Details of Volvo’s presentation of the new Google HD Map for the 2024 EX90 at CES

• Volvo’s first purpose-built electric vehicle, the 2024 EX90 SUV, made its North American debut today as part of CES 2023.
• The EX90 is scheduled to arrive in 2024, and will feature a lidar sensor, cameras and radar to provide information for Google’s newly announced high-resolution mapping feature.
• The Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 will be the first vehicles available with this technology from Google.

Over the past few years, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has followed much the same trend as the auto industry as a whole, blurring the lines between what can be considered part of the automotive world, and what lives solely in technology. For 2023, Volvo is bringing its first purpose-built electric vehicle, the 2024 EX90 SUV, to CES for the first time in North America. But CES is about technology, not cars. So Volvo is basically showing off its latest mapping software from Google.

Google’s high-resolution map is designed specifically for automakers to integrate into their vehicles. In the EX90, it uses the SUV’s lidar, camera and radar systems along with local and track-level data from Google. Track markings and objects such as signs or other vehicles are combined with data from the EX90’s sensors before the software is processed by the vehicle’s original computers, powered by NVIDIA DRIVE AI Platforms Xavier and Orin.

We haven’t used the technology yet in the real world, but we can say that the HD map seems to work similarly to the screen we’ve tested in Teslas. The car’s radar and camera systems capture images and provide the driver with real-time information about their surroundings. The Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 will be the first two cars to receive this technology, before moving to other Volvo cars and partner brands.

Volvo is also rolling out over-the-air (OTA) updates, which will expand the number of functions that Google-enabled Volvo cars can benefit from. The new update adds connectivity between personal Google devices like Google Home products and your car. Owners will now be able to use their device for things like checking fuel levels, battery levels, charging status, or asking their car to warm up on cold mornings.

In addition to the new Google features, Volvo is introducing or updating several other tech features. Access to Volvo’s Care Key function expands, and details on over-the-air updates will now be available on the Volvo Cars app, among other infotainment tweaks.

Associate news editor

Jack Fitzgerald’s love of cars stems from his unwavering addiction to Formula 1.
After a short stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he realized he needed a more sustainable way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in automotive writing. By shadowing his professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel to Wisconsin in search of automotive stories before landing his dream job in Car and driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.