Keyless entry and start, some curiosities of the system

Nowadays a large proportion of new cars already incorporate the system known as “keyless entry and start” or also called “Keyless”. Basically the traditional key disappears and, just by carrying the car’s remote in your pocket, you can open the doors or start the car at the push of a button.

Today I wanted to tell you about some details of this system after our hands-on experience with it. First of all, let’s talk, in simple terms, about how it works. The vehicle has several external receivers, so when the key is near the car, when you place your hand on the door handle or open the car, it detects that the key is nearby and lets us unlock it.

To lock it, there are several models (such as Renault) that automatically lock the doors when we walk away from the car, and then there is the most widespread system, which is a button on the door handle itself to open the door. From that button, simply pressing it locks the car without needing to use the remote. Starting is identical: it detects that the key is inside the cabin and allows us to start the car.

But what happens if the system fails? Every remote with this system hides a “real” key inside the fob so you can access the car or lock it manually. In addition, to start the car there is also a system that allows you to insert the key temporarily to start it, or an area where we bring the fob close so that it detects it and we can start the car.

This is not the first time one of these systems has failed. Throughout all the tests we bring you here, several cars had problems with this system. In one case, when the remote’s battery was low, it kept sending continuous signals to the car, locking and unlocking it. On another occasion a vehicle did not detect the key and had to be started manually.

A curiosity that several workshops have mentioned to us is jammers and protected zones. The car’s remote transmits by radio frequency, so if we park near a Police station, Civil Guard barracks, official building and the like, we may have trouble getting the car to recognise the key. It is not a fault of the car: the power of the jammers used for security at these facilities prevents the car from detecting the remote.

Some of you will already be familiar with this system, but for those who are not, or for anyone who has had problems with it, I wanted to write this post explaining how it works and discussing some of the problems that can arise.