Warnings problems of the 2022 Volvo XC60

Feb. 1, 2024: a short drive on electric during below zero weather, a car wash & a couple 100ft drive into a parking lot. Pulling into a parking space, foot on the brake pedal, ice roared on accelerating the car over a curb, down an embankment & into a 3ft snow drift before I could stop it by pressing the brake pedal with both feet. We stopped 6in from a power pole. If forward crash avoidance system worked, didn't register in the eeprom per the service tech! Feb. 17, 2024, during below zero weather, no electric charge, operating on ice over about 2mi, pulled into a parking space, foot on the brake pedal, ice surged accelerating the car up over a 6" high curb onto sidewalk. Stopped car by depressing the brake pedal with both feet. Car stopped 2in before hitting a brick building. It didn't seem the forward crash avoidance system functioned to stop us. As a 35-year electronic design and repair professional, I have attempted to merge the two situations to try to find similarities. Two things: unexpected ice engine acceleration surge & forward collision sensor not kicking on brakes. Per Volvo tech, Feb. 1, no register in eeprom of forward crash avoidance or ice issues. Second visit Feb. 22 to service will probably yield same. Obviously, this is not normal operation. We have been in two near collisions caused by the car doing things not designed to do.

The vehicle is basically new and I have only had it a few months. It has already been with the dealer three times because of technical/computer/infotainment issues. The dealer had the vehicle for about a week on each occasion. Today, I started to break so I could turn the car around and park it in the parking lot. I was moving very slowly, as you would expect in such a case. However, the car didn't stop but instead lurched forward in full throttle causing me to crash into a breezeblock wall. The automatic warning system did not sound and the crash detection system never engaged. I haven't been in an accident for 30 years and was not distracted when this happened. If the vehicle hadn't already had issues, I would accept user error as the problem, however in light of the car's history, I have doubts.

The car is only a few months old with less than 10k miles. After parking the car for about 2 hrs, came back and the battery was completely dead. This left me and my family stranded unexpectedly. After jumping the car, a warning displayed "stop safely, 12 v battery critical charging fault". I decided to try to make the short drive home as I was stranded with my family otherwise, the vehicle was in a limp home "turtle mode" which was not safe. The acceleration was surging unexpectedly and without warning. I realize that there was a warning not to drive, however I didn't have a lot of good options given the electrical failure. Also, in thinking back, there was a warning sometime in the last month regarding collision detection that needed to be fixed, but warning went away. In researching this issue online, seems that there are other complaints similar in nature (11472450, 11469166).

Continuous problems associated with the computer of the car that are affecting its ability to drive safely. While in reverse and in motion, the car's camera will often, an unpredictably, shut off. Additionally, the car's forward collision warning system will initiate when there are no cars in front of; rather, it sometimes engages when oncoming traffic going the opposite direction. Lastly, the car lost all power while on the highway due to a "battery error". It required a redownload of software; however, these other safety problems persist.

While driving on the inside lane next to the median of a 4-lane road and without warning or any other vehicles in my vicinity, any debris or objects in the road, and while I was maintaining the vehicle in my lane, the car swerved to the right. It felt as though someone in the passenger seat (I was alone) grabbed the steering wheel and forcefully yanked it to the right. At this time the words collision avoidance assistance or something similar appeared on the dashboard screen. Thankfully there was not a vehicle in the lane to my right and I was able to correct the vehicle back into the appropriate lane. I turned left at the next opening in the median, pulled into a vacant parking lot, and called the Volvo service department. I described what happened to the woman taking my information and made arrangements to leave the car that evening for it to be repaired the following morning. I missed a voicemail from the technician on February 8th stating that the car was inspected and test driven and the issues reported could not be duplicated but that the software had been updated. Several phone calls occurred between myself and the dealer and it was established that the problems reported (this one as well as the ones described in a previous report regarding rear auto braking intervention) could not be duplicated. Had a vehicle been to the right of me, had I been in the right lane and a person been on the sidewalk, had I been in a neighborhood in which a child was riding a bike or a parent was pushing a child in a stroller, the results could have been tragic. There was no warning prior to the swerve and the words on the dashboard.