2027 Volvo EX60 first drive: An ultra-smooth SUV for around $60k

As important as a car's exterior design is, its interior is far more significant to your daily satisfaction, and thankfully, the EX60 does a lot of things right on the inside. It starts with the availability of a natural fiber interior that Volvo calls its Tailored Wool Blend. It's pleasant to touch and feels like it'll hold up well to daily abuse. That said, if you're hauling kids who can't keep from squeezing their juice boxes, or dogs with sensitive tummies, you might want to instead opt for the synthetic Nordico or leather surfaces. The overall layout of the interior feels like a cross between the extremely minimalist EX30 and the still pared-back EX90, but with some significant improvements on both. The biggest one is the presence of real, physical controls on the steering wheel, not the capacitive touch pads found on those other two.However, that steering wheel is extremely small and skinny, which makes driving the EX60 feel a bit off. All the other controls are quite good, and while I do miss Volvo's formerly trademark giant volume knob in the middle of the dashboard, the roller-style volume control works quite well. You can even press it in to pause whatever you're listening to, or use the buttons on either side to advance tracks. That's a comprehensive suite of media controls, and the car has an available speaker package to back that up. Step up to the Ultra trim, a $7,100 premium over the base Plus model, and you get a 28-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system among a variety of other upgrades. Cue up some Atmos tunes in Apple Music, and you'll find yourself in one of the best rolling soundstages on the road, at any price point. Apple Music runs on an Android Automotive-based operating system, which offers extensive integration with things like Google Maps, providing range estimates for your trips and helping you find chargers along the way. Gemini is also built in here, but the experience feels a bit disjointed. When you're getting navigation prompts, you'll hear one voice. Speak to the car and ask it to change some setting or another (like temperature or seat heaters), and you'll hear a second voice. Start a conversation with Gemini, and you'll get yet another, different voice. It all feels a bit haphazard, and Gemini's sluggish responses can be a bit of a drag, too. Still, AI is a massively powerful addition. Being able to not only find restaurants on your route but also get detailed reviews and ask questions about your dietary restrictions is a game-changer. I even asked Gemini for suggestions on scenic, fun detours from what was proving to be a boring highway route, and it sent me up a delightful road to a scenic overview. There were some other software annoyances, though. The digital key functionality failed after a lunch stop, with the car refusing to go even though the paired iPhone was present inside the cabin. Bluetooth had to be disabled and re-enabled before the car would operate. Also, during one photo stop, I was outside of the car long enough for it to power all the way down. It took a good 20 seconds to boot back up before I could drive. Thankfully I wasn't much in a hurry, but hopefully, all this will be improved before the EX60 hits dealers later this year.