Volvo has expanded its over-the-air update programme, which now covers nearly 200,000 cars and 34 countries, including Australia.
More Volvo customers can now reap the benefits of over-the-air (OTA) software updates. The Geely-owned carmaker has brought OTA capability to the latest XC90, S60 and V60 models, following the introduction of the tech to its electric vehicles.
As a result, all models in the Volvo range from the 2023 model year onwards will have OTA capability. The company says OTA updates can now reach over 190,000 cars across 34 countries. New markets receiving remote software tweaks from this week include Australia, India, Taiwan and New Zealand.
Volvo’s latest update includes various infotainment system improvements. Changes include an upgrade to the Android 11 operating system for the infotainment suite, and the arrival of new app categories on the Google Play app store. Video streaming capability will be added later in 2022.
The newest update is claimed to make Volvo’s fully-electric cars and plug-in hybrids more efficient, with the aid of better calibrated climate timers for vehicle preconditioning. Drivers will also be given more frequent charge percentage updates whenever the car is plugged in.
Volvo has also announced that its infotainment system, which is jointly developed with Google, is now offered on all of its new models.
Speaking about the improved OTA offering, Volvo Cars chief product officer Henrik Green said: “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.
“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.”
Matt Robinson