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Does key fob NFC work for you?

jered

jered

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Somerville, MA
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'26 Gravity DE, '19 X-LR
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084
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The manual claims the key fob has an NFC chip that can be used to unlock the vehicle even when the fob battery is dead. Can anyone demonstrate this behavior?

We just had one of our fobs stop working -- presumably the battery is dead (again, still lasting only 2-3 months even with the new firmware). I tried holding it every which way, massaging it gently, whispering encouraging meditations, but it absolutely did not have any effect on the tap spot on the B pillar. Does this actually work, or is the key fob not as described?

Luckily I did have the key card in my wallet, but this would have been a nightmare if it happened during valet parking a few days ago.

Related -- has anyone *ever* seen a "key fob battery low" alert?
 
jered said:
The manual claims the key fob has an NFC chip that can be used to unlock the vehicle even when the fob battery is dead. Can anyone demonstrate this behavior?

We just had one of our fobs stop working -- presumably the battery is dead (again, still lasting only 2-3 months even with the new firmware). I tried holding it every which way, massaging it gently, whispering encouraging meditations, but it absolutely did not have any effect on the tap spot on the B pillar. Does this actually work, or is the key fob not as described?

Luckily I did have the key card in my wallet, but this would have been a nightmare if it happened during valet parking a few days ago.
Click to expand...
I promise I’m not trying to be obtuse, but… where does it say that? https://publications.infotainment.p...tml#GUID-945B9854-1764-4726-B802-EBFB98F39BD7

The Air fob has NFC, and it works. The Gravity fob does not have NFC, to my knowledge.
jered said:
Related -- has anyone *ever* seen a "key fob battery low" alert?
Click to expand...
Actually yeah - just saw it two days ago, and it was right. Swapped the battery, fob worked great.
 
borski said:
I promise I’m not trying to be obtuse, but… where does it say that? https://publications.infotainment.p...tml#GUID-945B9854-1764-4726-B802-EBFB98F39BD7
Click to expand...
It used to! I see they fixed this with the docs instead of the product.

Page 21: https://device.report/m/9896bf83b0b9bd216e4f6644bdf909f9ef608cc576012678a6c92ffb8fe6fa58.pdf

If the key fob battery is depleted, you can still unlock the vehicle by holding the key fob near the driver's side center pillar, (below the camera; the key fob should touch the pillar), then pressing the door handle for three seconds.
Click to expand...
 
I've used the key fob WITH NO BATTERY.
It will unlock the car as described in the manual then you enter your PIN to drive the car.

I've also used the wallet card to unlock the car / then PIN to drive.
 
Cosmo Cruz said:
I've used the key fob WITH NO BATTERY.
It will unlock the car as described in the manual then you enter your PIN to drive the car.

I've also used the wallet card to unlock the car / then PIN to drive.
Click to expand...
With a Gravity? (See forum)
 
Cosmo Cruz said:
I've used the key fob WITH NO BATTERY.
It will unlock the car as described in the manual then you enter your PIN to drive the car.

I've also used the wallet card to unlock the car / then PIN to drive.
Click to expand...
On the Air. This is a Gravity thread.
 
borski said:
Ah! I wonder, then, if it actually does have NFC and is simply disabled at the moment for some reason? I’m on mobile but it should be listed in the FCC docs.
Click to expand...
NFC is listed in the FCC documents for the Gravity key fob.
 
borski said:
Ah! I wonder, then, if it actually does have NFC and is simply disabled at the moment for some reason? I’m on mobile but it should be listed in the FCC docs.
Click to expand...
Perhaps the fobs are simply not paired with the vehicle? This wouldn't explain why it was scrubbed from the docs, though.
 
Well then! Sounds like a future feature? Maybe? Haha
 
jered said:
Can confirm that my iPhone detects an NFC tag on the fob.
Click to expand...

FYI, iPhones are always scanning for NFC tags but don't take action by default. You can create a Shortcut (in the Shortcut app) to specifically take action on any given tag, or install any number of free(mium) apps to scan tags. This is from "NFC Tools".

I just scanned my card and this perhaps explains why the fob doesn't work today -- the fob and card are different device types. As you can see below, the fob has an ISO 7816 tag from NXP. The card is a Mifare DESFire ISO 14443-4 tag (also from NXP).

IMG_7643.webp
 
jered said:
FYI, iPhones are always scanning for NFC tags but don't take action by default. You can create a Shortcut (in the Shortcut app) to specifically take action on any given tag, or install any number of free(mium) apps to scan tags. This is from "NFC Tools".

I just scanned my card and this perhaps explains why the fob doesn't work today -- the fob and card are different device types. As you can see below, the fob has an ISO 7816 tag from NXP. The card is a Mifare DESFire ISO 14443-4 tag (also from NXP).
Click to expand...

You were able to get the fob to scan using NFC Tools? I tried that using the app on my phone and I couldn't ever get it to read (iPhone 14 Pro Max). I can read the card fine but the fob never triggers.

I have the desktop software too but my NFC reader/writer is a few years old and tells me the card/fob aren't supported even if it can see them.
 
Considering how quickly the fob seems to be eating batteries, even on the latest firmware revision, it would be really really nice to know that one could still use a dead fob. I don't know anything about the different ISO standards for NFC tags, but I sure hope Lucid can figure out a way to enable the NFC usage of the fob. Presumably that was their intention, otherwise why pay for the tag to be included?
 
TahoeMichael said:
Considering how quickly the fob seems to be eating batteries, even on the latest firmware revision, it would be really really nice to know that one could still use a dead fob. I don't know anything about the different ISO standards for NFC tags, but I sure hope Lucid can figure out a way to enable the NFC usage of the fob. Presumably that was their intention, otherwise why pay for the tag to be included?
Click to expand...
And especially given that the older revisions of the owner's manual had information saying that the fob could be used that way if the battery was dead. They only removed it in the latest revision.

I'm pretty positive they could just enable this functionality in the car's software, the only thing that would stop it is if they did something completely boneheaded like using NFC reader hardware in the car that doesn't support the tag built in to the fob. (which, lets' be real, isn't totally out of the realm of possibility at this point...)
 
RandomDesign said:
You were able to get the fob to scan using NFC Tools? I tried that using the app on my phone and I couldn't ever get it to read (iPhone 14 Pro Max). I can read the card fine but the fob never triggers.
Click to expand...
iPhone 15 Pro. Put the back of the key near the top of the phone -- takes a few seconds but then gets recognized.
 
RandomDesign said:
You were able to get the fob to scan using NFC Tools? I tried that using the app on my phone and I couldn't ever get it to read (iPhone 14 Pro Max). I can read the card fine but the fob never triggers.
Click to expand...

jered said:
iPhone 15 Pro. Put the back of the key near the top of the phone -- takes a few seconds but then gets recognized.
Click to expand...
oddly, my iPhone 17 Pro didn't detect the fob (found the key card immediately), but tools on my Samsung S25 Ultra found the one in the key fob.
 
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