The Volvo EX90 Ships Without Basic Features Despite Its $78K Price Tag

• Volvo won't be delivering complete EX90s to customers.
• A long list of features will have to be added in via OTA updates and visits to the dealer.
• Missing items include simple tech features like Apple CarPlay and more complex ones like parts of the EX90's lidar functionality.

The EX90’s most advanced features are missing

Many of the EX90’s more advanced features are relative rarities. For example, EX90’s use of lidar, which will “increase the car’s abilities, even in darkness,” won’t be active at launch. Some charging services will be left out, too. Bidirectional charging, the Plug and Charge function, and smart charging will all be missing at launch. The missing features will, respectively, allow the EX90 to charge other cars or devices (including your home), seamlessly pay for public charging, and choose when to charge at home for the lowest price until an unspecified date. Volvo’s Curve Speed Assist, which reduces the car’s set cruise control limit depending on bends in the road ahead, will also be absent initially.

Even basic features will require an update

Volvo hasn’t said which features will be remedied when, but we’ll update this story if the company provides us with a timeline. For the moment, basic features like cross-traffic alert with front automatic braking won’t be available at launch. This is a safety feature that can detect moving objects ahead of the SUV and apply the brakes if needed, and it's offered by a number of more mainstream automakers like Toyota. An extension of this, Volvo’s “Straight Crossing Path,” offers the same functionality for non-automotive objects and also won’t be available. Infotainment features like CarPlay and a bright theme for the instrument panel and touchscreen display will also be missing.

One aspect sticks out to us more than any other. Volvo says, “In order to keep the EX90’s core computer powered to control the highly advanced functions on the car, you may notice it uses some energy while parked and not being charged.” Volvo estimates the car will lose around 3% of its charge every 24 hours. After 72 continuous hours parked and switched off, the car will go into a “deep sleep mode” to save battery. It’s not clear what this is, but an electric vehicle actively losing battery power while not charging is a serious issue. Volvo says “[t]his requirement to run the core system in the background will be remedied with a planned future update.”

Volvo’s decision to ship the EX90 without these features is deeply concerning, especially for such a small automaker. Now owned by Chinese-run Geely, the company faces increased tariffs and software problems at a time when it simply cannot afford to. Fisker faced similar software problems during its brief lifespan. At the time we purchased our long-term Fisker Ocean, it was missing adaptive cruise control and other safety features. While Volvo is far from the next Fisker, both companies have promised features to customers and failed to deliver them before owners take delivery. While it may have been easier to overlook automakers shipping cars without tech features due to the semiconductor shortage of the last four years, doing so now is a much larger issue and one that Volvo will need to remedy quickly for its wealthiest buyers.

Edmunds says

Volvo has pushed back the EX90 as much as it can, and after several delays, will begin delivering unfinished cars to customers. While the automaker says the missing features will be added in, this is a problem that consumers shouldn’t tolerate from any automaker.