All new Volvo cars to receive OTA software update capabilities – Malaysia included!



Volvo Cars has announced that all of its new cars from model year 2023 onwards will now come with over-the-air (OTA) software update capabilities. That means that Volvo’s entire model line-up now comes with the OTA capability, following the technology’s initial introduction with its fully electric models, with new additions this time round including the Volvo XC90, S60, and V60.

This round of updates will include the latest version of Android Automotive OS (Android 11) for the infotainment system, which also adds new app categories in the Google Play Store such as navigation as well as charging and parking, while video streaming is expected to be added later this year.

Aside from the infotainment updates, the latest OTA software will also include feature improvements, particularly for the EVs, such as better energy management through improved climate timers, plus updates to the mobile app functionality and in-car applications.

The energy management improvement helps to maintain appropriate battery temperatures on both cold and warm days, which could help boost driving range on the electric models. The Volvo Cars app will also now receive more frequent updates from the car to display a more up-to-date charging percentage during an ongoing session.

Since the beginning of last year, Volvo has been offering regular OTA updates to its customers in the majority of its markets. The company expects the volume of cars covered by such updates to grow with every new update.

The latest OTA software is the company’s eighth complete car update, and will reach more than 190,000 Volvo cars across the globe, thanks to the debut of OTA updates in several new markets around the globe including India, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Malaysia.

“By making all Volvo models able to receive over-the-air updates, we make important progress towards our ambition of making our customers’ cars better every day,” said Volvo Cars chief product officer, Henrik Green.

“This is a significant milestone: we’re now updating cars of all models in a majority of our markets, bringing the benefits of remote continuous updates to an ever-increasing number of customers,” he added.

In conjunction with the OTA update, Volvo also announced that it will begin rolling out the Android Automotive infotainment system across all new models in the future. Jointly developed between Google and Volvo, the infotainment system offers a tight integration between the car and Google’s services, including built-in Google Maps and Google Assistant.

Unfortunately, the new OTA software update capability and Google Services will not be available on certain variants of the Volvo XC40 crossover.

To see the Android Automotive OS in action, check out our media drive video on the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric!