The 2021 Volvo S60 car keys- What are their functions?

Before I go any further let me tell you that the Orange key is the Care Key, allowing any Volvo car buyer to set a speed limit for themselves, their family members or friends. The Care Key comes standard on all Volvo cars from model year 2021.

Also, do keep in mind that Volvo Cars has limited the top speed on all its cars to 180 kmph from 2020, in order to send a strong signal about the dangers of speeding. Well, that is a very wise to do and so unlike car makers who boast of setting speeds of 200 to 300 kmph and endangering the lives of people in the car as well as those on the street. Good job, Volvo Cars.

KEY NO. 1: The normal black remote key

Now let’s start with the black key fob. It’s the main remote key for the car. The key fob has tiny buttons for locking and unlocking the car and one button for opening the boot lid.  Flip the car fob and you get to see on the other slim side a button meant for panic function. The company claims that this function is used to attract attention in an emergency. Press and hold the button for at least 3 seconds or press it twice within 3 seconds to activate the direction indicators and the horn. The function can be turned off with the same button once it has been active for at least 5 seconds. Otherwise the function switches off automatically after 3 minutes.

When you press the lock button, the remote key locks the doors, boot lid and fuel filler flap and also arms the alarm. But if you were to press and hold the lock button, you are able to close all of the windows and the panorama roof simultaneously.

Pressing the unlock button, means you unlock the doors, boot lid and fuel filler flap and also deactivates the alarm. A longer press of this unlock button opens all windows simultaneously. This total airing function can be used, for example, to quickly air the car in hot weather. Very convenient, is it not?

The boot lid button unlocks and disarms the alarm for the boot lid only. The boot lid is opened mechanically, by spring pressure, using a long press.

Both the black and orange keys also have a metal L-shaped key inside the fob. A tiny switch on top needs to be pushed and the top cover with the Volvo logo slides up a bit. Now the cover of the key fob can be flipped open and inside you will notice the metal key or key blade. This key blade comes handy when the battery of this remote key is dead. The remote function stops working and the only way to unlock or lock the car is with the help of this key blade.

It is here that there is an anomaly of sorts with the Volvo S60 available in India. This key has only one slot and that too on the left front door. This is because cars in most of the international markets are left hand driven and hence the company fixed the only key slot on the left side door handle. The other doors have no slots or lock cylinders

Now let me tell you how to open the left-side front door. You need to pull out the door handle to its end position so that the lock cylinder becomes visible. Insert the key in the lock cylinder. Turn clockwise 45 degrees so that the key blade is pointing straight back. Turn the key back 45 degrees to its starting position. Remove the key from the lock cylinder and release the handle so that the rear section of the handle is resting against the car again. Now you need to pull out the handle and the door opens. Locking will be performed in the same way, but with an anticlockwise turn 45 degrees instead of clockwise while opening the door.  We did struggle a bit opening and closing the doors but after several attempts, we did manage to get it right. Please keep in mind, the key blade is only used when the remote key battery dies out and there is no help around for you to lock or unlock the doors.

What happens when you manage to open the front left side door with the help of a key blade? Obviously the car alarm sets off. You have to immediately put the  remote key in the bottom of the cup holder in the tunnel console where there is slot market for it. The car recognises its own key and stops screaming. The alarm is switched off. But what if it doesn’t? Then you have to immediately start the car and for that you will have to unlock the driver side door and rush in from the other side to start the car. This is because the key blade slot is only available on the left side. That is anomaly number one. It should have been on the right.

WHAT IF THE CAR BATTERY DIES OUT? THE BATTERY IS IN THE BOOT, DID YOU KNOW?

In this scenario too the remote stops functioning. So how do you unlock the door? It’s done with the key blade but once you open it, you realise the car alarm does not get triggered as the car battery is dead. In this case, you get inside the car, tug at the bonnet lever and open the bonnet to access the battery. It’s then you realise that the Volvo S60 battery is not in front; rather it is placed in the boot area. But Volvo has done a very smart thing; it has the battery terminals in front which can be used to start your car with the help of an external battery and a pair of jumper cables. That’s smart thinking on the part of Volvo Cars.

But what happens when you do not have jumper cables but you have a new fully charged battery to replace your dead battery? You have managed to open the door and also opened your bonnet and you now need to open the boot lid. This is where you confront anomaly Number two. The boot cannot be opened without the main battery as it does not have a key. To activate the kick gesture or the button or even through the remote key, the car battery needs to be charged. So how does get into the boot area to access the car battery? That can only be done through the rear seat space area where there is a square shaped window with a plastic cover which you get to see when you pull down the rear arm rest. Unfortunately this plastic cover can only be opened from inside the boot area. That is a catch 22 situation. But a situation like this warrants the services of a competent mechanic who can pry open this secret door and put his arm inside to unlatch the rear seat back rest and create space for someone to manually replace the dead battery. It’s extremely cumbersome and it’s a lot wiser and safer to start the car with a jumper cable and open the boot lid through the remote mechanism. But a lot of these problems regarding the boot area could have been solved if there was a slot for the key blade on the boot lid, like the one on the left side car door in front.

KEY NO.2: The metal key

The lone metal key in the bunch has just got one simple job. It locks and unlocks the glove box in the car. Ideally this key can be bunched together with your remote key or kept separately in your wallet or purse.  

KEY NO.3: The Key Tag without buttons

The key tag provided with the keyless locking and unlocking function works in the same way as the standard remote control key as regards keyless starting and locking and unlocking. The key is waterproof to a depth of approx. 10 metres or 30 feet for up to 60 minutes. It has no detachable key blade and the battery cannot be replaced. Thus this is the key which you can take when you go to the beach or for your swimming. The key tag remains with you in your swimming trunk and does not get damaged.

REMOTE KEY AND DRIVER PROFILE

Coming back to the black remote key with buttons, the first time the remote control key is used, it is not linked to any specific driver profile. When the car is started, the Guest profile will automatically be activated.  A driver profile can be selected manually without linking it to the key. When the car is unlocked, the last active driver profile is activated. Once the key has been linked to a driver profile, a driver profile does not need to be selected when that specific key is used. Connecting a remote control key to a driver profile is only possible when the car is stationary. 

KEY NO. 4: The orange coloured Care Key

Now this is the key similar to the normal black key, as mentioned earlier. The Care Key, according to the company, allows Volvo drivers to set limitations on the car’s top speed, before lending their car to other family members or to younger and inexperienced drivers such as teenagers that only just received their drivers’ license. You can also hand over this care key to your mechanic when he takes it out for servicing or even to your driver.

 To set the speed limit for this key, one has to go to the main menu of the touch screen and press the Settings function. The screen gives you the option of Driver Profile and within that you get to set the speed limit. It can be anywhere between 50kmph to the maximum 180kmph. If you were to set the speed limit at 50 kmph, then no matter how much the driver accelerates, the vehicle speed does not go beyond the 50 odd kmph speed limit.

Now that you have understood the functions of the various keys, keep them safe and use them according to their well defined roles.