Volvo's Abbey Road Mode Turns the EX90 Into a Personal Music Venue

Miami Herald

18-06-2025

Music is an essential part of driving, whether through your car's radio, on physical media, or a streaming service like Spotify or Apple Music. Some of us have that special mixtape, burnt CD, or mixtape full of the essential tracks meant to lift the spirits on the morning commute, the drive home, or a long drive somewhere far away.
One of the bands I grew an unhealthy, obsessive fixation over when I was a kid was The Beatles, and ironically, one of those songs on one of my driving playlists is Drive My Car. Though we know the words and notes of our favorite songs by heart, the most discerning ears know that there are wildly different and noticeable differences when we listen to them in our cars, our headphones, and through various types of speakers.
Nothing can compare to the experience of attending a live performance or being in the room with artists as they record. However, if you're a Beatles fan like I am, you might need a time machine to experience that era. But while time machines and flux capacitors remain the work of fiction, Volvo's latest software update has a cool new feature that may be the next best thing: a way to bring you closer to one of the most iconic studios in the world.
After teasing this feature last year, Volvo has officially introduced what they call the "Abbey Road Studios Mode" in an over-the-air (OTA) update for its all-electric EX90 models equipped with the optional Bowers & Wilkins High Fidelity Audio system. This innovative digital audio experience has been crafted in collaboration with audio engineers from the actual Abbey Road Studios in London and high-end audio experts at Bowers & Wilkins.
In essence, Abbey Road Studios Mode was made to replicate the distinct sound and acoustic character of the Abbey Road recording rooms inside the Volvo EX90. In its quest to explore the limits of the in-car music listening experience, Bowers & Wilkins worked closely with the same audio engineers who obsessed over the minute, fine details for a wide range of music artists to create a series of digital soundscapes that could bring the studio alive in the big Volvo EV's ultra-quiet cabin.
Though other expensive brand-name high-end stereo systems in other cars allow you to tweak, tune, and mess with various equalizer (EQ) settings like the balance, bass, treble, and even focus the sound on passengers or drivers, Volvo says that the Abbey Road Studios Mode is different. The mode comes with some special presets that "provide a selection of sounds, optimised for different listening styles," as well as a special "Producer Mode," which "allows you to engineer your own sound" by adjusting between retro-style warmth or modern, crisp depth, and even shifting the simulated acoustic environment in the same way George Martin would've done.
"The Abbey Road Studios Mode brings the unique sound of our spaces and equipment to the Bowers & Wilkins system in the Volvo EX90 for the first time," Abbey Road Studios GM Jeremy Huffelmann said in a statement. "We are hugely proud of this collaboration, and excited for Volvo customers to experience this landmark technology."
The Abbey Road Studios Mode is a nice addition to the EX90, which already features a Dolby Atmos-capable, 1,610-watt Bowers & Wilkins system with 25 speakers placed throughout one of Volvo's quietest interiors. As a music fan, words underestimate the kind of songs that were recorded at Abbey Road. We're talking 190 of The Beatles' 210 song catalog, Lennon's Imagine, the entirety of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon, modern hits like Lady Gaga's Born This Way, Frank Ocean's Pink + White, and even the scores of Oscar-winning movies like Gravity and The Shape of Water.
Although it may seem like a bit too much of a niche "if you know, you know"-type of deal, I feel that given the studio's rich history in modern music, the 'Abbey Road mode' is the ultimate form of an audiophile's stamp of approval, which can sway at least some music-loving buyers towards the Volvo. At least for me, it could make "Drive My Car" sound true to the original recording.
Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.