The car can emergency brake randomly, whether the lane assist is on or off or whether the centre line is crossed or not, or even if there is no centre line. It can also spontaneously accelerate, which is even worse. And I am not the only one, there are numerous others. Read the comments.
Incidentally, it’s Jason not Tiff in the vid but we are all getting older.
Ignore the nay sayers on YouTube get this car.
In my 14.000km, never happened.Geoff wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 5:12 pm The car can emergency brake randomly, whether the lane assist is on or off or whether the centre line is crossed or not, or even if there is no centre line. It can also spontaneously accelerate, which is even worse. And I am not the only one, there are numerous others. Read the comments.
Incidentally, it’s Jason not Tiff in the vid but we are all getting older.
I had small emergency braking when cars / people / stuff were protruding my lane and i didnt use blinkers. Also one time a car swerved into my lane, car braked and turned right.
if your car brakes and accelerates randomly, it is not safe to drive on public road. As so, i would have sent the car to the dealer and refuse to use it.
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andrewollason
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That was an interesting review and will hopefully give Volvo (and others) something to think about. Vicki is no mug and knows her way about a car. She was clearly spooked by the experience in a car I think she really wanted to like. As others have pointed out the car reacted as it should have and the fact they were able to recreate it tends to prove this. And that is really the problem with these early generation driver aids. As cars move from keeping you safe to stopping you having an accident in the first place some conflict in what the driver wants and what the safety systems wants will occur. As the sophistication of these systems develop this will get better I’m sure.
Having said that I would expect some experienced test drivers to invest a bit of time turning off some of these aids before trying to have a bit of fun around a test track.
Having said that I would expect some experienced test drivers to invest a bit of time turning off some of these aids before trying to have a bit of fun around a test track.
Twin Motor Ultra
The thing I don't get is why some people have these experiences and some don't.Geoff wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2025 5:12 pm The car can emergency brake randomly, whether the lane assist is on or off or whether the centre line is crossed or not, or even if there is no centre line. It can also spontaneously accelerate, which is even worse. And I am not the only one, there are numerous others. Read the comments.
Incidentally, it’s Jason not Tiff in the vid but we are all getting older.
In 18000 miles I have had zero instances of spontaneous acceleration and zero instances of invalid emergency braking. I have had a couple of alarms, but can see why and the car sorts it out before it even gets as far as braking.
So why? Is it just the way the car is used? Or is some software badly installed? Or is some hardware faulty? Essentially it has to be one of the above. With the same hardware and software all the cars should act the same.
Exactly what I was thinking, too. My car have absolutely no problems with ghost braking or anything else. Just drove 1000km through the country 2 weeks ago and the car did not suffer from anything. I do have to say that I do not use Pilot Assist. I also sometimes read on e.g. Reddit that people turn it on while driving e.g. in a city and I don't think Pilot Assist is meant for that.
Dutch Volvo EX30 Ultra 2024 / Moss Yellow / Mist
The emergency braking is a major issue in that it is inconsistent and unreliable and both me and my wife have experienced it multiple times. It’s unbelievably dangerous and, exactly like Vicky in the 5th Gear review, it made us lose faith in the car. We now have to remember to physically turn it off before every journey. Look, I’m well used to these types of features and am no snowflake. If this issue wasn’t so inconsistent I wouldn’t mind so much. But I just never know when it’s going to happen. And when it does it is unbelievably extreme.
I have, and have had previously, cars that have similar functions and they work fine. For example I have another EV and the emergency braking and steering was similarly intrusive when I first got it. But you have the option to not only turn it off (which I’d rather not do as the function has a sensible purpose) but you can permanently adjust the sensitivity so that it is far less aggressive and far less dangerous. The fact it can also be set permanently to a different sensitivity means I don’t have to adjust it every time I get in the car. The Volvo actually drove my wife towards a kerb and cyclist when driving along. She had to very quickly and instinctively steer it back on course. Her and the kids inside were incredibly alarmed. No doubt, the innocent cyclist bulked out his Lycra shorts a tad too. Since then she has lost a lot of confidence in this car and understandably so.
I took the EX30 to Volvo last week with a long list of issues that we’ve lived with unhappily for a year and not one of those issues was fixed. Volvo simply updated the software and hoped that would solve everything. It solved nothing and actually made some issues worse (such as the screen now constantly crashing meaning nothing on the car can work or be changed). This clearly means the car is far too reliant on software that is not fit for purpose. They even gave the car back indicating issues were solved when they clearly weren’t. And not an apology in sight. They know there are many similar issues so please Volvo just acknowledge that and work out a solution. Fobbing me off is just compounding my irritation. It did get a nice wash and a hoover though - so not all entirely bad.
Ultimately I’m just really disappointed to have spent almost £50k on a car for my wife that is actually not very good. It looks great and drives great (when it allows me to drive rather than taking over). But If these many many issues proceed (I won’t list them all here as has been done to death) then I will demand it gets changed / refunded for something entirely different and will happily litigate on that point if necessary.
I’m genuinely delighted that lots of people are happy with their car. Unfortunately I couldn’t be less satisfied with it. And if I have to tug the door handle 5 times repeatedly just once more to see if the fob has actually decided to unlock it I think I may scream. Loudly.
No malice intended here. Just massive massive disappointment, frustration and unhappiness with a major ‘luxury’ car manufacturer.
I have, and have had previously, cars that have similar functions and they work fine. For example I have another EV and the emergency braking and steering was similarly intrusive when I first got it. But you have the option to not only turn it off (which I’d rather not do as the function has a sensible purpose) but you can permanently adjust the sensitivity so that it is far less aggressive and far less dangerous. The fact it can also be set permanently to a different sensitivity means I don’t have to adjust it every time I get in the car. The Volvo actually drove my wife towards a kerb and cyclist when driving along. She had to very quickly and instinctively steer it back on course. Her and the kids inside were incredibly alarmed. No doubt, the innocent cyclist bulked out his Lycra shorts a tad too. Since then she has lost a lot of confidence in this car and understandably so.
I took the EX30 to Volvo last week with a long list of issues that we’ve lived with unhappily for a year and not one of those issues was fixed. Volvo simply updated the software and hoped that would solve everything. It solved nothing and actually made some issues worse (such as the screen now constantly crashing meaning nothing on the car can work or be changed). This clearly means the car is far too reliant on software that is not fit for purpose. They even gave the car back indicating issues were solved when they clearly weren’t. And not an apology in sight. They know there are many similar issues so please Volvo just acknowledge that and work out a solution. Fobbing me off is just compounding my irritation. It did get a nice wash and a hoover though - so not all entirely bad.
Ultimately I’m just really disappointed to have spent almost £50k on a car for my wife that is actually not very good. It looks great and drives great (when it allows me to drive rather than taking over). But If these many many issues proceed (I won’t list them all here as has been done to death) then I will demand it gets changed / refunded for something entirely different and will happily litigate on that point if necessary.
I’m genuinely delighted that lots of people are happy with their car. Unfortunately I couldn’t be less satisfied with it. And if I have to tug the door handle 5 times repeatedly just once more to see if the fob has actually decided to unlock it I think I may scream. Loudly.
No malice intended here. Just massive massive disappointment, frustration and unhappiness with a major ‘luxury’ car manufacturer.
It is crazy that people spent 50k on this car.
Tech was never a main selling point of the brand, far from it, and this is a chinese built car. It was expected that an entry level, new fully electric chinese built car would have some issues.
Driving wise mine has been perfect, but i have some minor bugs that spoil the experience.
If you are getting phantom braking and acceleration, just park the car in the dealer, leave it there and refuse to drive it. Maybe get a lawyer and threaten to sue for full refund. IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
If there is no real pressure, they won't fix anything.
Tech was never a main selling point of the brand, far from it, and this is a chinese built car. It was expected that an entry level, new fully electric chinese built car would have some issues.
Driving wise mine has been perfect, but i have some minor bugs that spoil the experience.
If you are getting phantom braking and acceleration, just park the car in the dealer, leave it there and refuse to drive it. Maybe get a lawyer and threaten to sue for full refund. IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE
If there is no real pressure, they won't fix anything.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, the phantom braking and acceleration is completely random and unpredictable. Same with the unlocking, sometimes the fob refuses to unlock the car but at other times it works perfectly. If I took the car to the dealer, they would inspect it and find no faults.
I cannot replicate the conditions when the car suddenly brakes, it’s as if the car sees something that isn’t there, but I can travel on the same road in the same way without issue. And It’s not always at the same place. The sudden acceleration has occurred twice, both times at very slow speed, just as I’ve left a parking space. It’s as if I have stamped on the accelerator but I haven’t. The first time someone said it was because I had engaged ACC, I hadn’t but to see what would happen I tried and there was a warning that ACC could not be engaged, but nothing else.
I cannot replicate the conditions when the car suddenly brakes, it’s as if the car sees something that isn’t there, but I can travel on the same road in the same way without issue. And It’s not always at the same place. The sudden acceleration has occurred twice, both times at very slow speed, just as I’ve left a parking space. It’s as if I have stamped on the accelerator but I haven’t. The first time someone said it was because I had engaged ACC, I hadn’t but to see what would happen I tried and there was a warning that ACC could not be engaged, but nothing else.
Twin Motor Performance Ultra - Vapour Grey/Indigo
