I actually posted that article in the EX90 reddit sub. That means we can expect another software update in two weeks. I can’t take my car in this time to get the update because if I do, they won’t give it back to me because it needs the harness recall done.

 

It's hard to read too much into the two weeks. While I hope it is true, it's also Volvo making the statement and not Polestar. So the release of 1.13.19 or whatever it will be called is still a question mark to me, although I can't see Polestar not releasing it as it should cut down on the number of service calls if it actually works. I have a car in with my service area (Boston) for a second GHCA replacement. It is swamped and not responding to any inquiries. Polestar itself appears to have gone dark and that's not good. If you are lucky it's an OTA while you wait out the harness recall.

 

You and me both. What's the last time you heard from the Boston service department and when the GHCA is supposed to come in? I know the one service advisor is on vacation.

 

“This is the birth of our own in-house software stack, which is now going to underpin all our cars going forward,” Bell said. The automaker has developed what it calls a “Superset” tech stack, which is basically a standardized set of modules, software and hardware that the EX90 and all future Volvos will come equipped with.
Superset contains the company’s new “software master,” a unified platform that will underpin the Polestar 3, EX90, ES90 and upcoming EX60. Instead of writing separate code for each model, developers will build functions once for the entire tech stack, which will then be adapted across different cars and hardware versions.

Building your own software stack will likely introduce a whole bunch of V1 bugs. Maybe better down the road, but I’d expect some headaches with the launch of an entirely new stack.

 

“This is the birth of our own in-house software stack..

Building your own software stack will likely introduce a whole bunch of V1 bugs. Maybe better down the road, but I’d expect some headaches with the launch of an entirely new stack.

are you joking?

this is what we've all been driving around for a year now. lol.

 

VOLVO: “Unfortunately, we have disappointed many customers,” Anders Bell, the Chief Engineering and Technology Officer at Volvo Cars, told InsideEVs. “I’m going to say sorry to the customers who have lost trust in our products. We are doing everything we can to regain that trust, and we’re working super hard on this,” he added.

“If you want to really fill the car with a lot of attractive software, it cannot be done by buying boxes from suppliers,” Volvo Cars Global CEO and President Hakan Samuelsson told InsideEVs. “There’s frustrated customer experience and a lot of bad stuff. But if you look where we are right now and where we'll be after the next download in two weeks, we are at a level where we should have been from the start,” Samuelsson said.

POLESTAR: Silence.

This is one of my key frustrations with Polestar. Volvo acknowledges customer frustration, is sorry, is committed to fixing problems and restoring trust. Meanwhile, Polestar is busy talking about the Polestar 7 and the next generation Polestar 2. A little Polestar humility about the current situation for current customers could go a long way.

As a Polestar 3 owner, I’m grateful Volvo is so open and committed to fixing EX90 issues… because us Polestar 3 owners will benefit. After reading this article with quotes from Volvo execs, I'm feeling optimistic about the next software update. 🤞

 

I'm a physician and former engineer. I understand finances just well enough to run my household and have some hope of retirement. I absolutely don't understand corporate structure nor corporate finances. Can someone explain it to me like I'm in high school? How can the Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 be essentially the same car, but Volvo and Polestar are supposedly different companies with their own engineers and their own completely independent marketing departments that obviously don't talk to each other? Not to mention, how does Geely fit into this?

 

The Polestar/Volvo history is long, intertwined and slightly complicated… some highlights:

1996: Polestar (Flash Engineering) was founded as a Swedish motorsport team that performance tweaked Volvos for racing.

2015: Volvo acquired Polestar.

2016: Volvo debuted the Concept 40.1 and Concept 40.2. Here’s a link to a great Car & Driver article covering the announcement of the Volvo Concept 40.2 which was originally supposed to be the replacement for the Volvo S40, but instead became the Polestar 2.

2017: Volvo (and parent company Geely) decided Polestar would become a stand alone brand. I often describe Polestar to people unfamiliar with the brand as if Mercedes spun out AMG or BMW spun out M as a separate car brand (with a focus on electrification).

2024: Volvo began reducing its ownership/financial stake in Polestar (underscoring the need for each to stand on their own). However, Geely (through various structures) continues to support Polestar (with a recent additional investment).

So, while Volvo & Polestar finances (and corporate functions) have been moving apart, Polestar doesn’t have any of their own plants. The Polestar 2 & EX40 have a lot in common. And the Polestar 3 & EX90 have a lot in common. (There was a post not long ago where a Polestar 3 was accidentally built with the steering wheel buttons from an EX90… because they’re built in the same plant). And that applies to their software as well. For example, the software release for the EX90 & Polestar 3 have the exact same release numbers.

There’s more, but just some highlights of the intertwined relationship... and software in particular remains very intertwined.

PS: not to make it more confusing, but the Polestar 4 also has a non-Volvo sibling the Zeekr 001 which is one of Geely's other brands.

 

Appreciate the fast reply, and the appropriate level of detail.
Thanks,
-dbh

 

Given it's supposed to be a major update, I expect the version number to be 1.4.x or even 2.0.x

Can't wait to see what will be fixed (and what will regress)!

 

Its been October and no sign of new update yet...?

 

In an interview published Sep 29, the CEO of Volvo said, " [referring to software] ...if you look where we are right now and where we'll be after the next download in two weeks, we are at a level where we should have been from the start,” Samuelsson said.

Two weeks from the publication of that interview would be week of ~Oct 13th 🤞

 

New software now released for Volvo EX90:

Updates in software 1.4.12
Software release date: October 6. 2025.

Note
This update will be available as an over-the-air download about three weeks after the software release date.
Improvements

• We’ve improved how the vehicle handles losing internet connection and the GPS position drifting or being lost in the map view.
• Unlocking with a digital key or key tag is more reliable after the vehicle has been idle for a long time.
• Apple CarPlay reconnects correctly between driving cycles.
• The automatic climate mode is now better at accounting for sunlight on sunny days.
• We’ve also made some improvements to HD radio.

Fixes

• Seat positions are now correctly saved for user profiles.
• Problems with the back button and content missing in audio and Abbey Road settings have been fixed.
• We’ve resolved an issue that caused performance problems after using certain apps.
• The message that’s displayed when an over-the-air (OTA) update is available is now visible for a longer period of time.

 

New software Polestar 3 under MY2024

Not available in English, in Dutch below:


Updates in softwareversie P1.4.12

• Verbeterde stabiliteit van de internetverbinding.
• Verbeteringen aan de GPS-stabiliteit om het probleem aan te pakken waarbij de GPS de positie op de kaart verdween of afweek.
• Verbeterde vergrendel- en ontgrendelfunctie van de digitale sleutel bij het naderen en verlaten van de auto.
• De Apple CarPlay-verbinding is verbeterd om ervoor te zorgen dat Apple CarPlay tijdens elke nieuwe rijcyclus opnieuw verbinding maakt.
  • Voorheen werd Apple CarPlay niet altijd correct opnieuw verbonden in een nieuwe rijcyclus.
• Pop-upbericht voor OTA-software-update is verbeterd zodat dit langer wordt weergegeven wanneer er een nieuwe update beschikbaar is.
• Verbeteringen aan de instellingen voor audio en Abbey Road Studios-Modus om problemen met ontbrekende inhoud te voorkomen, zoals een ontbrekende terugknop in het middendisplay.
• De stoelpositiegeheugenfunctie is verbeterd en volgt nu het geselecteerde bestuurdersprofiel in de auto.

 

Still waiting for the features that were promised from day one: Easy Entry, Park Assist Pilot, and proper steering wheel button functionality.

 

Let's take what we can get now . with the seating memory etc,

I'm hopeful a lot of those missing features will be more easy to implement after the Nvidia chip upgrade. it seems it's really maxing out currently.

 

For me it doesn‘t seem like the big update, promised by Hakan Samuellson…
I expected to see functioning steering wheel buttons at least, but tbf the steering wheel buttons in the EX90 have been working since day one

 

For me it doesn‘t seem like the big update, promised by Hakan Samuellson…
I expected to see functioning steering wheel buttons at least, but tbf the steering wheel buttons in the EX90 have been working since day one

the big update is coming only after the chip upgrade. (from AMA).

 

This is underwhelming after the Volvo CEO comments. Still not a peep from Polestar management despite the fact that you can easily fit all worldwide Polestar 3 owners on an Excel spreadsheet with plenty of room to spare. Overpromise and underdeliver seems to be appropriate.

 

And this is considered big enough to go from 1.3 to 1.4?

 

This was my thought.

Something is off here. In the past that changeover would have signified the addition of a substantive bit of new software (e.g.: CarPlay, Abbey Road, Curve Speed Assist, etc.). This update doesn't introduce anything new.

I had thought that maybe it was that Homelink was being added for North America, and that's why the UK and European pages didn't show it, but the US page has been updated and it's just the same sweep of "improvements".

 

They still haven't been able to figure out how to program the steering wheel buttons?

 

What? Those are buttons?? I thought they were dedicated thumb massagers!🤣

 

Considering I use CarPlay to open and close my garage via Apple Home, the CarPlay not starting on most restarts is a huge pain point for me. Also, the seats not moving to profile are. If those two features are delivered, I’m a pretty happy camper.

The only thing missing still is steering wheel volume and song skip control.