Passive locking- Help with testing requested

[Halodde]

Hopefully nobody is still having issues with the passive locking the way I am. I have posted about this before and received multiple suggestions but it still happens even after multiple service appointments (mobile and at the service center). The antenna(e) have been replaced. Batteries in the fob are fresh. I'm using the fob because it's more consistent than the mobile key (yeah, it's android). Here is the recurring scenario: I stop the car, put it in park, and get out to go into a store/meeting/whatever. After walking 50-100 feet away, I try to remember to turn around to see if the car is locked. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. I'll stand and wait for a minute before pulling out my phone and locking it via the app (can't use the fob because the range stinks).

Today, it occurred to me that it might be that I am getting out and moving away from the car too quickly for the car to sense that the fob is exiting the car and moving away... or that the direction I am walking away from the car doesn't have good enough antenna signals to sense the fob moving away from the car (like the way the car often doesn't unlock when you approach the trunk from behind). So, I am asking for a little help/research from the forum members who are willing to indulge this request. If anyone is willing to help me test this theory, when you stop your car and get out, close your driver's door behind you AS YOU ARE WALKING AWAY so that you are already a couple of steps from the car when it closes fully. I've noticed the passive locking not working most frequently when I am walking directly away from the side of the car (perpendicular to the way the car is facing). But, it has also happened when I walk away to the rear of the car. I walk fast and am often in a little bit of a hurry to get into meetings etc.

Clearly I'm struggling trying to troubleshoot why this keeps happening and hoping other forum members can help test this on their own cars and see if it makes a difference in your passive locking functionality. Thank you in advance for those willing to test this out. If you can test this, please let me know if you experience a problem and also if you are using a fob or mobile key with which type of phone. Again, my theory is that the fob might be "asleep" when I get out and the antennae don't sense it leaving.

 

[segbrk]

The theory of moving away too quickly shouldn't be true. All it takes is losing the signal, it doesn't matter if it disappears suddenly or not. Try just dropping your fob into a faraday pouch, so it disappears pretty much instantly. For me, this has (in the past) locked it right away. I'll humor you and try this tonight when I have my fob, but I have had 0 issues with locking. Unlocking, yes. Locking has worked... let's call it 115% of the time. It always locks when I want it to and it sometimes locks when I don't want it to.

 

[koflo]

I have been pretty critical about my lucids unlocking feature ( it’s pretty bad so I feel justified) but never car locking.

One thing I will mention is the amount of variation there is with the keys. I’ve had loaners that unlock from 3-4x the distance that my car unlocks from. Same with locking. My car with replaced antennas will not unlock if I am as close as the frunk. In fact 75% of the time I have to press the handles before the car unlocks. It’s probably in the 90%s if I’m using the mobile key. Shit my range is so bad that sometimes my car locks before I’m able to tap my charge port door to have it slide down.

All that to say, it really seems like a roll of the dice depending on the car. You seemingly have a lot of issues with locking specifically. That’s your cars quirk. Mine is the range at which the car unlocks and locks. Even the service center was shocked at how quickly those happened in my car. I think if people tried reproducing your cars issues that they have a slim chance to do so. I also think this is what makes it so hard for lucid to fix these car unlock issues. Seems like a lot of issues that are similar but not the same.

 

[Halodde]

The theory of moving away too quickly shouldn't be true. All it takes is losing the signal, it doesn't matter if it disappears suddenly or not. Try just dropping your fob into a faraday pouch, so it disappears pretty much instantly. For me, this has (in the past) locked it right away. I'll humor you and try this tonight when I have my fob, but I have had 0 issues with locking. Unlocking, yes. Locking has worked... let's call it 115% of the time. It always locks when I want it to and it sometimes locks when I don't want it to.

I guess I'm feeling like it's a combination of moving away and the angle of departure. I understand it shouldn't be a thing. But I'm grasping at straws at this point.

I'll try the Faraday trick. I keep my fobs in them to save battery. But if I have to take the fob out of my pocket to put it in the bag, that movement might be enough to wake the fob, right? Obviously, that would kind of invalidate the test I'm trying to do

 

[segbrk]

I'll try the Faraday trick. I keep my fobs in them to save battery. But if I have to take the fob out of my pocket to put it in the bag, that movement might be enough to wake the fob, right? Obviously, that would kind of invalidate the test I'm trying to do

In that case, take the cover off in preparation and pop the battery out of the fob without moving it around?

 

[segbrk]

@Halodde I think... you are not crazy. It's not nearly as pronounced with mine, but we all know the range and responsiveness differs between our cars. I can reliably reproduce though. I used the fob (left my phone far away), got out, closed the door, and ran straight away from the car around to the other side of my house. I gave it maybe 30 seconds and walked back, it was still unlocked. I then walked straight by and kept going without touching it, got maybe 30 feet away and it locked. I did this three times. Every time, running away, it won't lock. Walking away, it locks.

 

[Halodde]

@Halodde I think... you are not crazy. It's not nearly as pronounced with mine, but we all know the range and responsiveness differs between our cars. I can reliably reproduce though. I used the fob (left my phone far away), got out, closed the door, and ran straight away from the car around to the other side of my house. I gave it maybe 30 seconds and walked back, it was still unlocked. I then walked straight by and kept going without touching it, got maybe 30 feet away and it locked. I did this three times. Every time, running away, it won't lock. Walking away, it locks.

I really appreciate that! Thank you for indulging me. Hope you didn't sprain an ankle running like that lol

Anyone else feel like getting some exercise?

 

[Halodde]

And, to be clear, I haven't ever run away from my car to make this happen. It's as I described, closing the door behind me as I'm walking away. And it seems to be more frequent when I walk directly away from the driver's side of the car.

I wonder if Lucid is aware of this All the times I've talked to service about it, they never once suggested that this could happen.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

If I might make a somewhat unrelated suggestion... Try either taking your fob with you IN a faraday bag, or just leaving it at home. I wonder if the car doesn't get confused when it senses both your phone's mobile key AND the fob. I also have an Android phone (Pixel 7 WITH the battery settings set to always allow the phone to run in the background). I never take a fob with me, and have never had a problem with the car not auto-locking as I left. I always close the door the way you describe.

My problem used to be with the car not auto-unlocking, but I seem to have solved it. I discovered that when I would get close enough for the car to auto-unlock while I was doing something else, and so without actually ever opening the car, that even one such event was enough for the car to not passively open the next time I was nearby. If I know I'm going to be fussing around near the car for a while, I turn Bluetooth off before I get within range. Or, more likely, if I'm heading to another car or my boat, and I see the car auto-unlock, I just walk over, open the door, and close it again. Since I've been doing that, the car has never failed to auto unlock when I want it to. (I would say about fifty successful trials at this point.)

I will say that I find that the whole phone thing seems to work best if, after an OTA update, you tell the phone app to terminate the link, and then reestablish it.

For whatever it's worth...

BB

 

[Halodde]

If I might make a somewhat unrelated suggestion... Try either taking your fob with you IN a faraday bag, or just leaving it at home. I wonder if the car doesn't get confused when it senses both your phone's mobile key AND the fob. I also have an Android phone (Pixel 7 WITH the battery settings set to always allow the phone to run in the background). I never take a fob with me, and have never had a problem with the car not auto-locking as I left. I always close the door the way you describe.

My problem used to be with the car not auto-unlocking, but I seem to have solved it. I discovered that when I would get close enough for the car to auto-unlock while I was doing something else, and so without actually ever opening the car, that even one such event was enough for the car to not passively open the next time I was nearby. If I know I'm going to be fussing around near the car for a while, I turn Bluetooth off before I get within range. Or, more likely, if I'm heading to another car or my boat, and I see the car auto-unlock, I just walk over, open the door, and close it again. Since I've been doing that, the car has never failed to auto unlock when I want it to. (I would say about fifty successful trials at this point.)

I will say that I find that the whole phone thing seems to work best if, after an OTA update, you tell the phone app to terminate the link, and then reestablish it.

For whatever it's worth...

BB

I appreciate the suggestion. But, my car can't be confused between fob and mobile key because I deleted the mobile key to eliminate the phone variable. I have struggled with fob/mobile key recognition since I got the car. I tried the fob alone, the mobile key alone, and even both. Most recently, I was using the mobile key alone and still having issues. After the antenna(e) replacement and OTA's improved the recognition, I decided to try just the fob again. The fob was better than the mobile key. But obviously, it still has issues. I'm not sure if the pixel is better than samsung. But, I had the app set to stay open when I was using the mobile key alone. Who knows, maybe I should go back to that again

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I appreciate the suggestion. But, my car can't be confused between fob and mobile key because I deleted the mobile key to eliminate the phone variable. I have struggled with fob/mobile key recognition since I got the car. I tried the fob alone, the mobile key alone, and even both. Most recently, I was using the mobile key alone and still having issues. After the antenna(e) replacement and OTA's improved the recognition, I decided to try just the fob again. The fob was better than the mobile key. But obviously, it still has issues. I'm not sure if the pixel is better than samsung. But, I had the app set to stay open when I was using the mobile key alone. Who knows, maybe I should go back to that again

Oh, sorry. I missed that. As far as various Android phone brands...From what I've read here, it seems that more Pixel phone users have had problems than those with Samsung phones. I have never used the fob, so I don't have that perspective at all. The good news is, you seem to be able to unlock your car when you want to head to Charlie the Butcher's for a beef on weck, even if you can't lock the car when you get there. Good luck!

 

[Halodde]

Is anyone else willing to test this out? Hoping for a few more data points to share with Lucid about this if possible.

 

[audiojerry]

Have you tried removing your keys from your profile, removing your profile and re-adding it, rebooting the car's computer?

 

[Halodde]

Have you tried removing your keys from your profile, removing your profile and re-adding it, rebooting the car's computer?

Several times including most recently when the CCC was replaced a couple of months ago

 

[Halodde]

I think at least some of the problems are due to my phone. I might go back to the fob

 

[DeaneG]

I think at least some of the problems are due to my phone. I might go back to the fob

The fob is very reliable.

 

[Thinjake]

The fob is very reliable.

I disagree. I can be standing at the driver's door with the fob in my hand and it still take 15-30 seconds to recognize.

I have the same issues as OP. Fob, mobile key, both....the car decides if and when it wants to open on it's own.

 

[DeaneG]

I disagree. I can be standing at the driver's door with the fob in my hand and it still take 15-30 seconds to recognize.

I should have said relatively very reliable. If my car doesn't unlock when I approach it with the fob, I press the door handle. That usually works quickly.

 

[Shuasha]

I've had a problem only once that I can tell, after the most recent update. I went to a store, parked in the lot, went in, then noticed the car was still unlocked when I came out and was quite far away from it. I haven't seen it happen since, but now I'm looking for it.

 

[Halodde]

I've had a problem only once that I can tell, after the most recent update. I went to a store, parked in the lot, went in, then noticed the car was still unlocked when I came out and was quite far away from it. I haven't seen it happen since, but now I'm looking for it.

Now that I'm aware of the reason that happens (or at least think I'm aware of the reason), the auto locking seems to work pretty reliably as I will not walk directly away from the side of the car and I intentionally walk away more slowly no matter what direction I'm going. However, the passive unlock continues to be a problem with my phone/car. I'm going to delete the mobile key today and go back to the fob to see if that's better