By Steven Symes 
If you own a Volvo EV/PHEV or know someone who does, it might have a serious safety recall related to the brakes. Under certain conditions, the brake system just stops working, something nobody wants to experience in their car.
Regulators have slashed red tape slowing down autonomous car development.
Volvo has recalled 14,014 vehicles in the US over the problem, which is caused by a software glitch, not anything mechanical. The problem starts when the One Pedal Drive mode in EVs or B mode in plug-in hybrids is turned on.
If the driver goes down a hill for at least one minute and forty seconds without pressing the accelerator or brake pedal, the brakes might become completely non-responsive. In other words, you can press the brake pedal, but the vehicle won’t slow or stop at all.
Recalled models include the 2023 to 2024 C40, XC40, EC40, and EX40; 2020 to 2025 XC90 PHEV; 2022 to 2025 XC60 PHEV; 2023 to 2025 S60 PHEV; 2024 to 2025 V60 PHEV; and 2025 S90 PHEV.
Thankfully, the solution to the problem is far simpler than you might be fearing. If your car is running software version 3.514 which came out earlier in 2025 and had to be installed by a dealer, there’s an over-the-air update which will download onto your Volvo and resolve the brake system glitch.
Anyone who would rather go to a dealership service department and have the software installed there free of charge can do so. We don’t know why anyone would opt to do that instead of just having the update download while they’re sleeping at night, but apparently people have their reasons.
If only all safety recalls for cars were this easy, but even for models with over-the-air updates sometimes mechanical flaws have to be corrected with a dealership service visit.
Image via Volvo Cars