Key fob battery; spec and warning

[ilyabu]

Well my key fob battery died today after only one month of having a Gravity DE. it started giving me "shake your key to wake it up" messages two days ago and today it was totally dead. There's obviously something very wrong with how the battery is used if it only lasts a month so hoping Lucid gets a SW fix out for that soon (and/or implements apple's digital key). Until then, for those interested the battery is a CR2450 Lithium 3V, which is a thick / weird size that seems to be only available online, so highly recommend getting some extras to keep around.

 

[hydbob]

Well my key fob battery died today after only one month of having a Gravity DE. it started giving me "shake your key to wake it up" messages two days ago and today it was totally dead. There's obviously something very wrong with how the battery is used if it only lasts a month so hoping Lucid gets a SW fix out for that soon (and/or implements apple's digital key). Until then, for those interested the battery is a CR2450 Lithium 3V, which is a thick / weird size that seems to be only available online, so highly recommend getting some extras to keep around.

I wouldn't worry about the first battery dying, rather how long a fresh battery lasts for. Thanks for the info on the battery size. Ordered!

 

[L-Dude]

FWI my AGT came with two extra batteries for the FOB.

So I have a question. My AGT sometimes is slow to wake up as I approach with the FOB. I've noticed that if I jiggle the FOB in my pocket, the car wakes up. Is this a sign of a depleted battery?

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

Back in the day (c. 2013) the Model S fob ate batteries for some reason. Again, in 2016, our X did the same thing. Tesla must’ve done something at some point because after several months of ownership, batteries began to last for a year +. Of course, Tesla also used to give out the batteries for free…

So, I expect Lucid will figure it out.

Still not sure why someone doesn’t just make them rechargeable. Too many cycles over the life of the car? Feels like an easy thing to do except charging standards could change over life of ownership.

 

[DrZorro]

I'm 2 months in with my Gravity DE and my batteries seem to be ok for now. I did take a look at the battery size right after getting the car to see what size it is. I ended up picking up some spares at Walmart a few days later after randomly walking past the battery section. I've since seen them at the grocery store as well so they can be definitely be found at brick and mortar stores as well as online. I have to wonder if having the proximity unlock disabled increases the battery life on the fob. Not sure which mode the OP uses.

 

[jered]

Well my key fob battery died today after only one month of having a Gravity DE. it started giving me "shake your key to wake it up" messages two days ago and today it was totally dead. There's obviously something very wrong with how the battery is used if it only lasts a month so hoping Lucid gets a SW fix out for that soon (and/or implements apple's digital key). Until then, for those interested the battery is a CR2450 Lithium 3V, which is a thick / weird size that seems to be only available online, so highly recommend getting some extras to keep around.

How did you recognize that this was a dead battery vs. the "key fob not found" problem that also seems to happen intermittently?

 

[ilyabu]

How did you recognize that this was a dead battery vs. the "key fob not found" problem that also seems to happen intermittently?

because the key fob did nothing, didn't lock, unlock, open trunk, etc.

 

[jered]

because the key fob did nothing, didn't lock, unlock, open trunk, etc.

This has also been the behavior for us when we had previous fob connection problems. It just happened again this morning, so I ordered some batteries arriving this evening (just in case).

 

[ilyabu]

I also tried taking the old battery out of the key and putting it back again and nothing. The car didn't even give me the key fob not found message. The fob started working right away with a new battery.

 

[Tim-in-CA]

With all the Air fob battery problems, it's amazing that Lucid fumbled the fob for Gravity! At least the Gravity fob looks nicer and is more substantial. I guess faraday pouch is needed for Gravity fob as well. When I started using a pouch for my Air, batteries started lasting MUCH longer.

 

[jered]

This has also been the behavior for us when we had previous fob connection problems. It just happened again this morning, so I ordered some batteries arriving this evening (just in case).

Replacing the battery fixed this! Surprised to have it only last 2 months.

 

[DeaneG]

Who knows how long those batteries have been in their fobs, easily could have been 6-12 months. We know that Lucid doesn't put fresh batteries in their fobs before handing them out to reviewers. Likely the same for customers.

 

[9point81]

I got a low battery message 2 days ago, after only just about a month of ownership and the key fob would generally unlock the car today, but i got the key not found error almost every start up. I just bought a new battery this evening, but no real opportunity to test it out yet. Will see as I get thru the day tomorrow if this helps things or not.

 

[Chrome]

I got a low battery message 2 days ago, after only just about a month of ownership and the key fob would generally unlock the car today, but i got the key not found error almost every start up. I just bought a new battery this evening, but no real opportunity to test it out yet. Will see as I get thru the day tomorrow if this helps things or not.

My understanding is that the "Low Battery" message is not tied to the "Key Not Detected/Found" messages in any way. I've thrown a new battery into my fob a handful of times and I'll see the "Key Not Detected" message every single time I place the car in Park. It'll only appear for 0.5 to 2.0 seconds; attempting to shift to Drive during the message will bring up the PIN menu, which will then vanish along with the message. I guess it's some issue with the antenna located above the driver's seat, and/or the antenna within the fob. This would also explain why I can't use the fob to interact with the car from more than 40ft away, even though my 2007 Tacoma could be instantly unlocked from across a mall parking lot. lol

 

[jered]

Who knows how long those batteries have been in their fobs, easily could have been 6-12 months. We know that Lucid doesn't put fresh batteries in their fobs before handing them out to reviewers. Likely the same for customers.

The FCC approval for the fobs was only in December, so they can't be that old! https://device.report/fccid/IYZUK1

What was strange was that the fob did not function as an NFC device (like the cards) to unlock the door either. This should have worked even with the battery removed...

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

The FCC approval for the fobs was only in December, so they can't be that old! https://device.report/fccid/IYZUK1

What was strange was that the fob did not function as an NFC device (like the cards) to unlock the door either. This should have worked even with the battery removed...

So they did, in fact, change the vendor for Gravity fobs versus Air fobs. Too bad it doesn’t seem to have helped.

Marquardt made fobs for many of the Mercedes models in the past (maybe still?), so it’s not like they’re some random supplier.

 

[DeaneG]

So they did, in fact, change the vendor for Gravity fobs versus Air fobs. Too bad it doesn’t seem to have helped.

There's only one thing in common.

 

[9point81]

My understanding is that the "Low Battery" message is not tied to the "Key Not Detected/Found" messages in any way. I've thrown a new battery into my fob a handful of times and I'll see the "Key Not Detected" message every single time I place the car in Park. It'll only appear for 0.5 to 2.0 seconds; attempting to shift to Drive during the message will bring up the PIN menu, which will then vanish along with the message. I guess it's some issue with the antenna located above the driver's seat, and/or the antenna within the fob. This would also explain why I can't use the fob to interact with the car from more than 40ft away, even though my 2007 Tacoma could be instantly unlocked from across a mall parking lot. lol

Well I'm 2 for 2 now when getting in the car and starting with the key fob after changing the battery. I would say I was maybe 1 for 10 the rest of the day. So altho the two issues may not be necessarily related, I may have indeed had a low key fob battery.

 

[jered]

So they did, in fact, change the vendor for Gravity fobs versus Air fobs. Too bad it doesn’t seem to have helped.

Marquardt made fobs for many of the Mercedes models in the past (maybe still?), so it’s not like they’re some random supplier.

Not only that, but the ranging module used on the Gravity is the same as used by MB: https://device.report/fccid/IYZMU3

It's really mysterious why there are so many fob problems. In a different thread I speculated that the "fobs nor keys work" problem is software/communications, but this "only the fob doesn't work/runs out batteries" is surely different.

 

[400kwOrBust]

If you need a spare battery fob key in a pinch, it's the same battery that is used in the sunshades to power the little light. If you lower the sunshade you'll see a little panel where you can pull up and you'll find 3 batteries in there