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Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

myvolvoex90.com

411–420 of 436 posts

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on where you are, but I think you have the wrong stats, unless you are in a place where all your electricity is from coal (pretty rare). Otherwise, for an average US mix, you only have to go another 3k miles or so to breakeven.

I think we are comparing different things here - I am talking about KEEPING a petrol car vs BUYING an electric car. The stats from that article are about buying vs buying. The cost of making a car are huge - something like 20 tonnes of c02. Vs my running cost of about 250kg per year. If I BUY a new car it will of course be electric. But hopefully dumb. And definitely not a Volvo.

Oh, I see. Your 5000 mile car is petrol. FWIW I think the math still works to get a new EV, because it isn't like you are going to toss away the current car, but sell it to someone used. I think. It's tricky to work through.

Plus, I'm pretty sure EVs will easily last 13+ years, although we have few examples, but EVs are way less complex so they should generally last longer. Even batteries seem to be doing great at 10+ years.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Cayman you mention has a resistive touchscreen, but to your point, everything that needs a physical control has a physical control. These were global-maximum designs, it's all downhill from here.

Are you sure? It’s a small screen, controlled by a stalk on the right side of the steering column. It has never occurred to me that touching it might do something, but now I’ll have to be sure. Also, note that this is a base model, with various “enhancements” added later, so it may be lacking certain (all) options.

Pretty sure they all had the touchscreen ('13 981BS here.) The screen is usually used for nav, Sport Chrono, and other bells and whistles, but even with the standard audio system it should let you use the screen to adjust the tone controls, radio stations, and stuff like that. The CAR button should also bring up a menu with various settings.

The idea behind the stalk is more to let you control the instrument-panel display if you don't have the multifunction wheel controls.

I have a Mr12Volt CarPlay adapter in mine that works nicely, although capacitive multitouch would be a lot better for that. Key point of course is that none of this gadgetry is actually required when driving. They will take this car when they pry my skeletal fingers off the buttons.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please, post links to videos of those, not still frames. I've seen much shorter and punchier rebuttals to this claim, but this is what I found just now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXeG_mmXZGE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55MtlRBXwU0

Musk slapped his chest and quickly snapped his arm straight. Booker gently reached out, does a little dip, crosses both hands across his chest.

But, ok, there are some similarities. Where are the other "loads of videos of your favorite blue colored ones doing the same salute?"

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#414
post #88

I wouldn’t buy Tesla again but I’ve never experienced software issues in mine. Although some of the menus could be re-arranged for clarity, it’s otherwise clear and responsive. The app is great and the third party apps are even better. I’ve not heard positive things from VW or MG owners in terms of software either. Is there any good alternative to Tesla in this domain?

Tesla software in theory was generally pretty class leading. Certainly some downsides with their homegrown infotainment vs a car with Carplay/Android Auto though. What I did not enjoy when I was one was the number of functions that are buttonless and require touchscreen UI. Additionally every 1-2 years they'd do a major version upgrade that moved said functions somewhere around the screen, sometimes into a sub-menu.…

I believe that BMW group uses Flutter/Dart. Interesting that there seems little complaint about their software here.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ive driven 5000 miles since I bought the car as a panic purchase at the start of lockdown. So according to that article it’d take 13.5 years of driving an electric car to pay it back. You let me know an electric car that lasts 13.5 years and I’ll head on down to the dealership. Otherwise I will wait out the remaining 8.5 years as best I can

If you don't agree it's apples and oranges, go buy a 13 year old Leaf for ~$3000. Unless you have a narrow definition of 'lasts' it checks everything you need.

Unfortunately I have a narrow definition of a car that’s big enough for a family of four, and the leaf is not!

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#416
post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is comparing BUYING a new gas car to BUYING a new electric car. I already have the gas car from 8 years ago. From what I can tell keeping this is way better than buying any new car - of course if I do buy a new one it’ll be electric. But keeping an existing car uses way less co2 than buying a new one.

The markets for EVs and gas cars are fairly established, so your personal choice to keep fixing your car vs selling it to someone else who will fix it instead doesn't have a net change on the environment. Nor does your choice to buy a new car or a used car. The only thing that matters, really, is whether you are personally supporting the oil market or the electric market, how much, whether electric generation in your…

If I sell it to someone else, they will probably drive 10X-20X more than me.

My car mostly just sits there.

The most environmentally friendly car is a stationary car.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#418
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My 2014 Mazda 3 has fairly regular infotainment issues, audio playing on my phone but no audio from the speakers, resolved by rebooting it. Also had an issue with the backup camera cutting out. Was caused by a loose connector. Dealership was unwilling to help for free so I just cleaned the contacts and reseated the connector myself. Months later I received a recall notice with no fix available, still more months late…

A recall notice with no fix for a backup camera? Did they expect you to just cease use of the car entirely or what?

I mean, the rear window was still transparent it’s not like a couldn’t see where I was going entirely. I did miss the much wider FOV of the camera when backing out of my garage though.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mother has had two of them and they are very fun to drive -- even completely stock. The first was a 91 (how I learned to drive a manual transmission) and the second/current is a 2005. The newer one is more powerful (not sure how many HP but it seems significant) but I still prefer the older one. The design was peak 80s Japanese functional minimalism and there was no magic behind any of its features. However, as it…

I own a 2011 3 hatchback, bought new in 2010. Besides wear items, I think I’ve replaced one belt and one hose. It’s only on its third battery and 2nd/3rd lightbulbs all around. Absolutely the most reliable car I’ve ever owned, whether I measure by problems/mile, problems/year, or dollars/year. I also have a Miata (ND - 4th gen) that gets driven less than 3K miles/year. No problems there other than Mazda’s buggy CarPl…

I believe there’s a way to enter dev mode on the infotainment and reenable the touch screen while in motion. Try looking on YouTube. I found the method for my 2014 but neglected to actually do it since I prefer the center console wheel anyway.

Re: Unsafe and Unpredictable: My Volvo EX90 Experience

#420
post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And I’m saying this as a Swede. Buy German cars And I'm saying _this_ as a Swede, because apparently it matters: what cars are most reliable is publicly available information, and they're all from Asia. My personal favorite is Toyota.

I assume you're referring to Länsförsäkringars list of most reliable cars (in terms of engine/mechanical fault). While it's true that it's mainly asian/Japanese cars that are least reported, that doesn't make them the most reliable in general. Mazdas and Toyotas tend to rust off in our nordic weather way faster than german brands or older Volvos. Sure, the engine might still run but what difference does it make if it…

I'm not, and just saying that "Mazdas and Toyotas tend to rust" is an extreme generalization (of which you provide no source).
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