The mid-size crossover will have to wait a little longer.
Production should begin in mid-2024.
The software code is behind this delay.
The long-awaited new and fully electric Volvo EX90 crossover will have to wait a little longer before its debut on our North American roads. In fact, the mid-size crossover designed to replace the current XC90 will not go into production until mid-2024. The information was revealed during the company’s Q2 earnings conference call earlier this week.
Volvo EX90 | Photo: Volvo
The complexity of the software code is said to be behind the delay, as the automaker wants to ensure that the lidar technology incorporated as standard on board the Swedish brand’s new flagship crossover works accordingly. Volvo also indicated that this “invisible safety shield” would help reduce accidents involving serious injury or death by 20 %.
It should be remembered that this software code is written in-house by Volvo. This delay in starting production of the new model will give engineers a little more time to fine-tune this driver assistance technology.
Unsurprisingly, safety is a top priority for a brand like Volvo, which has built its reputation on the safety of its vehicles. And this lidar technology is a good differentiator, especially as Volvo intends to integrate it into all EX90 crossover models.
Volvo EX90 | Photo: Volvo
Luminar Technologies, the startup company behind the iris lidar and its Sentinel software, is responsible for the technology that will team up with Volvo’s in-house software to ensure this increased level of safety on board the SUV.
The lidar system, which teams up with cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors, can detect a pedestrian at a distance of 820 feet (or 250 meters), even at highway speeds.
Volvo EX90 Excellence | Photo: Volvo
The decision to delay the launch of the Volvo EX90 is not necessarily far-fetched in these times when the supply crisis is still raging, and software problems are increasingly responsible for some issues in certain recent car models. Examples of this have been multiplying over the past few seasons, in an era when on-board information plays a vital role in the automotive industry.
