Volvo revamps infotainment and talks future EVs at tech event

Volvo unveiled a new infotainment design, discussed battery technology, and more during an event centred on technology found within its vehicles.

While the presentation’s star was the new look of its Android-backed infotainment system, the real underlying message is that Volvo is looking to be a leader in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, not a follower.

All of this aims to help Volvo become a fully electric car company by 2030. On the way there, the automaker hopes to revolutionize battery/charging tech, and it wants half of its cars sold by 2025 to be electric.

It plans to do this by doubling down on itself and its partners via “vertical integration, involving the in-house design, development and production of batteries, e-motors and relevant software in collaboration with strategic partners.”

When I drove the Volvo XC40 Recharge, I felt that it was in need of refinement. After watching Volvo’s presentation today, it seems like the company was well aware of these issues and has plans to improve nearly all major aspects of its EVs.

Battery announcements

Volvo says it will continue working with Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt and says that it hopes this partnership will increase its vehicles’ battery density by 50 percent.

The company theorizes that if it breaks the 21,000Wh/I energy density milestone, it can finally deliver an EV with a 1,000km range.

These improvements in density should also help improve charging times, which Volvo expects to be cut in half by 2025

On top of improving its charging tech, Volvo is looking to build its batteries using 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. To add to that, the company has plans to find new energy storage methods to recycle car batteries.

Infotainment

Volvo has already innovated heavily in the car infotainment space since it was the first company to use Google’s Android Automotive infotainment as its vehicles’ backbone.

Since then, both Ford and GM have announced that they are also using Google’s OS to run their infotainment systems.

What’s most exciting about what Volvo showed off is its vehicles’ new infotainment design. This is finally an automotive company that’s doing a good job marrying tech with driving experience. The new look uses a lot of white space and appears to have a modern card-based interface with rounded corners.

Volvo says that this new system is easier to use and should help drivers be less distracted when they’re behind the wheel.

The small screen behind the steering wheel shows the driver things like battery level, speed, directions, what gear the vehicle is currently in and other car information. Volvo also has a holographic heads-up display that can display extra information.

The exciting screen is a new 15-inch portrait display that takes up the center console space. This screen is broken up into a few sections to ensure that consistent car info can always be visible, while the bulk of the screen can be used to show navigation or run a music app.

Volvo says this new design is much simpler and easily scannable, so you won’t need to spend much time looking at it. Beyond that, the company worked hard to make sure that important information isn’t buried within a menu.

I often find car infotainment systems look incredibly out of date, but this new look from Volvo is stunning and American companies like Ford and GM will have to do a lot of work to keep up.

Volvo App

To round out this tech-focused keynote, Volvo also detailed a new app experience that allows users to use their phone as a key and check on their car remotely.

This app will help you find and pay for charging, and it will allow users to pre-cool/heat their cars.

The company is just starting its app journey, but it’s hoping to use this one app for all of its cars going forward and that it will be relatively simple to use.

The next electric Volvo will look like this

To wrap up the event, the company showed off a crossover SUV it calls the ‘Concept Recharge.’ This is the first Volvo-specific car made from the ground up as an Electic vehicle. That said, the vehicle is just a concept, so there’s a possibility it may never be released.

It’s unclear if this car will make it to the mass market any time soon, but it takes all of the improvements that the automaker explained during its presentation and packs them into a single car. This includes a new lighting design, the new infotainment and a look built around a battery pack that emphasizes aerodynamics and safety.

This means the design team was able to extend the wheelbase and the size of the tires in the car, resulting in more efficient driving and extra space inside the car.

Volvo says the concept car also brings to light a new less-but-better design philosophy for the automaker. This means that anything extra is cut from the design and what’s left is refined to its core elements.

You can learn more about the concept car here. If you want to deep dive into any of the other Volvo announcements you can check them out here. 

Source: Volvo