Key Card, Key Fob, Phone key

[Geoff]

Getting a bit fed up too...My key fob is working intermittently and sometimes it can take as long as 1-2 minutes before the car decides to unlock and I am getting bit pi#&ed off with it. I suppose I am going to have go to the inconvenience of going back to the dealer...I guess the reason for my post is if there might be some form of system reset that could resolve the issue?

Yes, it's irritating that you never know if the car is going to unlock as you approach but you don't need to wait for 2 minutes - if you grasp the driver's door handle without your thumb touching the groove on the outer surface, the car will unlock if the fob is close by, don't forget.

Yes, it will open if you tug on the handle a few times and wait long enough but it can take more time than my passengers are prepared to stand out in the cold and rain. Apparently, it’s just another annoying feature of the EX30 to be tolerated.

If the CEO, Group Executive Board and Group Management Team were forced to drive this car maybe they would give the guy from Xbox developing the software a kick up the arris but they seem to be blissfully unaware of the issues their customers have to endure. https://investors.volvocars.com/en/gove ... management

[gloucester]

...
... was only registered in Jan 24.
...

Very early car, probably a Volvo demonstrator. The first publically sold cars were at the end of February though Volvo seemed to want it to be a 1 March release.

The loan car I had from Volvo was a January registration.

[gloucester]

... sometimes it can take as long as 1-2 minutes before the car decides to unlock ...

I've never had more than a few seconds. If that long why aren't you tapping the Key Tag on the door pillar?

[edenr1]

Hi Gloucester, yeh that is with the key fob on the Door pillar, so perhaps the battery needs changing...Although it all seems intermittent as works fine some of the time as I approach the vehicle???

[gloucester]

Try keeping the Key Tag further away in the house from the car?

[Geoff]

... sometimes it can take as long as 1-2 minutes before the car decides to unlock ...

I've never had more than a few seconds. If that long why aren't you tapping the Key Tag on the door pillar?

Tried that and it didn’t make any difference and anyway we shouldn’t have to do that should we? And I keep the fob in a box in the house away from the car. It is completely random, most of the time it unlocks as it should but quite often it doesn’t, and of course when it doesn’t is when I have passengers waiting to get in.

[OrganMorgan]

Getting a bit fed up too...My key fob is working intermittently and sometimes it can take as long as 1-2 minutes before the car decides to unlock and I am getting bit pi#&ed off with it. I suppose I am going to have go to the inconvenience of going back to the dealer...I guess the reason for my post is if there might be some form of system reset that could resolve the issue?

Yes, it's irritating that you never know if the car is going to unlock as you approach but you don't need to wait for 2 minutes - if you grasp the driver's door handle without your thumb touching the groove on the outer surface, the car will unlock if the fob is close by, don't forget.

Yes, it will open if you tug on the handle a few times and wait long enough but it can take more time than my passengers are prepared to stand out in the cold and rain. Apparently, it’s just another annoying feature of the EX30 to be tolerated.

If the CEO, Group Executive Board and Group Management Team were forced to drive this car maybe they would give the guy from Xbox developing the software a kick up the arris but they seem to be blissfully unaware of the issues their customers have to endure. https://investors.volvocars.com/en/gove ... management

Has anyone tried to engage with any of these people and had any sort of encouraging response? I think that if I knew they were working on these things, I would feel better about it.

As I have said before, I think the motoring press could be taken to task a bit about this too. I studied the 'form' long and hard, but as long as cars have a cup holder or two and can store a bottle of water adequately they seem tolerant of almost anything. This vehicle was voted 'Car of the Year' by at least two motoring review organisations... all probably, before it went on sale. The things some reviewers were most critical of - the drive info not being on a Head Up Display and the face you have to go to the screen to open the glove box are scarecely of any consequence after the first 30 minutes of use.

Once the EX90 and ES90 (which looks stunning) are launched with their very hefty price tags, I don't think much more thought will be given to us humble EX30 pioneers.

I also wonder what owners who are not members of this forum think. Do they express their views anywhere else, or are they just tolerant of all the quirks?

[SDAex30]

I do find it annoying that the fob lacks any button on it but that's not the end of the world - you have alternatives - the app or key cards (and soon , digital keys). The boot still opens if the fob is in my pocket without having to unlock the car (does take about a second or so).

I agree with some that coming up to the car from the far rear corner - i.e. the corner furthest away from the driver's side is the "blind spot" for the key fob. Often coming from that side resulted me having to place my hand on the driver handle to unlock. Again not the end of the world.
I find myself utilising my phone app to unlock the car quite often - i.e. the family wants to get into the car whilst I'm still getting ready and the fob is with me. Or if the weather is bad and you don't want to risk your passengers catching a cold outside. Unlock from the app and simply run to the car.
Essentially any driver registered on the app can unlock it - so ultimately you could end up having close to 10 alternate ways of locking/unlocking the car. Sure, the app can be a little hit and miss at present but even with the very few updates so far, I have noticed some improvements.

I too have triggered the alarm after buckling up the kids in the car and went to get more stuff from the house and forgot the fob was still in my pocket. But now I simply either leave the fob in the car after doing so or leave one door slightly ajar.

I also find (could just be a coincidence) if passengers stand too close to their doors (before the driver does) it causes delay in the proximity auto lock function and I often need to touch the driver handle to unlock. Then I thought this could just be a safety feature of the car -- preventing some perpetrator who could be waiting on the other side to get in and would jump in when the driver approaches the car.

The fob may have its drawbacks but utilising the alternatives I think is the best way around it. This is the first iteration of the EX30 and we are the lab rats - the first Teslas weren't perfect, neither were the first Galaxies and iPhones. Some ICE only have 1 remote while some have more but most don't even have apps as alternative. Even ICE with turnkey entry can leave you locked out if not done properly.

[SP1959]

From TechRadar, 15 October

"Apple is planning to expand its support for digital car keys to vehicles made by Volvo, Polestar and Audi, giving more car owners the ability to unlock their vehicle simply by using their iPhone.

"Although the expanded support hasn’t yet been officially announced, code hinting at it has apparently been discovered by news outlet MacRumors. The site claims to have noticed the code in Apple’s Wallet app, which is used to store digital car keys.

"MacRumors didn’t go into too much detail with this revelation, other than to say that “certain” cars from Volvo, Polestar and Audi would be supported."

So we cannot have Digital Key in our cars because Apple hasn't written the software to allow it in Volvos, and when they do - it might not even be written for the EX30.

And the really annoying thing is that Volvo could have gone the same route as Audi and implemented Digital Key for Android for those of us who don't use Apple. But no, Volvo is forcing all of us to wait for Apple to get its act together (if it ever does).

Everyone is blaming Volvo for the Digital Key delay, when its Apple's fault - at least for Apple users. Volvo is clearly to blame for holding Android users back.

[OrganMorgan]

From TechRadar, 15 October

Everyone is blaming Volvo for the Digital Key delay, when its Apple's fault - at least for Apple users. Volvo is clearly to blame for holding Android users back.

I'm an Apple person but I blame Volvo. What manufacturer develops relies upon a key feature - (sorry for the pun) - of their product that only works with another company's software that hasn't been developed?