Volvo’s EX30 and EX90 electric SUVs use a new key card that’s bound to go down in history as one of the weirdest car keys ever produced. According to the Australian website Drive, this has proven so unpopular with customers that Volvo is already considering eliminating it. But the proposed alternative of using your phone for access may not work much better.
The key card is already an unusual form factor. It seems fit to carry around in your wallet, except you have to take it out every time you want to get into the car. That’s because you must place the card on a specific part of the door handle and hold it there for a few seconds to unlock it. Most cars with keyless entry let you keep the key in your pocket and press a button on the handle to unlock it instantly. Volvo’s key card is far less convenient, a step backward on models that are supposed to be looking forward. Additionally, Reddit is full of owner complaints about key cards failing or not working consistently.
However, according to Volvo, the real issue is that the card is only intended as a backup for your phone, which isn’t really any better.
“Our plan is to try to get people to use the phone as the key. That’s what we’re trying to push people to do,” Stephen Connor, Managing Director of Volvo Australia, told Drive.
“I can then unlock the car from anywhere. The card is a backup plan.
“But for us as a brand, we learn and we adapt. So that may not be the case forever. And when we get feedback, we will look to change it. “That’s the beauty of the over-the-air updates. We can’t guarantee that it’s going to change tomorrow, but when it does, you don’t have to do anything physically to the vehicle.”
The solution may not be much better
As Michael Rowland, product manager for Volvo Australia, told Drive, another misstep is that the EX30 is aimed at the 24-to-50-year-old demographic. In reality, it’s people between 50 and 80 who are actually buying it, because young people can’t afford new cars anymore. (Can anyone, really?) While they are quite adept at using their phones for everything, even when they’re not supposed to, older people may not be, nor are some of them as in tune with technology. They are definitely more used to using a physical key or key fob to access and drive their cars than the unusual way Volvo’s key card works, or a phone app.
Unfortunately, Reddit is as full of complaints about using a phone as a key as the key card itself. When our own Daniel Golson reviewed the EX90, the phone that Volvo configured and provided frequently failed to allow the car to start when placed in the center console. It also only unlocked the car on the first try about one time out of every three. Thanks to Volvo providing the phone, he didn’t have to set up the vehicle in Apple Wallet himself, which is yet another source of difficulty for some drivers.
Perhaps the real solution isn’t a key card or phone app, but a key tag that Volvo sells. While Volvo still insists it’s supposed to be a backup to your phone, once paired, the car automatically recognizes it once the holder is within 30 feet of it. Unlike the key card, the key tag can remain in your pocket. Then the holder can just open the door, get in, and drive away, just like most other cars on the road today. The tag even lets you attach a keyring to hold your other physical keys. It’s almost like an old-fashioned key fob, except better, because as long as you occasionally recharge it from the center console, you won’t need to change the battery. In the worst case, you can still tap the door handle just like a key card if you forget to keep it charged. Maybe Volvo should consider including key tags as standard equipment, making pairing with your phone an option, and offering the key cards to store in your wallet as the backup Volvo intends them to be.
