Volvo admits the EX30 and EX90, the first in its new range of electric cars, were not up to scratch on technology when they reached showrooms – but it promises the new EX60 won't be the same.
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Volvo has vowed to bounce back from the software glitches that plagued the rollout of its recent range of EX30 and EX90 electric cars, and has its sights set on rebuilding trust with customers.
The Chinese-owned Swedish car maker claims the new, mid-size EX60 electric SUV, due in Australia later this year, will not suffer the same issues, thanks to new 'SPA3' underpinnings and updated technology with Google Gemini AI built-in.
The EX30 and EX90 were criticised following their 2023 and 2024 launches, respectively, for glitches in their infotainment and vehicle control systems.
Speaking with Drive at a media preview drive of the EX60 in Spain, Volvo executives said the brand is learning from its mistakes and is working to rebuild trust with customers.
“Obviously, we cannot hide from the situation that we had,” said Lorina Gewargis, Product Manager for EX60 development.
“But what I can say is that we have learned so tremendously much from the cars built on SPA2 [EX90 and ES90], and we are very confident that the EX60 has really good stable software that will be delivered on quality.
“I'm very confident that we have a good product from all perspectives. It’s a very important car for us, and it's important that we need to rebuild that [trust], and we will do that with the EX60.”
Anders Lindbom, Volvo’s Head of Product and Connected Experience, said Volvo is aware it will need to secure its reputation if it wants to sell EVs in bigger numbers.
“The electrical architecture in its core is an evolution of what's in the EX90, and we have learned so much on how to be a software-defined vehicle company, how to make the integration between the core system and the infotainment system much more efficiently,” he said.
“We’re doing much more testing to make sure that the quality is there from the start. We have a huge test centre now where we do different kinds of automatic tests. That’s a key thing.
“We were not completely there in the first phase, but now we have evolved a lot, which makes us much more confident about the software quality. It’s just having more time to do that [which has made the difference]. We are developing as a company, as a software company.”
Lindbom said the change to a software-based vehicle is “tricky”.
“A lot of companies in the business are struggling with this, and we have learned a lot during these years about what's possible, and that's why we are so picky now to make sure that there are no deviations,” he said.
“Because we need to secure our reputation. It’s important to be right with this one [EX60].
“The other cars are benefiting from the same process. Gemini is one thing, but basically, the software quality, the processes we’re using, have benefitted all these cars.”
As previously reported by Drive, Stephen Connor, Managing Director of Volvo Australia, said that the local arm hadn’t received the same feedback, possibly because only 250 EX90s were allocated to our market in the first batch.
“It's like in every software company, there are always things we update with bug fixes. We haven't seen a huge issue in Australia, but we are not a volume market for the EX90,” he told Drive at the time.
The delayed arrival of the mid-size EX60 and limited stock of the EX90 were cited as behind a decline in Volvo’s total electric-vehicle sales tally for 2025, which was about 40 per cent.
Roughly 43 per cent of Volvos sold in Australia in 2024 were electric, up from 12 per cent in 2023, equivalent to approximately 3830 and 1330 sales, respectively.
Gewargis told Drive, however, that the arrival of the EX60 will boost the brand’s EV sales, as it’s tipped to be a top-seller.
“We are expecting that the EX60 will sell really well,” she said.
“It depends a little bit on where you are in the world, but just taking Sweden as an example, we see a lot of consumers are actually waiting [to swap from XC60 to EX60].
“They have been waiting for this car. They want to drive a full electric, but they haven't had the right size for them. But we also have a lot of new customers to the brand.
“We absolutely believe that we have mitigated the three main concerns that many consumers have when hesitating to go full electric: the range, the fast charging, and the price.”
In 2025, Volvo sold a total of 7239 vehicles in Australia, with the top-seller the XC40 small SUV with 2630 sales.
The XC60 medium SUV wasn’t far behind, with 2047 sold, but only 1281 EX30s and 209 EX90s are reported to have found homes.
So far this year, the brand has delivered 2351 vehicles locally.
Unlike most of its models, except the XC90 large SUV, the electric EX60 will be built in Volvo’s home country of Sweden, rather than China.
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A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
