Volvo EX90 Owner's Lawsuit Highlights Ongoing Software Challenges For Electric SUV
He bought Volvo's electric SUV. Three days later, the problems started. Now he's taking Volvo to court.
- A Canadian entrepreneur and longtime Volvo fan bought the electric EX90 in March. Three days later, the problems started.
- Software problems have rendered his EX90 undrivable.
- "The dealership has remained silent," he said, and Volvo Canada will not buy it back.
The Volvo EX90 was supposed to be the Swedish brand's flagship for the electric era—a high-tech SUV that built on the success of the XC90 with excellent range, advanced software and even LIDAR-powered driver assistance tech.
Unfortunately, since last year, the EX90's software has proven to be the bane of its existence. Consumer Reports called the car “unfinished,” a conclusion that InsideEVs came to as well. But that's just in press testing. For one owner who spent over $100,000 U.S. ($147,605 Canadian) on his EX90, the experience has been a "nightmare," he said. Now, he's not only put up a website to make these issues public, but is suing Volvo Cars Canada as well.
Volvo EX90 First Drive
Owner Vicken Kanadjian is the creator of MyVolvoEX90.com, which documents a host of issues that he said has left his EX90 inoperable. He reached out to InsideEVs following a recent story about the SUV's problems, saying, "I have personally lived through this nightmare. I am currently filing a lawsuit against Volvo Canada seeking a refund.”
Neither Volvo Cars Canada nor the dealership Kanadjian purchased the car from returned a request for comment from InsideEVs.
'My Disappointing Volvo EX90 Experience'
Prior to purchasing a Volvo EX90, Kanadjian stated that he was a satisfied Volvo customer. His previous vehicle was a 2019 XC90 R Design, which he called “a great car [that he] wish[ed he] never sold back to the dealership.”
That’s because the XC90 R Design “impressed [him] with its performance, safety features and reliability,” he writes on his site’s About Me section.
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Volvo EX90 with Google built-in
The EX90 has been a different story. After taking delivery of the vehicle in March (including a different EX90 configuration than he originally wanted to avoid further delays), problems started immediately. "Within three days, all keys (key tag, key cards, and digital key) stopped functioning. The only way to unlock the vehicle was via the Volvo app," he wrote. Even after a software update in April, the digital keys continued to fail.
Things got worse following another April software update, he said.
"The main center screen became completely non-functional, recurrent issues with door locking/unlocking, emergency stop triggered due to system fault, AC and ventilation system became inoperable for one week," he said.
'Regularly Becomes Non-Functional'
Not being able to lock one’s car is troubling enough, but Kanadjian also said these safety concerns extended to commuting as well. That’s because the vehicle’s infotainment screen “regularly becomes completely non-functional,” he wrote. Out of the blue, this center display will experience blackouts, which is less than ideal for drivers who are navigating or attempting to access any of the car’s features.
Also, the disgruntled EX90 owner shared images of his EX90’s climate control becoming unresponsive. He writes that the problem persisted for an entire week, preventing him from altering the air conditioning settings while inside his car. The EX90’s messaging also displayed contradictory information about these climate settings, Kanadjian said. Although it read that the air conditioning was off, he wrote that it “continued to operate at maximum capacity.”
After half a month in the shop, the digital key still failed to work. But in July, Kanadjian said, the scariest problem arose.
"While driving on Highway 13 (Montreal), the vehicle abruptly lost all throttle response and displayed 'System Communication Fault/Pilot Assist Deactivated. Find a place to stop and select P to park. When parked, the system will restart.' The car had to be rolled to a stop with no power, creating an extremely dangerous situation on a busy highway," he said. "Both the dealership and Volvo Canada Customer Care confirmed the vehicle was unsafe to drive and required immediate towing."
Kanadjian has since filed a complaint with Transport Canada, the country's transportation regulator, and has sought a buyback from Volvo itself.
However, he said that although he escalated the issue beyond the dealership level, as of June 17, he is still stuck with the car. “After months of documented issues and safety concerns, Volvo Cars North America has now officially refused to replace or repurchase my defective EX90,” Kanadjian wrote.
Additionally, he shared a screenshot of the email correspondence he had with a member of Volvo North America’s team. In the message, the Volvo employee writes: “Volvo Cars is not in the position to replace or repurchase the vehicle. We ask that you allow your retailer the opportunity to diagnose and complete all required repairs,” they penned.
This course of action, Kanadjian argues on his site, is a fool’s errand, as the vehicle has been persistently plagued with issues shortly after he bought it.
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EX90 Lawsuit Filed
On top of the aforementioned gripes, Kanadjian said that his EX90’s electronic stability control system “repeatedly fails.” This is one of the more troubling qualms he’s expressed with the car, as he calls this feature “a critical vehicle stability and accident prevention” apparatus.
He also writes that the EX90’s screen didn’t just experience random blackouts, but total malfunctions. Kanadjian posted a picture of a screen sporting an assortment of artifacts and harshly colored lines. According to him, this forever impeded the usability of the touch display, and even hard resetting it didn’t fix the error.
All of this has led him to take legal action against Volvo's Canadian arm and his dealership. In a court filing seen by InsideEVs and filed with the Superior Court of Québec, Kanadjian is seeking what he paid for the car (and its return) as well as additional damages. "Had Plaintiff known the Vehicle was affected with such defects, he would not have purchased it," the lawsuit filing said.
Other EX90 Problems
The EX90 uses an all-electric evolution of the XC90's platform, the Geely Group's Scalable Product Architecture 2 (SPA2) platform. It is closely related to the Polestar 3 and the upcoming Volvo ES90. Unfortunately, the EX90's advanced software features have led the SUV to encounter a litany of issues, including initial delays from 2023 to 2024. As of this writing, only about 150 new EX90s are for sale in the U.S. Owners, including Consumer Reports, have documented many problems since.
On Reddit's EX90 board, owners tell stories of broken air conditioning systems, failed digital keys, trouble with locking, stereo issues and more.
Still, this hasn't been a uniform experience across the board. Many EX90 owners say that, especially after various software updates, they have had no issues.
"Car is heavenly comfortable to drive, AC works fine and after update 1.3.18, there are no false warnings," one owner wrote. "Still loving it! My previous Kia EV9, I hated from day one to day 369 when I got rid of it. My first Volvo and I'm not regretting."
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