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Did the Ignition Key Just Die?
cartechboy (2660665) writes "Do you still use a metal key to start your vehicle? We already knew this was old tech at this point, but now it might fully be killed off. In the wake of General Motors' 'Switchgate' fiasco, we've heard the CEO tell a Congressional committee that the recall may force GM to ditch ignition keys altogether in favor of push-button systems. If this became a reality, it would end decades of complaints from customers. Bloomberg approximates at least 18,000 complaints have been filed since NHTSA was formed in 1970, peaking at more than 2,000 in the year 2000. Those complaints resulted in roughly 21 million vehicles being recalled. The push-button ignition isn't perfect, but we know electrical trumps mechanical more often than not. Are you ready for an era where the ignition key doesn't exist?"
What if you want to switch it to position 2 and push-start a manual transmission car?
... then you push the button twice without your foot on the brake. It goes to run mode just like the second detent of a traditional key. Pressing once goes to accessory mode. More presses simply cycles between accessory...run...off.
Indeed. Pushbutton ignition doesn't bother me at all. The shift-by-wire and throttle-by-wire elements I find more troubling. I've had a mechanical throttle stick - hooked my foot under the gas pedal and lifted, problem solved. I've also had a problem with a mechanical transmission where I couldn't get it out of gear (not a clutch problem, since you can always pop into neutral without a clutch), and that freaked me out.
But my current car has an automatic shift level that AFAIK isn't mechanically coupled to anything. So "shift to neutral" requires computer cooperation in a scenario where we've started with the control computer losing its shit.
There are well understood ways to isolate these kinds of failures, but we've seen that we can't depend on car designers using them. Hopefully the manufacturers will all get onboard with basic fault isolation (e.g., no matter how hard the software that's sets throttle position crashes, the software that responds to "shift to neutral" must be unaffected), before some series of crashes prompts a law.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
A physical key still unlocks the doors when the car's battery has died. A physical key doesn't itself have a battery to die, leaving you stranded in a blizzard in the middle of nowhere after you stop to pee on the side of the road. And perhaps most importantly - A physical key doesn't cost some $300 to replace when you drop it in a puddle. If that particular scam doesn't solely account for the auto industry's desire to move to keyless fobs, I have a bridge for sale.
I've had my car for 7 years now. Two keyfobs. No keys. Replaced the batteries I think twice in that time. Works perfectly.
If my battery were to ever die, my keyfob comes apart and within is a manual key to enter the vehicle with.
If my keyfob battery is dead, there is a port in which to dock the dead keyfob to read the RFID directly and enable starting the car.
Feel free to sell your bridges to idiots elsewhere. Consumers and engineers alike have given this just a bit more thought. Years ago.
With the Tesla you simply walk up to the vehicle with the proximity fob. The car unlocks and you get in and drive. No key. No button. The On/Off switch is the lever on the steering wheel column you use to put it in drive, reverse and park. When you get out of the car and walk away, it locks itself. You can also use a mobile app to lock/unlock, warm up car etc...
After a year the only problem we ever have is leaving the engine running and walking away from our gasoline car because you get so used to how the Tesla works.
Greed is the root of all evil.