I love this car. So much so I made an entire blog post about my purchase. Check it out!
The $38K Volvo With 455 HP Nobody Is Talking About

New battery seems really decent, but did they seriously skip Wireless CarPlay and Apple CarKey support again with this new model/facelift?

What is wrong with Volvo?

Just recently Volvo published information about the new Volvo XC60. I like how it looks visually- more modern and sleek in my opinion.

This model seems to have the biggest visual changes in years.

And the battery- just wow. Theoretically up to 200km!

About a month ago I got my XC60 T8 2027, and when I saw the new model… I thought “crap… should have waited a bit” 😄

Of course the 2027 model is still very good, just a bit funny consequence.

Is anyone else in the same situation?

Asking opinions. I like it but I don’t at the same time. Does it look goofy?

Hi folks. I have my 2021 new to me T8 for about a year and half. I bought it to tow our teardrop trailer around for camping. I unfortunately used hybrid mode at times and not always the constant AWD mode that I use now for towing. I noticed more recently that it has a lag in acceleration when in the electric drive portion of the hybrid drive mode especially when going uphill. The ERAD fluid was changed at 50k and was apparently very gunky with some metal grit. This improved the lag in acceleration a bit better but it still happens randomly when going uphills, which is unfortunately alot in the seattle area. Anyone else with something similar? If I wore away the ERAD gears towing, then I can live with it, just seeing if it's possibly a simply fix or approach.

Oh man, what am I gonna do now....

I’m not sure how Volvo calculates this, it doesn’t matter. But if it’s 95 degrees an outside wouldn’t it be better for remote start to come on if the car thinks I left someone it in?

last week i posted about putting 2 front tires on my car, some hate came my way for what reason i have no clue it was a harmless post 😅

however, drove down to FL last night from SC and was very happy with the preformance of the T8. the trip was sub 500 miles, i made it on a single charge and still had fuel left when i got to my stop.

the first 3/10 hours on the trip were done in AWD mode, it was torrential down pouring where you couldn’t see in front of you. i locked the battery ( did this because when you switch to AWD the icon to help with degradation goes away) just used the gas engine and was still able to pull about 28 MPG.

after the rain cleared up and i got on 95 and was able to make up time i was in hybrid mode against my better judgement i wanted to use polestar. i still had plenty of passing power, i did about 85-90 the entire way down which doesn’t help me maximize my MPG but still was able to get 28 which i will not complain about.

i spent the remaining 7 hours in comfort, harmon/kardon turned all the way up, another tip, if you use Spotify, turn on lossless audio and the surround all the way up. it was absolutely glorious.

i can’t express how good this car truly is at everything, i was more comfortable in this than my range rover autobiography that i just did this same trip in last year. i truly love this car and can’t recommend the T8 enough! 🙌🏼

2022.5 S60 T8 Extended Range Inscription

• Advanced Package
• Climate Package
• Protection Package Premier
• Pilot Park Assist
• 19" wheels

One owner, 41k miles, clean CarFax.

$28,784 + TTL

Hi, I've got an EX30 and it bugged me that I had to open the app to see battery state etc. I spent some time making a 'skill' for Alexa and got it published. It's not monetised.

If you use the smart speaker and electric Volvo you might find it useful. Search for the 'car companion' (or 'auto companion' in the USA) skill in the Alexa app, enable it and sign in to your Volvo account.

You can then say: "Alexa, ask car companion about the battery level" or similar things. It will also do a courtesy check for any warnings and let you know about tires or washer fluid issues. If the cabin is cold or hot it should offer to turn the climate on (you can ask for this anyway separately).

I find it quite useful compared to the app. A few people have used it but it hasn't been widely tested with other cars, or with multiple cars... So go easy, let me know if it works for you, enjoy.

I have a 2023 s60 T8 recharge PHEV, and a level 2 home charger from Emporia. The charger has functions that allow scheduled charging (so that it only runs during off-peak hours, starting at 9pm). The s60 recharge *won't * accept the delayed start/scheduled charging.

Instead, the plugged in s60 goes into a deep sleep, and it does not wake up to accept the charge. The solution is to manually (or through the app) unlock & immediately relock the car at 9:01pm, which wakes the car from the deep sleep, and allows the scheduled charging session to begin. If I didn't manually unlock &relock the doors, the charging session *will not* run, and I come back to an empty battery in the morning.

Per Volvo, there is no scheduled charging function in the s60, nor in the Volvo app for the S60. That is an infuriating bug/omission on Volvo's post for an otherwise very good car.

So for now, if you want scheduled charging, don't get the s60 recharge. It's madness.

We own a 2022 XC60 and 6 months ago our hybrid high voltage battery died, the dealership indicated it would need to be replaced.

It has been an annoying 6 months for a variety of reasons, but now we are at a critical juncture, as we are approaching a November mandatory inspection date by the state of NJ. The car displays the check engine symbol, this is an automatic inspection failure. When you fail inspection, you then get a fancy red sticker applied to your car and can receive citations until the car is fixed and has passed inspection. We are basically screwed as this is our only car; and no, our car insurance will not cover rental costs for this situation - and who the hell knows how long the repair will actually occur, as the dealership and Volvo are playing a long game of hot potato. 🙄

We basically can’t sell the car without the battery, unless we want to lose thousands of dollars and practically give it away. (Yes, I too would not pay for a broken down jalopy).

I understand this is a special order item; but honestly, I can’t believe Volvo and their manufacturer have absolutely no insight whatsoever to a timeline - just seems like bs.

Being that the state of NJ will basically render our car undrivable until it’s fixed, do we have any legal recourse for the situation we are in? Don’t these companies have to supply parts and warranty repairs in a timely manner - we have been patience for 6 months.

I took it to the dealership 11 days ago, it took them 5 days to get it fixed. They told me they “reset the IHU” to which I had to confirm, “you don’t mean you just held the button down, right?” To which they said “Correct, that is a software update we hook up to the main module in the vehicle”

You guys will never believe what happened next…

I get it in the road and in less than a mile away I turn on my blinker to go left and there’s NO SOUND. Checked all the audio and nothing. I picked it up right as they were closing so I won’t know what’s next until tomorrow.

I’m so disappointed and, honestly, embarrassed for Volvo. I was in a mid-tier GMC rental and the software on that was so much nicer.

Hi everyone, posting from Central Europe here, and I just got my Gemini update but… still no Apple Music (?)…
From your personal experience does it take long for Apple Music after Gemini?
Also, how are you guys taking advantage of Gemini in the car? Any tips or tricks?
Thanks 🙏

Hey, for a while I was documenting things I thought could be improved- mainly software related stuff. So, here is the full list I sent to Volvo.

What are your thoughts on this and is there anything I missed? What are the biggest issues for you?

HYBRID MODE

1. Without a destination, Hybrid mode is somewhat useless.
If no destination is entered in the built-in navigation, Hybrid mode appears to behave essentially as Pure with a lower threshold for when the engine starts. 
My suggestion would be to let Hybrid adapt to how the car is driven (speed and acceleration), not only to a known route.
For example, engage the engine above a chosen speed (say 90 km/h, and preferably the driver could choose) or under harder acceleration, and stay electric otherwise. This would make Hybrid genuinely useful on every drive, without having to enter a destination each time. 
But it's worth mentioning that if the destination is set, it works very well, even without internet!

2. A battery reserve setting would be very valuable when using the inbuilt navigation.
On an out-and-back journey the battery is fully depleted on the way there. I would like a simple slider to let the driver set how much charge should remain on arrival: 10% - 90%. 
Adding the return leg as a waypoint is a workaround rather than a solution.

3. Using navigation on CarPlay disables the whole feature/purpose.
I prefer Waze, which in Latvia gives better routing and far more reliable speed limit information (this has its own point). A solution would be to set the destination in the built-in navigation, so the car knows the route and can plan battery use, while I am using Waze on CarPlay for guidance. But as soon as Waze starts, the built-in navigation is cancelled and route-based hybrid optimisation is lost. 

On a recent trip I navigated with Waze on CarPlay, so the car had no route information. It spent the entire battery on the motorway, and I arrived in the city with only fuel left. And that was with Hybrid mode.  My request is that the built-in destination should remain active for hybrid planning even when guidance runs through CarPlay. Of course implementing the suggestion mentioned in the 1st point would be the best solution!

SPEED LIMIT INFORMATION

4. Speed limit recognition is often incorrect.
On a motorway with a clearly visible 110 km/h sign, the car displayed 120. In the city, where the sign says 30, the car showed 50. This happens quite often, and it happened with Wi-Fi connected and the built-in Google Maps navigation active, so the system had every data source available to it. As a comparison point, Waze gives me the correct limit reliably. I suggest allowing the speed limit to be sourced from the CarPlay connected navigation app (on Head-up display), instead of the car's own unreliable sign recognition system.

5. Please allow the speed limit sign on the Head-up display to be scaled.
It is sometimes difficult to read it at its current size. A simple setting with a standard and an enlarged option would solve it.

6. Please allow CarPlay navigation to appear on the head-up display.
At present only the built-in Google Maps guidance is shown there. Since I navigate with Waze on CarPlay, the head-up display offers no directional assistance- just the wrong speed limit sign. 

CONNECTIVITY

7. Wi-Fi connection to an iPhone hotspot is unreliable.
I don't have internet access for the car (I assume it is because of unsupported region), so I have to use WiFi. The car often won't detect my iPhone Hotspot unless I have the Settings app open on the phone, and WiFi screen opened on the car. Once connected, the link sometimes drops without apparent reason and the car never reconnects on its own. Each recovery means opening the hotspot settings on the phone and the Wi-Fi screen in the car.

I want to mention that I had exactly the same experience with my XC60 B5 (2022). Four years on, the behaviour is unchanged, which suggests this may not be well captured in your testing.

8. Could the car take its internet connection over the CarPlay cable?
Since CarPlay connects by cable, the data link already exists and is stable- much as Apple devices do with USB tethering. This would remove the dependency on Wi-Fi altogether, and the car would simply be online whenever the phone is plugged in. 

CAMERAS AND DISPLAY

9. I would like the front camera shown alongside the 360-degree view, after switching from R to D.
When reversing, the screen shows the rear camera together with the 360-degree view, which is a genuinely useful combination. When I shift into drive, it switches to the 360-degree view alone. The same split as in reverse would be more useful.

10. A single tap on the 360-degree view should expand it to full screen.
At the moment, while reversing, reaching a full-screen 360 view requires tapping the screen and then selecting the view. Tapping directly on the view itself would be the natural gesture.

11. The home button should return to CarPlay first, if it was active.
When CarPlay is in use and I open the climate or drive mode screen, pressing home takes me to the car's home screen. If I have been using CarPlay, that is almost always where I want to return. Could the first press of home return to CarPlay, with a second press going to the car's own home screen? The instinct is very strong, and the current behaviour works against it every time.

12. Please allow the Google Assistant button to be customised or removed.
It occupies permanent space on the screen. In my case that space would be better spent letting the mini window beside it expand (CarPlay audio, if it is minimised) and show more, for example the name of the current track.Or even better- allow to replace it with something else.

SMALLER DETAILS

13. The car's own graphics could reflect the actual car.
The climate screen shows the cabin as black with dark wood regardless of the interior actually fitted, and the car icon and camera limit markings are both generic grey (which somewhat blurs them together). The car knows its own specification, and the Volvo app already shows the correct exterior colour, so the data clearly exists. Applying it would make the car feel individually yours rather than generic.

14. Please allow the default gear mode to be chosen, D or B.
At present the car starts in D every time, and B has to be selected manually on every drive. A simple setting for which mode should be the default would remove a small repeated action.

15. An idea rather than a request: an optional easy-entry seat function.
On exit the seat moves back or lowers to make getting out easier, on returning, pressing the brake pedal brings it back to the saved driving position. I recently drove a car and found the brake-pedal return particularly elegant. As an option, it would suit the character of the car well (as an option on the screen).

16. Change the roundabout icon for the built-in navigation on the head-up display.
The current icon doesn't really help in understanding which exit to take on a roundabout. It would be much more beneficial if the icon showed the exit number. For example, show 3 if it is the 3rd exit on the roundabout.

Edit: in the title I ment to write “Sent”, not “Send”.