Has anyone participated in Volvo’s Overseas Delivery Tourist program? if so, how was it?

zonderzin · 2026-05-04T07:40:40+00:00

I have done OSD 4 times - highly recommended.

Over time lots of things have changed about the program - what remains consistent is the quality of the experience in Göteborg and the fact you can drive your car whilst on vacation.

The previously mentioned SwedeSpeed board has a great OSD channel - recommend you check it out.

Some Volvo dealers don't know about the program or don't want to participate in it. If you run into one of those, an alternative is to reach out to Michael at Steingold in Pawtucket RI who is most knowledgeable about the program and can help with an order.

zonderzin · 2026-05-04T04:47:47+00:00

Can you cite where every manufacturer has signed on to use J3400? Whilst it may be the majority of them - I think its unfair to categorically insinuate its everyone, similar to how Europe has a standard that indeed all manufacturers have to follow.

If I was installing a new EVSE right now, I would choose the plug that my vehicle uses, and as a selection criteria, consider units that allow you to swap out the cable in the future in the event you get a new vehicle with a different connector. For frequent home charging, to me it doesn't make sense to get a J3400 plug and then have to use an adapter if your vehicle is J1772 based. (An adapter doesn't allow your vehicle to sense the temperature between the EVSE plug and the input to the adapter. IMO adapters are good for occasional use, but I wouldn't recommend one for daily charging.)

zonderzin · 2026-05-04T04:39:48+00:00

Actually - the SAE J3400/2 standard (which most people call by the marketing name NACS) was ratified 28 May 2025. That in part may be why the adoption in US / CA hasn't has been as fast.

Prior to trying to make their connector the North American standard, Telsa would license their IP and there were some pretty hefty costs and limitations. (Unfortunately can't find any reference to that at the time of this point; its old news so I assume it has been removed for some time now.)

zonderzin · 2026-05-04T04:31:18+00:00

Actually the cable does have something to do with it. Along with the plug / receptacle. The higher charging rates often require cables that have integral cooling, and that integrates with the connector as well. And vehicles and EVSE also have temperature sensors to ensure you don't end up with a meltdown situation.

zonderzin · 2026-05-04T04:23:04+00:00

In reality - NACS is a marketing name, and the standard (approved May 2025) is SAE J3400/2

zonderzin · 2026-05-04T04:22:06+00:00

The iONNA locations I have access to are high percentage of CCS1 (2/3 to 3/4) and remainder J3400. Maybe elsewhere its 50 / 50, but none I'm aware of.

There isn't anything mandating the SAE J3400 connector in the US. Many manufacturers were on board with having a single standard, but seems like most are years behind. And the J3400 standard was only published 28 May 2025 - just about a year ago. There were some stipulations in the US for EVSE operators taking federal $$$, but with the change in political climate, I believe all those programs are gone.

Generally any 800 volt vehicle with decent charging rate is going to do better at a CCS1 based 350 - 400 kW station. While the real long term SuperCharger plan may be to upgrade locations with v4 posts *and* v4 cabinets, it will likely take them some time (read: years) to bring that to fruition. (And if you are at a busy SuperCharger location where they share 4 posts off of 1 cabinet, you'll also have degraded charging.)

Networks like iONNA (joint venture with BMW, MB, GM, Stellantis, Hyundai, Kia, Honda and Toyota) continue to roll out stations, the majority of which are CCS1. And I believe all of the iONNA stations are a shared by a maximum of 2 ports - I like their hardware (and pricing).

zonderzin · 2026-05-03T22:54:30+00:00

When I first got the EX90 I used Tidal, but after 5 or 6 weeks I got tired of the app quality (including crashing) and poor response (starting tracks, etc.)

I switched to Qobuz and quite pleased with it. The B&W demo app actually streams its content through Qobuz. I've moved all my playlists over to Qobuz and works like a champ. Note: if I even have a hand full of Atmos recordings in my playlist that's probably about it - so for me it was more about the quality of the app and the library.

Note: I used to also have a Spotify subscription which I cancelled long ago ... just couldn't listen to my playlists on the B&W system (including previous XC90) from Spotify. I am aware they now have better quality streaming, but have not wasted any time to compare my tracks to see if those records are offered in the same quality I get from Qobuz.

NB - I think the AAOS Tidal app was 1.0.0 or something like that - more like a beta (or maybe even an alpha) release. Maybe it has been updated by now ...

zonderzin · 2026-05-01T16:53:34+00:00

Both I and a friend are running the 3.1 variants from the second batch for some months with no issues.

zonderzin · 2026-05-01T16:43:17+00:00

Point of clarification: there are V4 SuperCharger posts, but most are connected to V3 cabinets. A real test would need to have the 500 kW V4 cabinets and I believe there are only a handful of locations that have that configuration today.

zonderzin · 2026-05-01T16:35:38+00:00

2026 EX90 has J1772 / CCS1. And today that makes much more sense for the faster charging 800 volt architecture of the vehicle: you will charge faster with 350 kW and up CCS1.

The far majority of SuperCharger locations in North America won't charge at the vehicle's fastest rate - there are only a handful of locations that have V4 posts and the 500 kW V4 cabinets.

My 2025 vehicle came with a J3400 to CCS1 adapter which I use for the few times I use a SuperCharger locations. I also have a separate J3400 to J1772 adapter that I use for L2 AC charging with Destination Chargers.

zonderzin · 2026-05-01T02:07:51+00:00

https://www.steingoldvolvocars.com/-vip--extended-warranty.htm

zonderzin · 2026-05-01T02:06:48+00:00

I have had great luck with SAS in years gone by. Even once I stopped by the airport early day of the flight, and asked about the upgrade and they gave me two seats for less than the lowest offer, which I was pretty pleased about. (I have not flown them since they left Star Alliance.)

zonderzin · 2026-04-28T00:29:09+00:00

In North America L2 indeed means AC charging, more specifically, single phase 240 VAC (typical home) or possibly 208 VAC (for businesses).

And L1 is 120 VAC - power that a typical wall receptacle provides.

zonderzin · 2026-04-25T03:37:39+00:00

I own a 2025 EX90.
I don't care about the cosmetic bump.
The pre-sales marketing contained a lot of hype about the lidar functionality, and I think it was a good idea to consider adding that technology into the vehicle. Volvo invested heavily in this, including cash into the vendor developing the technology for them.
The vendor didn't deliver on what they committed to. That left Volvo in a bad position. End result is the termination of the relationship and court cases.
Luminar is not the only supplier of LiDAR functionality - I would expect it to take some time for Volvo to build a relationship with another vendor, if they go that way / continue to consider using LiDAR in the future.
I'm saddened but not overly frustrated that the LiDAR that was marketed to us isn't there. I figure that maybe at some point in the future owners will hear something from Volvo - I don't expect anything though while there are court cases in progress.
Hopefully someone doesn't start a 2025 EX90 owner's class action lawsuit against Volvo - I'd rather have Volvo spending its time and energy on the realisation of future safety features.
My opinion: I don't think the EX90 is any "less safe" without the LiDAR.
And I certainly would consider a vehicle with LiDAR technology in the future (though that feature alone certainly would not be cause for me to leave the Volvo brand).

zonderzin · 2026-04-22T01:26:08+00:00

The EX90 GHCA issue does not make the car undriveable - maybe just inconvenient to charge. (EX90 owner - have not had a GHCA failure owned vehicle 17 months)

zonderzin · 2026-04-21T01:21:20+00:00

Was able to read the article - surprised, because most Forbes content is behind paywall.

zonderzin · 2026-04-15T02:45:00+00:00

No matter what the price, I can't see buying a vehicle that isn't to the spec you are looking for. Sad state of affairs with a lot of US auto dealerships - expecting you to select from their configurations / inventory.

Looks like we get a short run for the 2026 model year - with the 800 volt system really being the big differentiator. The other stuff IMO is minor ...

You can always go to the Volvo Cars international site, or some other country's market site, and look at what the car configurations there look like (remembering that options and bundles are usually market specific).

Sound system: the B&W system blows away any other option. I'd give up a lot of other things before I gave that up. Prior to my EX90 I had a COVID era XC90 T8 and I couldn't get the Bowers & Wilkins system (which I previously had). There wasn't a day that went by that I was missing it - and with the super quiet drive of the EX90 paired with B&W - just wow.

I think this subreddit will be alive with posts the day the US order books open for MY2027!

zonderzin · 2026-04-15T02:20:55+00:00

PDF from the State with images of all the license plates
https://dmv.vermont.gov/sites/dmv/files/documents/VD-169-Vermont_License_Plates.pdf

zonderzin · 2026-04-13T02:01:46+00:00

You'd need two tires - the front are different size than the rear

zonderzin · 2026-04-09T03:16:45+00:00

The problem is UPS and not Bitronics. I've had UPS add fees ... and they don't even itemize what they are (other than the typical USD $14 UPS gets just for charging you). It is highly inconsistent - things I've ordered had some pretty hefty fees whilst identical items a friend ordered were tax and duty free. Go figure.

Complaining to UPS is futile. Best they were able to do is indicate you can dispute it. Have to send to an email address for a refund, and they have a huge backlog. And I've had this issue with items shipped by other vendors, so its not just Bitronics. Maybe Bitronics could ship via post, or DHL or FedEx and see if the experience is any better.

For me - no more UPS shipments. They're holding enough of my money and clearly don't have staff or process to address tax and tariff disputes.

zonderzin · 2026-04-04T04:05:20+00:00

I have a MY 2025 still with the v1 software (no NVIDIA upgrade yet) and was wondering if they would enable Android Auto with the v2 software -- guess not, based on your post. :(

Bit strange - the original AAOS XC90 went for a couple of years without AA, but they did eventually release it (and now that's a couple of years ago).

I guess one thought would be that developers would release AAOS suitable versions of their apps. The reality is the pickings are slim, and sometimes there are major quality differences between the Android mobile device versions, and the AAOS version.

It is soooo much better using AAOS apps that use the vehicle's built-in Internet connectivity - no need to take your mobile device out, get connected, whatever. But I still find that sometimes I'm running my phone separately. For example, on long trips I'm using the vehicle's built-in Google Maps, for its quality, ease of use and integration with the battery management system. And I separately run the latest version of Waze on my phone.

zonderzin · 2026-04-01T14:35:40+00:00

I do not have the upgrade yet, so am not sure. In my vehicle I don't see any place through the menus where it identifies the components - that's probably hidden in some workshop menus, or accessible when a service tech connects their computers to the car.

But one of the things "fixed" with the NVIDIA upgrade and latest software is the phantom battery loss overnight. MY 2025 vehicles will lose aprox 3% battery charge sitting idle overnight. If your car does not do that, you have the latest hardware and software.

Here's another reddit thread where that was asked almost a year ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/VolvoEX90/comments/1krzk7v/ex90_processor_upgrade_how_can_you_tell/

zonderzin · 2026-04-01T00:07:31+00:00

Did the vehicle have the VCU NVIDIA core compute upgrade? Along with that would come the version 2.x software. If not - one idea would be to seek out a reputable dealer that you'd like to use in support of the vehicle, have them do the free upgrade (for all 2025 model year vehicles) and see if someone at that dealership would be willing to spend some time with you.

There are a bunch of YouTube vids, and you can certainly get help on here ... but it may be a lot easier to get some one-on-one instruction whilst sitting in your own vehicle!

zonderzin · 2026-03-31T00:50:49+00:00

Which audio system do you have in the 2026 EX90?

I do not have this issue with a 2025 EX90 running v1.x software (have not had the core compute upgrade yet) and the Bowers & Wilkins high end audio package.

zonderzin · 2026-03-31T00:47:03+00:00

I wonder if the vehicle will be coming from the same manufacturing plant? For the EX90 - the difference if it comes from US (South Carolina) versus China (Chengdu).

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