Volvo EV News

[john-malcom]

Good find!

I think excellent stats. Good range, reasonable charging time, acceleration comparable to the Aptera. Made by Geely (Chinese) now. Five passengers for families! and reasonably priced. More of a competitor for the Chevy Equinox available to order this year. The smaller EV SUV/Cross Over market is becoming crowded.

• This reply was modified 10 months, 2 weeks ago by  John Malcom. Reason: correct spelling

[UnidentifiedDrivingObject]

Yes. I also see some features that are similarly present to the Aptera. Pricing (non-IRA applicable credits), the minimalist interior, the single mid dash tablet screen, the comparable 0-60 times with AWD, the easily accessible (left rear quarter panel area, ala Tesla) charging port to reach (should you use a) Supercharger/Destination just like the Aptera (nowhere pre A Pillar area).

Pros: More seats, non Yoke steering, more flexible rear storage, more normal 4 wheels, real paint job and normal body panels, a frunk, no front track Aptera width issues, an excellent national Top 10 Volvo dealer (to pre order) just 6mi from my home. The list goes on that I could have missed..

I am tempted to place a deposit for a 2024 delivery, for a RWD Extended Range 69kWh variant . But still I’m keeping my high hopes up for my pre ordered Noir at this time, for that “Estimated Delivery” of 2024 as well.

[john-malcom]

This review of the 2024 Volvo EX30 low cost SUV validates the many concerns about having most of the controls accessible on the central display ala Aptera. The review is long, but the majority of the screen access for control is pretty much up front.

Certainly validates the running narrative of anti display controls. The control allocation mirrors that of Aptera. Most likely for the same reason. Cheaper and easier. If you watch the whole thing you will see other feature compromises.

[craig-merrow]

That was pretty good! We rented a Tesla last weekend and had similar issues with scrolling through different screens to find what were looking for. Thinking that a main screen with all the function icons would make UI easier and more user-friendly, not to mention making for a safer driving experience.

[john-malcom]

Not a bad idea! I had not thought about that approach but I have been brain washed by driving a Tesla Model 3 for four years. Have a Bolt now with buttons and switches

[craig-merrow]

👍

[CGSMT]

I suspect I’m like many people in these discussion, preferring reliable simple manual design when possible. So this question is contradictory to my nature and may not be an option this far into design, but what about voice-control? Is that even a thing in any cars? Like, “Hey Aptera, turn on wipers.”

[ray-holan]

Voice control would be a welcome feature and would certainly mitigate the issues highlighted in this thread.

[Phil]

I don’t recall hearing Aptera having voice commands, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. The Volvo EX30 definitely does have voice command control from the Google Assistant, so that would help a lot while driving and not having to look for screen buttons.

[joshua-rosen]

Volvo is using Android Automotive, that gives them best in class everything. Aptera hasn’t said what they will be using, I really wish they would Android Automotive but there isn’t much indication that they are.

[Mike-Mars]

I did get the impression from the video update a few months ago that Android Auto was the likely replacement for Andromeda (they bought Andromeda earlier for the UI, and sold it back to the original owners this year after deciding that there was an easier alternative).

[craig-merrow]

Voice commands would be a welcome feature! We were able to do that with the Tesla navigation system to tell it where we wanted to go. How involved would it be to integrate voice commands into the Aptera UI?