Volvo Cars and Alphabet’s Google announced on Wednesday that the Swedish automaker is now the primary developer of Android automotive software. This should allow its customers to receive new versions of the software well in advance of their competitors in the auto sector.
“We’re going to be able to be fast in bringing new capabilities, new features, and new experiences to our customers,” Head of Global Software Engineering at Volvo Alwin Bakkenes told. “This really gives us an edge in building fantastic customer experiences.”
Although the two businesses have been collaborating for ten years, Bakkenes stated that the new agreement will allow Google engineers to “experience how their product behaves in a real context much earlier and much faster” by driving Volvo vehicles equipped with the newest software.
According to him, the automotive industry typically lags behind mobile phones by two Android releases, which “means things you can do on your mobile phone, in many cases you cannot do in the car.”
At Google’s I/O annual developer conference in Mountain View, California, the two companies are showcasing Volvo’s flagship EX90 electric SUV running Android 15, the most recent version of Google’s mobile operating system, which will be included in production models later this year. Volvo vehicles currently run Android 13.
According to Bakkenes, others may have to wait two years to obtain the most recent version of Android.
During the I/O conference, the two firms also showcased Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence model operating in the EX90. Volvo plans to implement this technology in automobiles with Google integrated.
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Drivers can ask Gemini to scan their emails or texts for their destination instead of having to look through their phones, Bakkenes said. Alternatively, drivers can create “a human-centric experience” by asking Gemini to locate recipes and then sending a shopping list to their phone, according to Bakkenes.
