Honest John News New Cars

Volvo owners get major infotainment overhaul

Phill Tromans
Thu, 05 Mar 2026
  • New Volvo Car UX will be rolled out from this week
  • New infotainment design and layout
  • Volvo's largest ever over-the-air software update
  • Affects some 2.5 million Volvo cars worldwide, built from 2020

Got a Volvo made in the last six years? Then the chances are you'll find a new-look infotainment screen in the next few days, as the Swedish company prepares to overhaul its user experience with its largest ever over-the-air software update.

The overhaul will affect cars with Google built-in, dating back to 2020, and includes the C40, the XC40, the EX40, the EC40, the S60, the V60, the V60 Cross Country, the XC60, the S90, the V90, the V90 Cross Country and the XC90.

The free new software – called Volvo Car UX – promises a new look and a more user-friendly layout on the central screen, with fewer taps needed to access different functions. Volvo says the aim was to make customers' lives easier behind the wheel, making it simpler and faster to reach the most-used features.

The new system makes the car's navigation more prominent, and presents the most common apps and controls – such as maps, media and phone – on the home screen. There's also a contextual bar, which changes what drivers see according to the situation and displays the most recently used apps. For example, if you're driving at low speeds, the icon for the outside cameras appears to help manoeuvring.

Plug-in hybrid drivers, through Drive Modes on the home screen, can more easily access Pure mode to switch from hybrid to electric-only power using only one tap.

Volvo says the update will also prepare cars for a new Google Gemini "conversational AI experience", which will be rolled out later in the Spring.

Ask HJ

Why is the range of my PHEV lower even when charged to 100%?

I purchased a new Volvo XC 60 PHEV in August 2025. For the first 5 months when fully charged the electric range indicated 50 miles. Then suddenly this fell to only 40 miles and won't charge further. I understand that the mileage range on electric will be less in winter due to more use of lights/heaters etc. but surely it should still charge to 50 miles as advertised in their literature. The dealer informs me this could be due to the cold weather, however Volvo customer service has never heard of such a problem. I have used a friends home charger and had the same result.
Electric vehicle range—whether in a full EV or a PHEV—as with the remaining range or 'miles to empty' display on a petrol vehicle, is a calculation based on the available charge in the battery but also recent energy consumption. On an electric vehicle, battery efficiency is typically impacted by colder temperatures, but also energy consumption increases in the winter months due to increased use of cabin heating and battery thermal management, so we would expect both EVs and PHEVs to indicate less available range at this time of year. Given the age of the vehicle we would still expect the battery capacity to be 100% or very close to it, so the reduced available range indicated is a result of the conditions. When manufacturers advertise the available range of their vehicles it is always prefaced with 'up to XXX miles' to reflect the fact that available range is variable and impacted by battery health, ambient conditions and driving style and cannot be guaranteed under all circumstances.
Answered by David Ross
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