Redesigned Land Rover Defender is positively teeming with new tech

By John Elkin September 11, 2019

The whiz kids at Land Rover have been working overtime to bring a fresh kind of tech to the newly redesigned Defender. Land Rover claims that the most in-depth technology redesign in 70 years is coming to America in spring 2020.

Land Rover promises the new Defender 90 and 110 series vehicles will keep you connected, informed, and entertained. Land Rover Electronic Vehicle Architecture, dubbed EVA 2.0, is at the heart of this step up in technology. Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) updates ensure that the new Defender always has access to the latest software enabling the fast and intuitive new PIVI Pro infotainment system.

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Advanced Bluetooth technology allows for two smartphones to be connected simultaneously. An optional On Line Package allows for unlimited music streaming. In front of the passenger, there is a smartphone pad for wireless charging as well.

For the driver, dynamic route assistance offers alternative routes if one is faster. Using machine learning, the new Defender learns the routes you are most familiar with to suggest ways to your destination.

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Defender Interior

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Is your rearward vision impaired by passengers or packages? No problem, Land Rover has a rearview mirror that broadcasts what the the rear camera is capturing for an unimpaired view. Flip a switch and a normal mirror pops back into place. Another camera underneath shows off road conditions such as water level and objects in the road.

The high-resolution digital instruments can be configured to show a pair of conventional dials, full-screen 3D navigation guidance, or a combination of the two, allowing drivers to optimize the display to suit their individual preference. A new Generation 2 head-up display is designed to assist in reducing driver distraction. The full-color backlit TFT setup provides key information to the driver.

The new Land Rover Defender comes standard with six speakers or optional 10- and 14-speaker (both plus subwoofer) Meridian sound systems delivering 180W, 400W, or 700W of amplifier power respectively.

Land Rover has done the homework and come up with a dynamic new level of tech that Jeep, Mercedes. and Suzuki will surely be trying to catch up to for a while.

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Kia makes one of the best car infotainment systems out there. Here’s why it works

2022 kia ev6 first drive review frist 15

Let's be honest -- the infotainment system in your car probably sucks. Built-in car infotainment systems are notoriously slow, unresponsive, and confusing. That's given rise to systems like CarPlay and Android Auto, which essentially act as projections of your phone, allowing you to play your music, access maps, and more, without the need to navigate your car's own software. I hope those continue to grow in popularity and in how widely they're supported -- but until then, Kia and Hyundai actually have a decent infotainment system on their hands.

Now, carmakers seem to be terrible at naming their infotainment systems and the different iterations of those infotainment systems, and there's little about what they're naming their latest offering. Because of Kia and Hyundai's ties, they share much of the same technology -- and that extends to the infotainment system, though their separate options have a different color scheme and overall skin. But regardless of which company's car you use it in, the infotainment system built into Kia and Hyundai's most high-tech EVs (not their older cars and many of their non-EVs) is actually setting a high bar for how these systems should work.
Very phone-like
Perhaps much of what I like about this infotainment system stems from the fact that the experience of using is quite similar to that of using a phone. The home screen, which shows when you turn on the car, isn't all that interesting beyond showing a few bits of information, but, swipe right, and you'll straight to a grid of what looks a whole lot like apps. From these icons, you'll be able to dive straight into different settings, your maps, and more.

Cars

No mere EV, the sensor-stuffed EX90 is Volvo’s towering tech flagship

Front three quarter view of the 2024 Volvo EX90.

Volvo has reinvented its image over the past decade, taking its cars from stodgy to stylish, and keeping pace with tech developments. Now, it’s trying to do that once again.
The 2024 Volvo EX90 is the Swedish automaker’s new flagship — and it’s electric. This three-row, seven-seat SUV packs all of Volvo’s latest infotainment and safety tech, so its electric powertrain is an important statement of Volvo’s commitment to going all-electric in the future.
The EX90 isn’t a standalone EV. Its styling and tech will set the tone for future Volvos. The business case isn’t EV-specific either. The EX90 has the same form factor as Volvo’s popular XC90 SUV, which it one-ups in tech. Volvo isn’t trying to prove that it can make an EV; it’s already done that with the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge. It’s just trying to make a good car.
“There are no gimmicks in the EX90.” Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan said in a keynote at the EV’s reveal in Stockholm. “All the technology that’s there is there for a reason.” And boy, is there a lot of it.

Stylish and sustainable
The EX90 is a conventional SUV design with the sharp edges shaved away. There isn’t even a hint of a grille, the door handles sit flush with the bodywork, and the wheels have smooth inserts between the spokes. It’s all to help minimize aerodynamic drag — an important consideration for an EV, as it helps increase range.
The result is a coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.29, compared to 0.33 for the current Volvo XC90 three-row SUV (lower numbers are better). The EX90 isn’t the slipperiest electric SUV around; the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV has a 0.26 Cd. But Volvo’s designers retained a more traditional SUV shape, in line with the gasoline Volvo XC90, without resorting to the Jell-O mold shape of the Mercedes.
“The profile and a bit of the plan view is a bit rounder than maybe we’ve done in the past,” Volvo exterior design boss T. Jon Mayer told Digital Trends. “It’s not a jellybean blob by any means, but there are very minute details of how much roundness you put around the edges. This detail work, as well as a longer rear overhang, help keep air flowing smoothly around the car while following the minimalist ethos of Scandinavian design, keeping the bodywork visually clean.
The EX90 is a conventional SUV design with the sharp edges shaved away.

Cars

Sporty Polestar 3 SUV is an EV guiding star

Front three quarter view of the Polestar 3.

For Volvo’s EV-focused Polestar spinoff brand, the third time really is the charm.
The brand’s first model, the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid coupe, was built in low volumes and still had a combustion engine. The current Polestar 2 is a derivative of the Volvo C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge. With the Polestar 3, the brand is really finding its footing.
Scheduled to go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Polestar 3 is the brand’s first SUV, and while it still shares much hardware and software with parent Volvo, it’s next-generation tech that’s blended with a unique design aesthetic and a greater emphasis on performance.

Design
Where the Polestar 1 and Polestar 2 recycled styling from old Volvo concept cars, the five-seat Polestar 3 debuts a new brand-specific design language. The scrunched-up “face” and minimal air-intake opening advertise the 3’s electric powertrain, while the pinched rear side glass gives it a more streamlined appearance than other SUVs — particularly those of parent Volvo. The headlights look like an enlarged version of the “Thor’s Hammer” LED elements from current Volvos, however.
While not officially confirmed, the Polestar 3 is expected to be twinned with the Volvo EX90, the parent brand’s upcoming all-electric flagship SUV. Both are expected to use Volvo’s SPA2 platform, a successor to the SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform underpinning most current Volvo models.
Because eliminating tailpipe emissions doesn’t totally erase a vehicle’s environmental impact, Polestar also emphasized sustainable materials, such as wool upholstery that, the automaker claims, can be certified as sustainably produced. Polestar also plans to conduct a lifecycle assessment of the 3’s environmental impact when production starts, and follow up with additional assessments through the production run to look for ways of reducing its carbon footprint.