It’s hard to be bored while carving through the Catalonia countryside outside Barcelona.
The scenery is captivating and the winding, sometimes narrow roads take concentration to navigate. This car – Volvo’s new electric vehicle the EX60 – isn’t a yawn either.
But, in the interest of being thorough, I had a go at Volvo’s new boredom-fighting feature: the integrated Google’s AI assistant, Gemini. “Hey Google, let’s talk,” I say. And through the car’s speakers, Gemini responds.
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It asks if I would like general chit chat or for us to “unravel the mysteries of the universe”.
That seems a bit much for the morning, especially with traffic, so instead I opt to converse about Barcelona and its road rules.
Admittedly, this is something I should have checked before getting behind the wheel, but the car doesn’t reprimand me. It does warn me, however, that speed limits are strictly enforced. Which is a real shame, because the car has a lot of pep.
For people spending a lot of time on the road who would like that time to be productive, having seamless integration with an AI assistant will be brilliant.
There’s more to come, too.
In time, Gemini will be able to access the car’s cameras and answer questions about its surroundings. This will probably be along the lines of “what’s the name of that building over there”.
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But hopefully it will also be able to answer questions like: “where the hell did that guy learn how to drive?”
Those are the mysteries which confront me in traffic.
It’s worth noting that while the EX60 is the first of Volvo’s cars to get this technology, it will soon roll out to other models. But it’s more than the AI assistant which makes the EX60 an interesting car.
We drove two variants coming to Australia: the rear-wheel P6, and all-wheel P10.
The P6 has an 83kWh battery with a claimed 610km range. It’s zippy, reaching 100km/h in 5.9 seconds thanks to 275kW and 480Nm of punch. It’s also the cheapest option, with the manufacturer’s listed price coming in at $86,990 plus on-road costs.
Meanwhile, the dual-motor all-wheel drive P10 upgrades to twin motors with 375kW and 710Nm fuelled by a 95kWh battery, cutting that sprint to a mean 4.6 seconds.
That extra performance doesn’t come at the cost of range, either. Volvo claims you’ll go 660km in this car before needing a charge.
But the price jumps considerably to $101,990.
Both versions will share the same fast-charging capability that will juice up the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in about 16 minutes. That’s about as long as it takes to grab a coffee and stretch your legs if you’re on a road trip.
Unsurprisingly, the P10 is the standout performer of the two.
The car feels nicely balanced on the road, and delightfully responsive on the accelerator. You’ll also get active suspension as standard, which can change the feeling of the ride from soft to firm.
If you tinker with these options, you will definitely feel the difference. When the suspension is firm, you’ll feel the road’s surface more acutely through the car. But the handling will be sharper, more responsive. If the suspension is set to be soft, the car feels much smoother, a bit more like it’s floating.
Toggling between these options has to be done through the car’s central display unit. While it’s a lovely screen – a curved 15-inch OLED with practically no latency – it handles too many tasks.
At one point in the passenger seat, I grew tired of the arctic air blasting in my face.
The usual solution to this problem is to close or move an air vent. Instead, I had to dig through the climate controls in the car to change the fan strength on my side, which was particularly annoying when we needed that screen to show a map.
For a carmaker preoccupied with safety, Volvo seems unconcerned with drivers having their noses in a screen.
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If you do veer off the road trying to change suspension settings or turn down the aircon, Volvo has designed new seatbelt technology to keep you safe.
According to Volvo, the EX60 uses real-time data from the car’s interior, exterior, to tailor protection to each occupant and driving situation.
The system will then adjust the belt force based on things like a passenger’s height, weight, body shape, seating position, and crash severity.
It should then reduce the risk of head injuries or rib fractures. Thankfully, these claims weren’t tested on my drive. But I’ll take their word on it.
Volvo’s latest SUV isn’t perfect.
The overreliance on the touchscreen can be frustrating, and no amount of chirpy AI conversation will make Sydney traffic enjoyable.
But the EX60 feels like a glimpse at where cars are headed next.
Smarter, faster, safer, and closer to being big computers on wheels.
