Beta testing! 2024 Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 electric cars delayed to allow more software testing

Volvo and Polestar have been forced to delay production, and therefore the launches, of their EX90 and Polestar 3 electric cars respectively due to more time needed to iron out software problems.

A release from Volvo states this is “to ensure a high-quality introduction of the car to maximise customer benefit from its technology from day one” and that the EX90 “needs additional time in software development and testing”.

Volvo’s all-electric off-shoot brand, Polestar, also confirmed this would affects its platform-sharing Polestar 3 large SUV that was due to start production later this year.

“Polestar was recently informed that additional time for final software development of the new all-electric platform shared by Volvo Cars is needed,” it told Automotive News.

Volvo’s release also outlines a new targeted production start date in the first half of 2024, some six months later than initially planned.

This will have a knock-on effect to both vehicle’s planned launch dates, which were earmarked for late 2023 and early 2024 for the EX90 and Polestar 3 respectively, so don’t expect to see any Swedish electric large SUVs Down Under until the second half of next year.

Exactly what hurdles the Volvo team has encountered with vehicle software is still unclear, but we do know the multimedia system is based on Google’s Android operating system.

The EX90, and to some extent the Polestar 3, is also promising a much more advanced driver safety suite with a front-facing lidar scanner, as well as more autonomous driving elements.

At the EX90’s reveal, Volvo boasted that “the Volvo EX90 will be hardware-ready for unsupervised autonomous driving, meaning that in the future the car can ultimately be able to drive for you”.

Both vehicles are also the first to be built on the new SPA2 platform, an all-electric skateboard architecture that can accommodate a 111kWh battery, meaning up to 600km of driving distance.

The platform is also capable of 250kW DC fast-charging, as well as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functionality, so basically there are a lot of lines of code to comb over to ensure the EX90 and Polestar 3 come to market in a functional manner.