Are keys going the way of the buggy?

So, with touchpad or any type of electronic lock for house, what happens when power goes out? We don't lock our doors. So, I haven't carried the house keys for many years. No keys for my car. That leaves only a single key to my office door in my pocket along with car fob. That's it.

 

What's the auto manufacturers' motivation for going from a mechanical key to an electronic fob? I'm guessing it's cheaper/easier? And then: duplicatiing a car key for $5 at your neighbourhood shoe repair place becomes a $200~400 ordeal at the dealership.

 

i like the idea of a house lock touchpad, it is battery operated, so power outage isn't an issue.

i don't carry a house key though. a few are hidden, and when i pull into the garage, the inside door is unlocked.

i've been divesting myself of keys and watches for a good long time.

 

OK, then what happens when battery dies? Just curious.

 

I do. My prius key is carabinered to my belt loop (it tends to fall out of my watch pocket). So that one doesn't really count. Nor do the toothed key to the wife's RAV4 or the camper, or the keyless key for the pick-up since they're on a hook at home and I only drive 1 vehicle at a time!

But I have a key ring I keep with me. I enter my house through the garage so normally I just use the opener, but if that fails I have a key. Two keys actually, one for the front door and one for the back. The front door can not be rekeyed to match the other . My parents live 90 minutes from me and are no longer in good health so I carry their house key at all times. Along with a safe box for important documents. Another key. My father in law lives 45 minutes the other direction, and his heart is on it's last legs also. I carry his key all the time. We bought his house in another state so he could move here to be near family. So there's another key. A key for the gate at work sits in my car, but my work, office and desk keys are on my key ring. So that's 9 toothed keys on rings in my possession at most times. I generally keep the work keys separate from the other ones, but I carabiner them together so I don't lose a set. Maybe I should just lock them all in a box, strap it on somewhere and carry only the tenth key for the box...

I'm thankful for all those keys - if I had to remember passcodes for all those locks I'd be in real trouble.

 

i haven't looked into it, but suspect it warns you before that happens?

with kwikset, it looks like it won't let you lock it until when the four aa batteries reach a certain level of discharge. i think this is how hotel safes work.

and there is a mechanical key just in case.

 

Mechanical keylocks that cannot be 'picked' are either rare or non existent. But it is a skill; an art perhaps.

Card-based modern locks, e.g.,


en.onity


can also fail

Hotel cardkey locks said to be vulnerable to bypass hack - CNET

by a device which could presumably be purchased. Takes skill right out of the equation.

 

can't beat a deadbolt, or a dead horse. or a door nail.

 

OK. deadbolt (unless if driven by solenoid) invites brute force. Or looking for a different entrance.

 

good reason to live in a low crime area.

 

I have 2 keyfobs that require a new battery almost once a month,

I pay more on batteries than gas, they could take fobs and security chips and shove em

Give me back a key

 

odd, mine last 4 or 5 years.

 

I installed battery powered (last a very long time and give plenty of warning when getting weak) deadbolt touchpad locks on the house f&b doors and keyless FOB's on every car. I'd be keyless except for work.

Edit: I also have a touchpad garage door opener on the exterior that is around 3 years old and is still on the original AA's. I typically only need to use it when I'm outside doing yard work.

 

Dealer says my fob is too close to the car and communicates running down the battery, I can’t separate the key and the car far enough it appears to stop the behavior (aka garage and house are only so big)

 

When I had a 2012 Volt, my FOB sat approx. 10-12 ft from the car and the replacement Energi FOB is the same. Zero FOB battery issues with either.

There was a recent thread on gm-volt about a new 2018 having FOB draining issues and several posters said it was an issue with the receiver unit in the car. You might want to check on TSB's for that.

 

What distance between fob and car would be needed? I mean, I can be 30~40 feet away and still manage to lock/unlock, pushing the buttons. But the distance for the touch-to-unlock is a mere 2~3 foot, at most.

 

Have you tried wrapping the fob in tinfoil?

I love the idea of eliminating keys and fobs.
Our Tesla uses our phones as keys. As long as I have my phone on me, the car unlocks when I open it. In months of using it, I have found it incredibly convenient.
Mercedes also recently announced ‘phone as key’ for, as I recall, a single upcoming model.

One less thing to deal with in my pocket.
Although this rarely happened, now I NEVER forget my phone

 

Commercially, card entry on a door is about $3000 each (I’m not kidding). To have a stand alone keypad of commercial quality is about $7-800. Residential is about $200.

Things I don’t like:
Deadbolts locks that are powered to lock. If there are any fit issues between the door and frame (and they change constantly), you won’t know. I have a digital deadbolt on my home. Schlage BE362 (I think). You have to turn a knob by hand. You KNOW the door is locked.

Push button locks, at least commercially, are insecure. You can’t be sure who has the combo. If you have a mechanical key and loan it out, you lose your access until you get it back. Give out the combo, and you can still get in.

You would be amazed at how many kids will give their friends the combo to your house, or fail to protect it when entering the code in front of their friends.

 

is that for the volt? anything in the manual? mine is about 15' and one exterior wall.