Volvo May Decide to Get Rid of Key Card-Based Entry & Drive, Since People Don’t Seem to Like It

Volvo isn’t the first manufacturer to try and convince consumers to use a touch-activated key card to access their vehicle, but it might be about to give it up, according to managing director of Volvo Australia Stephen Connor. A new report by Australian outlet Drive, suggests that the Swedish automaker may be turning a page on key-card entry after consumer complaints.

This discussion is particularly relevant for Volvo’s current electric vehicle lineup, the pint-sized EX30 and the larger EX90, which both feature this key-card-style system. In order to access either electric Volvo, owners are instructed to brush their card near the door handle in a specific way, and then place the card inside the car’s wireless charging pad to start it. None of these actions come natural to those accustomed to traditional keys or push-button starts.

Of course, there is another way that sets aside all this rigamarole, as Connor pointed out: just use the Volvo app on your phone to enter and start your vehicle.

“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. I can then unlock the car from anywhere. The card is a backup plan,” Connor told Drive.

But consumers complaints have pushed the automaker reconsider its approach to accessibility, and to hear Connor say it, a generational divide may be part of the concern. Originally, the EX30 was aimed at consumers age 24 to 50, but another member of Volvo Australia’s team told Drive that most buyers have actually been in their fifties and up. Connor acknowledges that using a smartphone as the primary key may challenge older customers, too.

“It may not be for everybody,” Connor said to Drive. “The way it’s designed is that everything will come through the app, but we still have a generation who don’t use apps and don’t use phones. That’s why we have the key card. So it’s more for them than anything else.”

Other brands, such as Tesla, also use key-card technology, but the Volvo system has come under special fire after early EX90 owners reported regular issues with opening and starting their cars. One Canadian owner even made website dedicated to the accessibility issues he dealt with in his relatively new EX90. All of which makes us wonder… what, exactly, is so wrong with a regular old key fob?

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