I have some pretty mixed feelings about modern proximity keys/key fobs/smart keys/whatever. Complex feelings. On the one hand, they’re fantastic; they allow you to just approach your car and it recognizes the key somewhere in your pocket or handbag or underpants, and the door opens, you can get the car started and go without having to dig out at key or anything. For many people, for safety and convenience reasons, this is incredibly important.
On the other hand or flipper, these keys also allow all manner of sort-of-absurd problems and disasters to happen, because the fob doesn’t require a physical connection to the car. This means one can do exciting things like leaving the key on the outside of a car, where it can fall off, which is exactly what our own Mercedes Streeter did this summer, leading to days and days of expensive trouble.
There’s other, easy ways to screw up with proximity keys, of course; switching drivers but not keys, which can allow you to keep driving before the car realizes the key is gone, compounding the trouble, and of course there’s simply losing keys, which of course you can do with any sort of key (or really, any objects, like socks or grapefruit).
But proximity keys and fobs don’t have to be subject to the limitations of crude old metal keys! Our own Pete asked the question that got me thinking, and should get us all thinking:
This is an extremely reasonable question: can you track a lost key fob? And, in keeping with ancient rabbinical traditions of answering questions with questions, the only reasonable response to this is this question: why the hell not?
Doing a little bit of research, it doesn’t seem like any major OEMs are making key fobs that can be tracked like AirTags or similar sorts of Bluetooth-based tracking devices. I mean, there may be some out there that do that, and of course Teslas and some other cars use phones in place of keys, but the fundamental truth is that all modern key fobs should have the electronics built into them so they can be tracked if lost.
I mean, these key fobs are already halfway there; they have wireless radios and some manner of power source and little antennae; really, how much harder would it be to include BlueTooth hardware to make these things trackable via a phone app?
The more I think about this, the more obvious it seems to be. As soon as cheap BlueTooth trackers like AirTags hit the market, you’d think carmakers would be itching to incorporate such tech into their smart keys, right?
I mean, sure, you can get keychains that hold these tracking tags, and many people use those, but, again, this seems like something that should be built into all modern key fobs. Just because.
I suppose there are some security concerns, like there are with any tracker; there would need to be means for the owner to turn off tracking if desired, say if they were loaning their car to a friend, or something like that. But beyond that, it’s your car key; is there any reason to not know where it is at all times?
Are there downsides here? I mean, sure, there’s likely a bit more cost involved, but compared to what modern cars already have built into them, it’s pretty trivial. If we have the technology to allow you to find a misplaced car keys, then that feels like something that you shouldn’t even have to ask for; it should just be part of modern key fobs from the get-go.
So there.
Battery drain would probably be a fairly big downside. AirTag batteries last about a year. Fob batteries last a lot longer than that.
I don’t know how it is possible but I never changed the battery in my remote for my 2002 car that I bought new.
Yeah, this. And also TVs should have had a button on them that makes the remote beep like the cordless phones from the 80s.
I think there have been a few but painfully limited given how easy it would be. Even today.
I guess it comes down to the few clamoring for these features but seems like it should have already happened. Instead they just want to move glove compartment opening to a screen control button. All new features to benefit the procurement guys I guess.
Carmakers: TrackMyKey, a convenient, subscription based service for only $19.99 a month when you download the app and give us access to all your location data.
And subscribers will receive a 25% discount on their seat heater subscriptions!
Dude. I get it. Having to lift/probably remove the hood of your 2CV and wrap a cord around the crank and pull is a pain in the ass. But get with the times! You can have a crank off the front of the motor to start it. Just remember to put an airtag on the crank handle in case you misplace it .
Several of my Triumph TRs had a hole in the grille and a crank handle in the tool kit. I believe it was intended for static timing and setting valve clearances and never tried to crank start it. Though there were several instances when that would have been handy, I left the crank in the toolbox and traveled light.
I don’t know if this is true, but supposedly Peugeot cars are all named something-o-something (505, 206, etc) because originally the 0 adorned a crank start hole.
I, absolutely under no circumstances, feel a need to have a tracking device forced onto me. I need to carry my keys with me, I don’t need to be tracked. All trackers can be hacked or their signal emissions detected.
It is not the car company’s job to keep me from losing my keys. That’s my responsibility, not theirs. It isn’t ATT’s job to track my phone, nor the bank’s job to track my wallet.
Anyone who wants a tracking device can buy an optional 3rd party option.
Scientific Method holds great promise to better the human condition, and can’t be over applied. Technology has great promise as well, but is vulnerable to abuse, misapplication, and overuse. My 2010 cars fob has remote features, but requires insertion to start, and is locked into the receiver while running. A few years ago, a customer dropped off their car at the shop, left it running, and went home with their husband. Only after pulling it into the bay and shutting it off, did I realize the fob was not there! I see the convenience of a car unlocking as you approach, but once you are in, the damn key needs to physically attach to start, run to keep Mercedes and me from looking foolish.
Hard metal keys were better and probably no less secure.
Foolishness these days can put you in a world of “key not detected” DOSed by your own car.
You’re asking for more functionality, I’m still hoping for less. I didn’t like the proximity keys I had with my last car. I was never sure it was locked when I walked away, and just because the key doesn’t go into the ignition doesn’t mean I don’t have to put it somewhere when I take it out of my pocket.
I don’t understand why we can’t at least get smaller keys. The simple metal key for my last project car was so much nicer than the bulky keyfobs of modern cars.
The actual hardware in an automotive key is much slimmer and smaller than the keyfob it’s packaged into, people make 3D printed kits to slim them down a little, but the factory could do it better. These days it’s probably possible to fit the hardware into something about the size of a house key. It’d be more expensive and have to be something sturdier than plastic, but that seems like a (relatively) cheap way to make your brand unique in a truly useful way.
There are two way fobs that connect to vehicles that have cellular data and apps most of those fobs emit some noise so it should be technically possibly that way. If oems went Bluetooth then I’m sure they would ditch the current 433mhz systems and fobs for phone as key and maybe give you a nfc tag or card or Bluetooth fob.
Flashlight. Even just a little 50 – 100 lumen LED would be great. Add a second 2025 button cell just for the light if the bean counters don’t want to pop for a USB rechargeable battery.
I’d even pay extra for it as an “enhanced” FOB, if it had to be an optional upgrade.
Manufacturers, are you listening? (One-time fee, of course – don’t get any stupid ideas about a subscription for this).
Unfortunately, that flashlight would drop battery life from years to weeks or months. Those button cell batteries have very very low current capacity. Lithium ion batteries degrade from the moment they’re manufactured – not just charge/discharge cycles – so you’re still on a timeline if you put a chonky Li-Ion battery in a fob. To be small enough to fit in a fob, you’re just about back where you started. The flashlight would be more like the backlight on your TV remote (/whatever simile is appropriate) than a useful light source :/
That’s why I suggested a separate battery for the light source. You wouldn’t want the light function to kill the FOB’s primary function.
Perhaps a AAAA instead of a button cell?
I’ll follow you further down this cursed path and suggest a 1/2 AA, which I didn’t know was a thing until this year.
Oh! But NFC tags have non volatile memory and could at least let you in and start the car irrespective of battery status. So. There are ways!
The more I think about it the more I think the hardest part will be getting manufacturers to just seal the thing up with regular screws so you can actually change the damn battery.
My 1991 E30 keys had this feature. And it was even still working 30 years later.
https://www.gutenparts.com/product/genuine-bmw-illuminated-key-e30-e24-e28-e23-33009
It’s just “fob.” It’s a regular word, not an acronym.
Hah!
I keep meaning to comment on David’s similar capitalization of SMOG – it’s just a portmanteau, no all-caps needed.
It’s a good idea. Also, I’d like to keyfob to tell me if I locked the car. Seems like simple enough tech. I often don’t remember if I locked the door
As you mention, trackers use Bluetooth which is a completely different transceiver than what the fobs use. Fobs use the ~40-50MHz range (or something like that) while BT is 2.4 GHz. So pretty much no overlap in the radio hardware. Accordingly, a second BT transceiver would need to be added, along with an appropriate antenna. Certainly doable but knowing the ridiculous levels of bean counting at most OEMs, unlikely to happen without a lot of noise from customers.
I have 2 key fobs and once I forgot the spare one in my backpack, which was inside my car, at the train station all day. Anyone could have walked up to the car, opened the door that had not auto-locked as I walked away, and driven away with my car. If they knew how to drive stick, that is. Pretty sure the only reason no one stole David T.’s truck when he left the key in the door is no one knew how to drive it.
My car yells at me if I leave the fob inside.
I’d be happy if they built in a repeating alarm that responds to a whistle.
I’m more interested in a low-tech fob question today – why does Jeep NOT put a little compass, or a multitool, or something like that in its fobs? Seems such an easy on-brand thing to do that fits with its love of outdoor whimsy.
Aren’t the fobs already shaped like ducks?
They’d just end up having to recall their fobs.
Were you arguing with Peter about this and that’s why you have two almost-competing key-fob-related items 38 minutes apart? 😀
I’m disappointed we’re not getting to see the rest of the crew’s keychains. Like I imagine Mercedes has a Kramer-like setup where every fob and key is on a single giant ring.
a little?
Woohoo, Tales From The Slack!!!
😀
I’m sure they would do it if they thought they could monetise it. Say, a subscription to key location services through the automaker’s app.
I’m sure there are some privacy concerns, but we’re all being tracked on our phones 24-7 anyway.