- Volvo will update cars going back to the 2021 model year with new infotainment software, including Google’s Gemini AI assistant.
- Over-the-air updates are becoming common, but this may be the most advanced one we’ve seen yet.
“It will be one of the biggest over-the-air updates in the history of the world.” That’s how Volvo Chief Technology Officer Anders Bell describes the company’s plans to bring an AI-based infotainment system to some cars that have been on the road since late 2020.
KBB was in Stockholm for the debut of the 2027 Volvo EX60, an all-electric midsize SUV, when the company dropped news relevant to people who aren’t shopping for a new Volvo, but already driving one.
Bell said the capability would roll out to cars with Volvo’s Android-based infotainment system from model year 2021 onward. Some of those reached dealers in late 2020. Volvo did not provide a list of affected models, but that infotainment system spread through the Volvo lineup fairly quickly. So, most models from 2021-2026 should get the download.
It won’t be as capable as the system found in the EX60. That car can hold conversations with its owner and “see” the world around it through cameras, Volvo says. The company did not debut the system for reporters, but it did allow KBB to test it in an ES90 sedan.
In person, it shows impressive conversational speed, with less lag than what is common with some AI voice assistants. Look for a video demonstration in this space soon.
Related: What Is Over the Air (OTA)?
However, the EX60 uses an entirely new electronic architecture that Volvo calls HuginCore, named for one of Odin’s ravens in Norse mythology. In the myth, Hugin crossed the world every night to bring the god all of human knowledge. It makes an apt name for a system that uses a web connection to answer questions.
Older Volvos lack HuginCore’s processing power. But Bell says that more than 2.5 million Volvos already in owners’ driveways will gain the ability to answer conversational questions beyond simply responding to structured commands.
Volvo, however, has shown a notable commitment to upgrading cars already sold. Last year, the company provided a free processor upgrade to owners of some cars.
Bell called continuous software improvement “a new dimension in automotive engineering,” saying evolution was “kind of a religion” for the company.
