> Car keys that require batteries. If we don't have a spare battery with us and our keys die, we're stranded.
There was a great solution for this in use for over a hundred years.
There was a great solution for this in use for over a hundred years.
Keyless entry and ignition is a great convenience, especially for my wife since she can keep the fob buried in her bag - and it makes it easy for me to put my daughter in the car without trying to wrangle the fob out of my pocket to unlock the door. But it floors me that so many manufacturers just ignore the use-case where the battery in the fob is dead...
For instance: there's a key hidden in the fob of my Nissan Leaf that is able to mechanically unlock the driver door, same as your 2006. To start the car, you place it against the "start" button. I'm assuming there's some inductive trickery going on.
Anyway, I'd be surprised if our cars (2006 and 2015) were the exception, rather than the rule.
It's in the glove box...
* Open up the compartment on top of the center of the dashboard
* Take out the rubber liner on the bottom of the compartment
* Pop the mechanical key out of the fob
* Poke the mechanical key into an unlabeled hole in the bottom of the above compartment
And bingo, your car will start.
The Kia Sorrento we have with a keyless system is much more sane: The center panel has a really obvious place to push the whole keyfob in, and it will start with a dead fob battery.
The Toyota Prius we used to own also had keyless, and also had a place to insert the whole keyfob to start the car when the battery died. And it was also pretty obvious (and labeled).
It's only the Chevy Volt where it was an absolute mystery what you're supposed to do (unless you read the manual). I don't think I would have ever guessed that you should disassemble the compartment on top of the dashboard and stick the key into an unlabeled hole. Would have been afraid of shorting something out.
But I'm with you as far as having a physical key goes. Never have I thought, "man, this key stuff is just so tough!" especially since every other door in my life still uses a mechanical key which would likely be attached to the remote key fob. When I get home and turn off the car I'm going to need those keys in my hand anyway to get in my house.
My car is also a BMW product, but it was a big toggle switch on bottom of the dashboard for Engine on/off. Pulses red when it's ready to start.
If the battery dies there is a hidden key in the fob that can be used to unlock the drivers door. To start the car you can hold the fob on the 'Start' button - there is an RFID chip inside which is read.