Have fob will travel
I had another one of those ‘I can’t believe I didn’t know that’ moments recently when the battery on the key fob I use to lock and unlock my vehicle died, and I was left on the roadside with no way of getting home.
Or so I thought.
After standing around for 20 minutes feeling sorry for myself, I started fiddling with the fob and must have pulled a tiny lever and out popped a ‘real’ key to my car. And then it hit me. Of course, most fobs these days have a key embedded in them for situations just like this.
It’s a clever ‘belt and braces’ approach to technology that was pioneered by Siemens in Germany for Mercedes-Benz – who called it ‘Key-less Go’ – back in 1998 when launching its new W220 S-Class, a large sedan that cost a fortune in its day.
Fortunately, keyless entry filtered down to cheaper models and was widely adopted by other manufacturers. These days, it’s hard to find a modern vehicle that doesn’t use this technology.
Of course, like most technology, it’s all good… until it isn’t. But the smart people at Siemens recognised that batteries – even very good ones – have a life and that, like me, people would be left stranded if the battery in their key fob failed when they were out and about.
So, the clever idea of embedding a ‘traditional’ metal key inside the fob was born. Thankyou Siemens. I won’t be forgetting your good work in a hurry.
Words: VACC CEO, Geoff Gwilym. As featured in the Herald Sun 29 May 2020.
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