, Volvo Cars has delayed the delivery of its pure electric small SUV EX30 due to vehicle software problems. This is the company’s second electric car to be plagued by software issues, following the EX90.
In a letter sent to dealers, Volvo said, “Volvo Cars is working tirelessly to resolve this issue. We have made significant progress, but the version 1.2 software has not yet met all the requirements needed for delivery.”
When asked by the press about the reason for the delay in deliveries, a Volvo Cars spokesperson said in an email, “We are currently working out some details and a small number of customers will probably have to wait a few extra days to take delivery of their cars, and when these issues are resolved we look forward to scaling up deliveries of the EX30 quickly.” However, Volvo’s letter to dealers cites multiple delays that lasted around two weeks, which contradicts the response to the press.
Image source: Volvo
A source revealed that dealers will be able to start selling the EX30 as soon as the software issue is resolved, adding that deliveries of the small SUV have been affected in global markets by the issue.
The source revealed that the software upgrade cannot be done via OTA and has to be done at the dealerships. He said that dealers will start updating the vehicle’s software on 30 January local time.
The EX30 is produced in China, and its starting price in Germany is 36,590 euros. The model’s acceleration time from 0 to 100 seconds is 3.6 seconds. It is the lowest-priced and fastest-accelerating model of Volvo Cars to date. The EX30 is also a key model for Volvo Cars to achieve its sales target, which aims to increase its global sales by 69% to 1.2 million vehicles by 2025. In 2023, Volvo Cars’ global sales set a new record, reaching 708,716 vehicles.
Although Volvo declined to elaborate on the specific issues with the vehicle’s software, the company said in a customer letter that version 1.2 of the software “contains a number of Google certifications and critical updates” without which “the vehicle cannot be delivered.” A Volvo Cars spokesman said the company decided to delay deliveries because it “wanted to provide EX30 customers with the best experience possible.”
In addition to Volvo, a number of other car companies have also experienced software issues with their vehicles. Earlier this month, Henrik Fisker, CEO of US electric car startup Fisker, said the company would update the software of its Ocean electric SUV on 1 April this year to activate some of the missing advanced driver assistance features, such as adaptive cruise control.
In 2020, VW also started deliveries of the ID.3 all-electric compact sedan with some key features missing, and it wasn’t until the end of that year that VW completely resolved the issue.
