Volvo EX90 - first hand experience?

[carsly]

Time to fess up. My first EV was a 2022 Polestar 2. I purchased it in July 2022 and sold it in Nov 2022. The shortest amount of time I've ever owned any car, new or used, as I typically like to run them 5-10 years (or more in some cases).

Between TCAM issues, PAAK not working - Key not present. F that, the key IS present you POS how do you think I've been driving it to drop my kids at school? random drop-outs of GPS being completely gone - as in nothing - while driving using maps and on and on. Forget about the fact that one of the two keys I received at delivery was a "sport key" with a battery that could not be replaced. Why? Interior was full of lower end materials from seat coverings to black plastic everywhere that would scratch if you looked at it wrong. Driver's footwell was also very tight and the center console was too wide so not enough leg/knee space and I'm only 5'10". Couldn't sell it soon enough.

Beautifully designed vehicle. Looked sharp, drove really well, handled nicely but the software and interior, not so much.

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[Great Gatsby]

Time to fess up. My first EV was a 2022 Polestar 2. I purchased it in July 2022 and sold it in Nov 2022. The shortest amount of time I've ever owned any car, new or used, as I typically like to run them 5-10 years (or more in some cases).

Between TCAM issues, PAAK not working - Key not present. F that, the key IS present you POS how do you think I've been driving it to drop my kids at school? random drop-outs of GPS being completely gone - as in nothing - while driving using maps and on and on. Forget about the fact that one of the two keys I received at delivery was a "sport key" with a battery that could not be replaced. Why? Interior was full of lower end materials from seat coverings to black plastic everywhere that would scratch if you looked at it wrong. Driver's footwell was also very tight and the center console was too wide so not enough leg/knee space and I'm only 5'10". Couldn't sell it soon enough.

Beautifully designed vehicle. Looked sharp, drove really well, handled nicely but the software and interior, not so much.

LOL. Sounds like my experience with the Kia EV9. Specially with the PAAK. The amount of tantrums I had yelling at it when it told me "No Key Detected" is funny in retrospect but a nightmare at the time. Bought it May 2025 and traded it in August 2025 and lost a pretty penny on it. Couldn't be happier to get rid of it for the Rivian though. It's amazing how much software can make or break a vehicle. I don't think people realize that a car can do so much well on a test drive but then completely be a nightmare to live with on a day to day.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Oh, I believe it. I go down deep rabbit holes when it comes to searching what car I'll buy next, and back in 2020, the XC90 was top of mind. As much as I loved the idea of it, almost every forum, reviewer and person I talked to said to stay away. Just nonstop issues.

Which drives me nuts that they don't seem to be improving on this. Their seats really are very comfortable lol

Agreed such a shame. The exterior looks great; the interior is beautiful. Everything in-between is a Temu part!

 

[Mellowyellow]

LOL. Sounds like my experience with the Kia EV9. Specially with the PAAK. The amount of tantrums I had yelling at it when it told me "No Key Detected" is funny in retrospect but a nightmare at the time. Bought it May 2025 and traded it in August 2025 and lost a pretty penny on it. Couldn't be happier to get rid of it for the Rivian though. It's amazing how much software can make or break a vehicle. I don't think people realize that a car can do so much well on a test drive but then completely be a nightmare to live with on a day to day.

I would think the EV9 would be pretty stable by now but I guess not.

 

[Great Gatsby]

I would think the EV9 would be pretty stable by now but I guess not.

It might be. I wasn't willing to wait it out. The app was so slow and I could never get anything to work remotely. The PAAK was somewhere between atrocious and fine, and I was at the point of no longer trying to carry car keys anymore. The estimated range was all over the place. It didn't have access to the Tesla network at the time. I paid an extra grand to get the performance boost (bought the Wind trim and the boost gave it the same HP as the GT-line) and I still wanted more power. The car could not stay on and LOCKED at the same time, so no way to keep the car running while you left a dog or passenger inside unless you wanted to leave it open to the public. The car did not have the automatic lock function when you walked away. Just so many oversights on Kia's part. My wife recently bought a Mach-E at the time, and while their software and tech is still light years away from Tesla or Rivian, it was A LOT better than Kia's.

I've had cars for at least 5 years prior to that, so it's not like I jump around from car to car, but the tech and software was not it. I wanted to buy the reasonable choice and got the EV9 over the Rivian, but I learned my lesson. Happier to be paying double for the vehicle I love than saving some cash and dealing with a car I hate. Hate might be a strong word, but honestly, my father in law said it best when it came to cars: (and what finally made me realize I should give up on the Kia and get the Rivian): "If you don't love it, you hate it."

 

[carsly]

I would think the EV9 would be pretty stable by now but I guess not.

I remember test driving an EV6 a few years ago a few months after they came out. The local Kia dealer had a few in stock and they unabashedly had a mandatory $5,000 add on to the Monroney for a 'dealer service package' that included one thing: five years of free oil changes. On an EV6.

I walked out.

If dealers are willing to screw you so hard on the way in, what's going to happen if you have a maintenance or warranty issue? I didn't feel I could trust them to look out for the customer. Not worth the risk in my book, plenty of other manufacturers.

 

[TexasBob]

If I were spending your money, I would go with the GV90. I think it is a beauty and it has all the right specs. And since it's your money, I do not mind the price tag.

https://www.caranddriver.com/genesis/gv90

 

[Great Gatsby]

I remember test driving an EV6 a few years ago a few months after they came out. The local Kia dealer had a few in stock and they unabashedly had a mandatory $5,000 add on to the Monroney for a 'dealer service package' that included one thing: five years of free oil changes. On an EV6.

I walked out.

If dealers are willing to screw you so hard on the way in, what's going to happen if you have a maintenance or warranty issue? I didn't feel I could trust them to look out for the customer. Not worth the risk in my book, plenty of other manufacturers.

Yeah the dealership model, as it currently stands, has no idea how to handle EVs. When I bought the EV9 they kept trying to sell me an extended warranty. I was like...for what? Even the finance guy had trouble coming up with reasons. They also told me to go a specific Kia dealership that knows how to work on EVs, as apparently most of them - including the one I bought from (at the time) did not and needed a specialist to do any work on it. They also added on a ton of garbage fees (paint protection, key replacement coverage, yadayadayada) that I made them eat the cost on because I did not ask for any of it but apparently they had already applied the paint protection and couldn't remove it. It's so exhausting. I know its dance they like to do but its so tiring and I just want to buy the car for the price advertised online with no other BS. That's the other thing too - I had no faith in them resolving any warranty issues down the line. I called about the remote controls not working on the app/things erroring out and all I got was even more confusion. "Did you restart the app?" Yup, for the 80th time and kept it up to date. They told me to bring it in but at that point I had already decided to trade the vehicle in anyway.

 

[carsly]

Yeah the dealership model, as it currently stands, has no idea how to handle EVs. When I bought the EV9 they kept trying to sell me an extended warranty. I was like...for what? Even the finance guy had trouble coming up with reasons. They also told me to go a specific Kia dealership that knows how to work on EVs, as apparently most of them - including the one I bought from (at the time) did not and needed a specialist to do any work on it. They also added on a ton of garbage fees (paint protection, key replacement coverage, yadayadayada) that I made them eat the cost on because I did not ask for any of it but apparently they had already applied the paint protection and couldn't remove it. It's so exhausting. I know its dance they like to do but its so tiring and I just want to buy the car for the price advertised online with no other BS. That's the other thing too - I had no faith in them resolving any warranty issues down the line. I called about the remote controls not working on the app/things erroring out and all I got was even more confusion. "Did you restart the app?" Yup, for the 80th time and kept it up to date. They told me to bring it in but at that point I had already decided to trade the vehicle in anyway.

If you think that's bad I had a 2021 Audi Q7 for a few years. A few months after I bought it the app became disconnected from the car. Re-pairing with VW's bizarro key codes and 34 logins is annoying but I kept trying. Finally reached out and heard it was a "known issue". OK, so when will it work again? "No ETA". Well, it took five months for VW group/Audi to fix a server-side issue that knocked out the app connection to the vehicle completely. Five months.

So that's why I have never considered an eTron, Taycan or Macan EV.

Well, that and the ID.4 owners I helped at an EA station once (when I owned the Polestar 2) who couldn't figure out how to unlock the charge cable from the vehicle. There was no unlock button in the charge port, that would be too obvious. And nothing in the app or on the dash. After we all googled and watched youtube videos you had to double or triple press some button in the front of the car - nowhere near the charge cable - in short sequence, did I mention the button/function was of course unlabelled? in order to unlock the cable. Who designs a system like that? Yeah, no thanks VW. Keep your pouch cells to yourself.

PS the Taycan batteries required inspection at a dealership EVERY SIXTY DAYS and can not be charged above 80%. https://www.carscoops.com/2025/05/porsche-taycan-sales-halted-battery-issue-uk-dealers-checkups/

 

[Great Gatsby]

If you think that's bad I had a 2021 Audi Q7 for a few years. A few months after I bought it the app became disconnected from the car. Re-pairing with VW's bizarro key codes and 34 logins is annoying but I kept trying. Finally reached out and heard it was a "known issue". OK, so when will it work again? "No ETA". Well, it took five months for VW group/Audi to fix a server-side issue that knocked out the app connection to the vehicle completely. Five months.

So that's why I have never considered an eTron, Taycan or Macan EV.

Well, that and the ID.4 owners I helped at an EA station once (when I owned the Polestar 2) who couldn't figure out how to unlock the charge cable from the vehicle. There was no unlock button in the charge port, that would be too obvious. And nothing in the app or on the dash. After we all googled and watched youtube videos you had to double or triple press some button in the front of the car - nowhere near the charge cable - in short sequence, did I mention the button/function was of course unlabelled? in order to unlock the cable. Who designs a system like that? Yeah, no thanks VW. Keep your pouch cells to yourself.

PS the Taycan batteries required inspection at a dealership EVERY SIXTY DAYS and can not be charged above 80%. https://www.carscoops.com/2025/05/porsche-taycan-sales-halted-battery-issue-uk-dealers-checkups/

Jesus. What a nightmare. My father-in-law is a huge Car and Drive believer and told me to check out the Macan EV because Car and Driver said the Rivian suspension sucks. Besides the Macan EV being much smaller and asking for the same price as an R1S, I had not heard good things about the Taycan and am so glad I skipped it altogether based on the above. The EV9 experience turned me off to most traditional manufacturers. It just feels like they don't "get it". They want EVs to be an ICE car but electric, instead of an ever evolving machine like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have done. I get it's easier to make a car and forget about it, but I do wonder when this mentality will come back to bite them in the ass...if it hasn't already.

 

[DrewT]

My two cents worth - Back in 2016 I ordered a 90 plug in hybrid . Waited several months , paid cash , took delivery and 3 days later the vehicle died . It had to be towed to the dealer and the hybrid charging unit was dead . I found several other people who had had the same issue including folks that had had it more than once . Volvo never publicly acknowledged the problem but did issue a recall for" seatbelts " during which they replaced the unit responsible . I asked Volvo to fix the new SUV within a reasonable time from (10 days ) which given the large number of folks in the same position they could not do so I asked for a refund which to my surprise they actually paid which in retrospect is acknowledgement that had a problem ( although to my knowledge they never acknowledged ). I took my $ and bought another plug in hybrid - a Porsche Cayenne .
the fact that Volvo never admitted publicly that they had a problem always bothered me . I am one of those nerds that understands that problems exist but you have to acknowledge and address . I would never ever buy a Volvo . They are not the company I grew up with (and I am in my 70's ) - you decide .

 

[Mellowyellow]

My two cents worth - Back in 2016 I ordered a 90 plug in hybrid . Waited several months , paid cash , took delivery and 3 days later the vehicle died . It had to be towed to the dealer and the hybrid charging unit was dead . I found several other people who had had the same issue including folks that had had it more than once . Volvo never publicly acknowledged the problem but did issue a recall for" seatbelts " during which they replaced the unit responsible . I asked Volvo to fix the new SUV within a reasonable time from (10 days ) which given the large number of folks in the same position they could not do so I asked for a refund which to my surprise they actually paid which in retrospect is acknowledgement that had a problem ( although to my knowledge they never acknowledged ). I took my $ and bought another plug in hybrid - a Porsche Cayenne .
the fact that Volvo never admitted publicly that they had a problem always bothered me . I am one of those nerds that understands that problems exist but you have to acknowledge and address . I would never ever buy a Volvo . They are not the company I grew up with (and I am in my 70's ) - you decide .

This is a great point. Part of the appeal for my wife is she still thinks Volvos are the safest vehicles on the road. This is a reputation they definitely had but decades ago. Nowadays there are plenty of super safe cars.

 

[voxel]

If I were spending your money, I would go with the GV90. I think it is a beauty and it has all the right specs. And since it's your money, I do not mind the price tag.

https://www.caranddriver.com/genesis/gv90

Genesis EGMP EVs were the least reliable of the bunch and I suspect the GV90 will be more than same… sadly. I really liked the GV60. It’s what I wanted before leasing an Ioniq 5 Limited (sold it when the R1S arrived a few months later) but the horror stories pushed me away. Only the Lyriq, Fisker Ocean, and Polestar 2 were less reliable it seems.

The Ioniq 9 is tempting. Kia can’t escape their sub prime roots. My first new car was a Kia back when I had no credit. The dealerships are just as slimy as they were 15-20 years ago lol. Hyundai dealers seem to be just a little better but not much lol.

 

[timgradywy]

My wife had a 2018 Volvo XC90 T8 Inscription. It had zero issues, but was a bit too big for her. She could do her daily commute on battery only, but it was a short urban route and she didn't mind slow acceleration from the relatively small motor in the earlier version (10.4 kWh battery and 87 hp electric motor). I needed sport mode every time (gas + electric) I drove it.

She liked it enough she bought an 2022 XC40 Recharge. It had some software issues early on and was half baked (like the EX90 today...), but that did get sorted out over the last couple of years. She loves it as an around the town car. It's even faster than the XC90. Short road trips are OK, but it's pretty lacking in range compared with a R1S/R1T, so we use my R1T for most road trips. The suspension is a bit rough on the earlier XC40 Recharge and the interior isn't nearly as nice as the XC90, but the size is great. A R2 or R3 might be in her future.

My parents liked my wife's Volvos enough that my dad bought an XC90 Recharge that was a bit newer to replace his Escalade, then my mom got an XC40 Recharge to replace her Outback. Now my dad's gotten the latest 2025.5 XC90 Recharge (143 hp electric motor and 14.9 kWh battery). They had never had Volvos before, but these have been flawless. The XC90 is their road trip car and the XC40 is what they use around town.

I sat in an EX90 earlier today and didn't even bother driving it. In my opinion, its interior is worse in every way from a modern XC90 and was in some ways worse than the XC40. Versus the XC90, the second and third rows seemed much smaller, the dash display was relatively small/simple, much worse seats and interior quality, etc. I don't like having to fill up with gas, but the XC90 recharge would be my choice any day over the EX90 even if the EX90 was $10-20k cheaper (which it's not...).

 

[SeaGeo]

Dear Rivian family,

I regret to inform you that I have failed in persuading my better half to get a Rivian as well. She has her eyes set on a Volvo EX90 ( for some reason).

I’ve only ever seen a single one on the road. It seems like they’re not selling many of them at all?

I was looking at the EX90 forums and it seems like a complete sh!t show over there. I know forums can be biased and a place to vent and complain (who knew?). Thus, I’m wondering if any members own a EX90 and can provide any honest feedback and first hand experience. It would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Charles

A friend of mine who has an R1T also has one that his wife wanted.

It's a total shit show.

I had an XC60 previously. Loved it. There are very few vehicles that I would tell someone not to buy. The EX90 is one of them. At least not until they figure their shit out.

If she likes the EX90 but not the R1S, have her check out a Gravity.

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