Keys are a Nuisance – Smart Entry FTW!

On the weekend, the missus and I were on the Gold Coast briefly and required a rental car to get us around. We ended up with a Toyota Camry (sadly not the hybrid model) which isn’t a bad car. Whilst not difficult to drive, I did find myself falling into the regular habits of driving a Prius, specifically:

• going for the power button to turn the car on and off (when I needed to put the key in the ignition),
• attempting to engage the handbrake in the foot well (when there was an actual handbrake),
• looking for the lock button on the outside door handle (when you need to use the beeper to lock the car).

For those who don’t know, the Prius has a couple of things called “Smart Entry” and “Smart Start”. Smart Entry allows you to put your hand on one of the front door handles to unlock the car so long as you have the “key” in the immediate vicinity (such as in your pocket or in a bag). Similarly, Smart Start allows you to turn on the car by pushing the start button with the “key” inside the vehicle.

Prius Smart Key

For the security conscious, the car won’t start unless they key is inside the vehicle nor can you unintentionally lock the key inside the car. However, you can start the car with the key inside and then throw it outside and drive away. Of course, if you did that and turned the car off you would be unable to turn it back on again.

Keys are also paired with an individual vehicle  so you shouldn’t find that others can open your car nor can you get into other cars. The keys that we have operate on the unlicensed 2.4GHz spectrum shared by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. Whilst this is convenient for Toyota, it does mean that the key may not work when in very close proximity to a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth device (i.e. in the same pocket).

Anyway, having being spoilt with smart key it makes me wonder why similar devices aren’t more widespread. I carry about ten traditional keys in my pocket everyday (of which I regularly use two) and whilst I make do with them, I’d really like to get rid of them.

People have gotten creative with the use of X10 devices and iPhones which I think is fantastic (and I might even have a go myself one day) but I think those things might be beyond the average punter that just wants to get inside their own house. Another concern is that people don’t want to be stuck outside when their phone goes flat (which does happen from time to time).

Personally, I will be putting a smart entry or equivalent feature on the “must have” list when we get a new car. Sure, it does narrow down the selection somewhat but I appreciate the convenience and simplicity such a feature provides.