Volvo XC40 EV rattled by an English rock band

The Volvo XC40 EV, the automaker's first battery-powered car that is equipped with some of the latest in-car tech available, met its match when asked to play music from the previous century.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The shiny, spunky, battery-powered compact crossover with state-of-the-art Google Assistant seemed capable of tackling anything when I got inside for a test drive this month.

I was told during a quick introduction to the car that its Spotify app would allow me to listen to just about any song or band I desired.

My choice was the Stone Roses, because hearing the 1980s-90s UK rock band on a German radio station is about as likely as finding Budweiser at Oktoberfest.

Things started great. I said, “Hey Google, play the Stone Roses.”

The first song from the band started to play.

Joy.

Then I got a call, which the infotainment system handled perfectly, allowing me to chat without taking my hands off the steering wheel.

When the call ended I was ready to hear more music.

That’s when things got weird.

I said, “Hey Google, play the Stone Roses,” again and nothing happened.

A quick flip through the apps menu showed the songs were there and ready to play.

I clicked on the first one manually. The music started. Then after 10 seconds it stopped.

Maybe it’s just a technical hiccup, I thought.

A second attempt to manually get the music going resulted in the next song playing for 11 seconds before stopping.

Enough was enough. I switched to local radio, figuring that the problem would clear itself after a coffee break.

But when I got back into the car and tried to get the Stone Roses to play the problem persisted.

It turns out that the two cars sent from Sweden to Germany for the press drive had an early version of the infotainment system software.

Needless to say, my beta test of the system was a flop, but the potential it showed when it worked was impressive.

When I asked Volvo whether there was a way I could have fixed the problem I was told it’s possible to reboot the infotainment system by pressing and holding down the home button for an extended period.

The system also reboots itself if the vehicle is locked and left for a longer period than my roughly seven minutes out of the car.

During a roundtable discussion on the new XC40 EV the day prior to my test drive Volvo executives were asked repeatedly whether technical problems being experienced by drivers of the Polestar 2 could also affect the crossover.

Polestar is Volvo’s sister brand, and it’s first mass market car shares its platform with the XC40 family.

The answer was always: “We’re not here to talk about the Polestar 2. The XC40 EV will get an update before it leaves the factory.”

Polestar has already had to recall nearly every Polestar 2 it has delivered to customers in Europe and China this year.

Volvo could face a similar disruption if that last update doesn’t kill the bugs that temporarily paralyzed a system that has the potential to be fabulous.