Key Fob Lucid should have done

[Bill55]

Unboxing the Key To the $3.4M Koenigsegg Jesko Is an Exquisite Experience

The multi-million dollar Koenigsegg Jesko has a key that looks like it costs more than the average family home.

www.thedrive.com

Had the Lucid at another race. Charging in the paddock it always gets attention. Unfortunately, the car locking and unlocking when 20’ away talking about it, also gets attention. It also gets attention when I hand the key fob to someone to go check out the car and they stand at the door for 30 seconds waiting for it to unlock.

I really enjoy driving this car. I’m an advocate for how much better it is than anything other EV currently available, but it would be awesome to have a nice fob that has multiple buttons and a 3’ resolution as to key fob distance from car, including the trunk.

 

[OCDC]

That… is a thing of beauty, inside and out.

 

[joec]

This reminds me of Henry Ford's "faster horse."

In an ideal world, there would be no fob. As @Bobby likes to say, "Fob, schmob."

Lucid is working towards that ideal. They have not yet achieved it, of course. Thus, the plastic thing most of us carry.

Personally, I'm in favor of companies who shoot for the stars and miss over ones who make no effort to move the state of the art forward. I'd rather they spent as little time thinking about the fob as possible and spend that time eliminating the need for a fob in the first place.

Some day in the not-so-distant future, no cars will have a fob of any kind. Your car will simply recognize you when you approach and open. 100% of the time. This is certainly more easily attainable than self-driving. And it's better than an over-engineered block of plastic and electronics presented inside a fancy glass and carbon fiber cylinder any day.

You can laugh and say Lucid is silly for proposing we are already in this utopia when clearly we are not. But as far as I can tell, the only time technology has been pushed forward is when it gets pushed just a little before it's quite ready.

I get most people would rather live in the present, where the things they love already work "fine" and "Please don't change anything, thank you very much."

But someone has to be out there asking "Why have a fob?" instead of "How do we make a fancier fob?"

 

[Bobby]

This reminds me of Henry Ford's "faster horse."

In an ideal world, there would be no fob. As @Bobby likes to say, "Fob, schmob."

Lucid is working towards that ideal. They have not yet achieved it, of course. Thus, the plastic thing most of us carry.

Personally, I'm in favor of companies who shoot for the stars and miss over ones who make no effort to move the state of the art forward. I'd rather they spent as little time thinking about the fob as possible and spend that time eliminating the need for a fob in the first place.

Some day in the not-so-distant future, no cars will have a fob of any kind. Your car will simply recognize you when you approach and open. 100% of the time. This is certainly more easily attainable than self-driving. And it's better than an over-engineered block of plastic and electronics presented inside a fancy glass and carbon fiber cylinder any day.

You can laugh and say Lucid is silly for proposing we are already in this utopia when clearly we are not. But as far as I can tell, the only time technology has been pushed forward is when it gets pushed just a little before it's quite ready.

I get most people would rather live in the present, where the things they love already work "fine" and "Please don't change anything, thank you very much."

But someone has to be out there asking "Why have a fob?" instead of "How do we make a fancier fob?"

Fob Schmob indeed.
I haven’t used my Fob since January, when it was stolen. Mobile Key only, which works perfectly 95+% of the time. If it doesn’t work, I use the app to unlock. Usually just launching the app reminds the car that I’m standing there with the phone. I keep the Key Card in my wallet just in case but have never needed it.

 

[Bill55]

Fob Schmob indeed.
I haven’t used my Fob since January, when it was stolen. Mobile Key only, which works perfectly 95+% of the time. If it doesn’t work, I use the app to unlock. Usually just launching the app reminds the car that I’m standing there with the phone. I keep the Key Card in my wallet just in case but have never needed it.

Translation. Using the phone, the car frequently takes so long to recognize the phone I have to take it out of my pocket wake up the car, then maybe the door unlocks, or I have to also launch the app and then wait for the car to wake up and then the app can unlock the car. What BS. The Lucid system is not better in any way. I use my phone with BMW and never wait. I use my fob with GMC and the door and tail gate open every time immediately. The Lucid using fob or phone is inconsistent at best. And you and I and many others carry the key card, because we have had times when neither fob or phone would open the car.

 

[Rogue]

Mobile app is usually required. Phone alone is not enough. I'm getting to the point though of just using the valet card. It's so simple and straightforward. A huge leap in my opinion from the fob life with the mobile key kicking in for account purposes by the time you sit.

 

[Bobby]

Mobile app is usually required. Phone alone is not enough. I'm getting to the point though of just using the valet card. It's so simple and straightforward. A huge leap in my opinion from the fob life with the mobile key kicking in for account purposes by the time you sit.

Are you on iPhone?

 

[Bill55]

Mobile app is usually required. Phone alone is not enough. I'm getting to the point though of just using the valet card. It's so simple and straightforward. A huge leap in my opinion from the fob life with the mobile key kicking in for account purposes by the time you sit.

So far behind every other new car. The Lucid is so much better in every way, but the failure of this basic and necessary function is embarrassing at best. Lock unlock in any other car I have owned is never even discussed, because it just works. There is no excuse and Lucid will not be successful if it does not improve.

 

[Bobby]

Translation. Using the phone, the car frequently takes so long to recognize the phone I have to take it out of my pocket wake up the car, then maybe the door unlocks, or I have to also launch the app and then wait for the car to wake up and then the app can unlock the car. What BS. The Lucid system is not better in any way. I use my phone with BMW and never wait. I use my fob with GMC and the door and tail gate open every time immediately. The Lucid using fob or phone is inconsistent at best. And you and I and many others carry the key card, because we have had times when neither fob or phone would open the car.

No, that's not the translation. As I said, it works almost perfectly in my hands (iPhone 12 ProMax), to the point where I don't use the fob, ever. It is WAY better than it was six months ago. A few more tweaks and it will be perfect.

 

[Bill55]

That doesn’t seem to be the experience of many owners.

 

[Rogue]

Are you on iPhone?

Google Pixel 7 Pro.

The key fob is excellent to be fair. I just prefer the other two methods. Response is very quick with the fob, albeit a shorter range.

 

[LucidBrit]

I used the fob for the first week. Haven’t carried it since. For me the phone works without touching the app by the time I have walked up to the car. The exception to this is if I have just walked up to the car causing it to wake it up then walked away and allowed the car to lock again and then gone back to the car. Then I just have to wait a few seconds while it wakes up again. Have never launched the app to open it.

 

[Bill55]

No, that's not the translation. As I said, it works almost perfectly in my hands (iPhone 12 ProMax), to the point where I don't use the fob, ever. It is WAY better than it was six months ago. A few more tweaks and it will be perfect.

 

[borski]

That doesn’t seem to be the experience of many owners.

Also seems to be the experience of many owners

 

[Thinjake]

I think the problems may actually be with the fob sensor IN THE CAR. I, too, have issues where the FOB will be recognized from 20/30 feet away....or not at all while I am standing at the door. I have had multiple batteries replaced...multiple FOBs replaced....but the issue remains. All that is left is the car and it's FOB receptor (or whatever it's called)

 

[OCDC]

Also seems to be the experience of many owners

It should be the experience of all the owners.

Mobile Key only, which works perfectly 95+% of the time.

This % means that there will be some kind of failure to work as intended once every five days, assuming you get into your Lucid 4 times a day. Most other keyless systems are 99.95+% reliable, because they’re designed with that requirement from the beginning…

… So I’m going to throw Lucid a bone and hypothesize that they couldn’t get the rolling code ICs that are used in most keyless systems during the pandemic. Some OEMs have custom silicon from TI for this purpose (Toyota comes to mind), so they could manage inventory better. But the off-the-shelf parts were almost impossible to get. I know from experience that Audi was rationing fobs in ‘21-‘22 because of shortages. Taking the risk to design a keyless entry with Bluetooth in that environment makes business sense, to a degree. It also assumes that cleverness will overcome the limitations of Bluetooth.

 

[borski]

It should be the experience of all the owners.

Sure, I agree with that. And I hope that over time, it will.

I still suspect a large swath of the issues is due to Android (not blaming Android users, obviously). Folks on iOS happen to have, by and large, much better experiences with mobile key, it would appear. I suspect over time that will improve significantly.

 

[Neurio]

Android here (Galaxy S23 Ultra). My mobile key has been great the past few months. Occasionally, the car will go into a 'deep sleep' state, but opening the app wakes the car immediately and it unlocks; no need for the app to fully establish a connection to the car.

 

[CLTGT]

My Mobile Key has been great most of the time and I generally do not carry the fob, just my phone (iPhone 14 pro) and the card. It's just inconsistent and I can live with that, hoping they improve it in time.

What I would love to know is why it takes a long time (even taking out the iPhone and waking it (the phone) up) and if I am in my garage putzing around, it locks and unlocks like it is doing aerobics.

 

[Bobby]

My Mobile Key has been great most of the time and I generally do not carry the fob, just my phone (iPhone 14 pro) and the card. It's just inconsistent and I can live with that, hoping they improve it in time.

What I would love to know is why it takes a long time (even taking out the iPhone and waking it (the phone) up) and if I am in my garage putzing around, it locks and unlocks like it is doing aerobics.

Taking out the phone and waking up has nothing to do with mobile key. It does, however, pass a few seconds to make it seem faster.