Coming back to Volvo

[Fursty Ferret]

My 3 year old Tesla Model 3 goes back to the big dealer in the sky in the summer and I’m in the hunt for a replacement car.

Had a V60 and V90 before and quite tempted by another, even though it means going back to dinosaur juice for fuel. Would have to be Inscription (or whatever the equivalent is in the 23/24 model year), 18 months to 2 years old.

There seems to be a bit of a crossover here between Sensus and Google. Is there any reason to prefer one over the other? Is there anything big that was deleted in the last few years (would quite like HUD and massage seats).

There doesn’t seem to be anything that gives the V60 or V90 any hint of a challenge when it comes to comfort and kit level for the price on long journeys.

Thanks!

[DG97]

Came back to an 2019 S60 again after having one previously. I like Sensus and didn’t think it was particularly flawed. I mainly use CarPlay anyway for Waze and I think with Android a lot of things changed unnecessarily such as the drive modes or changing adaptive to normal cruise control. I’m sure over time Android will become superior but at the moment, I’m not convinced it’s the better take.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Fursty Ferret

My 3 year old Tesla Model 3 goes back to the big dealer in the sky in the summer and I’m in the hunt for a replacement car.

Had a V60 and V90 before and quite tempted by another, even though it means going back to dinosaur juice for fuel. Would have to be Inscription (or whatever the equivalent is in the 23/24 model year), 18 months to 2 years old.

There seems to be a bit of a crossover here between Sensus and Google. Is there any reason to prefer one over the other? Is there anything big that was deleted in the last few years (would quite like HUD and massage seats).

There doesn’t seem to be anything that gives the V60 or V90 any hint of a challenge when it comes to comfort and kit level for the price on long journeys.

Thanks!

No electric car again?

[Fursty Ferret]

No electric car again?

Not this time around. Probably in 3 years. The Tesla UI is insanely buggy now and no longer enjoyable to drive on the motorway since they misread UNECE rules and crippled the adaptive cruise. When I bought it I could stick the "Autopilot" in while pulling onto the slip road and it would stay in until I got home 200 miles later. Now it needs re-enabling after every lane change (supposed to be automatic but again, UNECE has meant that you need to deactivate and reactivate).

Public charging when I bought it was an average of 21p/kWh. Now it's closer to £1, and Tesla Superchargers are often blocked by third party vehicles. I have to charge about 7000 miles a year using public chargers and am increasingly disliking the experience (eg the Superchargers at Heathrow have a £6 access fee even before you start filling up).

While I think that Pilot Assist is a bit agricultural, at least it doesn't panic and stamp on the brakes when the car alongside drifts slightly in its lane. While I'll miss the incredible straight line performance I'm not that bothered (it made me motion sick) and would prefer a squishy ventilated massage seat with a Bowers and Wilkins bangin' stereo for me tunes.

[piorunz]

Originally Posted by Fursty Ferret

Not this time around. Probably in 3 years. The Tesla UI is insanely buggy now and no longer enjoyable to drive on the motorway since they misread UNECE rules and crippled the adaptive cruise. When I bought it I could stick the "Autopilot" in while pulling onto the slip road and it would stay in until I got home 200 miles later. Now it needs re-enabling after every lane change (supposed to be automatic but again, UNECE has meant that you need to deactivate and reactivate).

Public charging when I bought it was an average of 21p/kWh. Now it's closer to £1, and Tesla Superchargers are often blocked by third party vehicles. I have to charge about 7000 miles a year using public chargers and am increasingly disliking the experience (eg the Superchargers at Heathrow have a £6 access fee even before you start filling up).

While I think that Pilot Assist is a bit agricultural, at least it doesn't panic and stamp on the brakes when the car alongside drifts slightly in its lane. While I'll miss the incredible straight line performance I'm not that bothered (it made me motion sick) and would prefer a squishy ventilated massage seat with a Bowers and Wilkins bangin' stereo for me tunes.

Excellent summary, thank you.
That's why I refuse to buy pure EV car, and touch public electric charging infrastructure, and will continue to do so for many years to come. Unless I will have secondary home+city only car, which can be electric for short journeys. But paying a pound for 1 kWh of charge? Paying £6 for a privilege of charging? This is a steal in a broad daylight. Not to mention, all private companies which provide charging points have their own apps, T&Cs, methods of payment, it's all a nightmare. I prefer to drive up to a petrol station, fill up, pay with cash and leave. Works always without a fail.

[ergonomist]

Originally Posted by piorunz

Works always without a fail.

Unless you're one of the poor souls who have petrol coming back out of the filler... But agree a really useful perspective.

[piorunz]

Originally Posted by ergonomist

Unless you're one of the poor souls who have petrol coming back out of the filler... But agree a really useful perspective.

Mine does that also, but only maybe 10% of the times I am refuelling. I tried to report it to my local dealer, but they don't care very much. And when it happens, it's just a slow leak, it's not pouring down everywhere. But yeah, I am aware of this problem in XC60.

Still, I rather have a problematic fuel cap than £1/kWh charge at a public charger, to which I first must register (in some cases): a personal, detailed account with third party company on their app or a website, hook up direct debit or payment card to it, and when I eventually plug in, pray that it will work. It's a no from me.

Anyway, looks like that I, and other like-minded people, are not an isolated case in thinking that charging infrastructure and electric card are not ready for prime time, to say it gently. Reports from UK and US are showing, that majority of brand new EVs are just not selling. Some major manufacturers already reverted production powers back to ICE cars, after losing billions. And YouTube is full of videos of people complaining about charging stations and "range anxiety", a new phenomenon created by EVs, where you don't know if the charger will work and you get stuck on the road or not.

[Fursty Ferret]

For what it’s worth I’ve actually come far closer to running out of fuel in a diesel car than in the Tesla because the range estimate is extremely accurate (ie if it says you’ll get home with 5% battery, you will, even if it’s 230 miles away).

I’m not anti-EV. Thinks like instant heat, camping mode, the froot, giant boot, cheap charging at home, silence at low speeds, one pedal driving, lack of pollution, lack of maintenance / servicing are all fantastic elements of the experience but they don’t tend to match my own need as someone who commutes a long way to work three times a month.

It will be very interesting to see what the state of play is in three years, as I can’t see why I wouldn’t have an EV then if the public charging ****-take is fixed.

[Murph7355]

Originally Posted by Fursty Ferret

....
There seems to be a bit of a crossover here between Sensus and Google. Is there any reason to prefer one over the other? Is there anything big that was deleted in the last few years (would quite like HUD and massage seats). ...

I spent 30mins in a MY24 XC90 today (other threads cover). I've bought one, but....

Sensus is better.

You can control more from the wheel controls, more is able to be displayed on the driver's display and the central display is easier to use for the more often used entries.

I've obviously not spent much time with it yet (the car will arrive in a few months), but from what I've seen I think it's going to be frustrating for a while, getting used to the Google system when we've been using Sensus for 6yrs.

(I suspect it will actually be really annoying. If they'd taken Sensus functionality as the baseline and built on it, they could have had a cracking system. But it really looks like they've insisted on starting from scratch. Crazy to take several steps backwards).

Originally Posted by piorunz

....
Anyway, looks like that I, and other like-minded people, are not an isolated case in thinking that charging infrastructure and electric card are not ready for prime time, to say it gently. ....

I've had an EV for 6mths now and actually find the charging infrastructure fine on the routes I use.

I've never had to wait for a charger to free up, never been charged an entry fee and always been able to get 350kW chargers.

Rates, however, have been ramping up heavily. Gridserve, as an example, have gone from 63ppkWh to 79ppkWH. BP have always been expensive - 83ppkWh. Ionity remain cheapest because I get a deal that keeps the price at 30ppkWh. IMO the higher prices are gouging, companies trying to cling to fossil fuel pricing. And it needs to be curbed. But frankly I use them infrequently enough not to have to bother that much.

I love mine. It's a fantastic piece of kit and the vast majority of "issues" are psychological for the vast majority of people.

Had the EX90 been out now, and not been over £20k more than the car I just bought (already not cheap!) I would possibly have bought one. I did try a Kia EV9, and we were close to going that route. But the quality wasn't quite there for a 70k+ car.

[GMcL]

Sensus is a mature system which is being phased out, Google is the new UI, yes it will have bugs but it will be supported and around for a lot longer than Sensus.