Here is a situation that happened to me this very morning. My husband and I went to do errands together. At some point, I dropped my husband off and continued driving to the next destination. When I got there I found out that I couldn’t lock the car or restart it because guess what? My husband took the keys with him! I immediately thought: can you drive an electric vehicle without its keys?
The answer is yes. You can drive an EV without having your smart key, a.k.a fob, with you. However, when starting the car the key has to be with you and be detected by the car. Once it’s done the driver can continue driving as long as he or she wishes but once you shut the car off it cannot be locked or started again unless the fob is with you and detected by the car.
The idea behind it is that EVs do not require the fob to be present while driving, only when starting the car. If the presence of the fob was required throughout the drive, the fob’s battery would have to be much larger and much stronger, and if, God forbid, the battery would suddenly die in the middle of driving and cause the vehicle to stop at a standstill, the safety, and legal ramifications would be enormous (I will elaborate on that later)
Can the car give you an alert that the fob is missing?
Well, it depends. Some cars (the newer models obviously) will give you a warning on the dashboard, letting you know the “key not detected” so you won’t go too far without it. In some models, there is an audible warning as soon as the smart key goes out of range and an alarm beeps non-stop so it can be difficult to ignore (I wish I had that kind of warning on my MG ZS EV but unfortunately it’s not the case). I ended up having to borrow my parent’s car and leave our car unlocked to drive to where my husband was to get the key back!
Why are EVs allowed to drive without the smart key in range?
There are problems with remotely turning off a car while driving. From a safety perspective, this can be a disaster – imagine driving on a highway when the car suddenly stops without warning because you forgot the key fob somewhere. This can cause car crashes as well as traffic jams and all sorts of mayhem.
This of course leads us to a legal complication and potential liability lawsuits that no sane car manufacturer wants to deal with, so the situation will (probably) remain as we currently know it.
Shutting off the vehicle remotely is also discussed as a means of preventing theft of electric vehicles, but the problems I mentioned earlier, safety, and legal liabilities prevent it (and rightly so) over and over again.
A Key App Can Come in Handy
In some electric vehicles, Tesla for one, there is the possibility of starting the vehicle remotely by using the car’s app. In such a situation, let’s say that one of the car owners has a key in his hand but his spouse is actually with the vehicle in another place, it is still possible to open and start the vehicle remotely using the Tesla application. That is a pretty convenient solution, you’ve got to admit.
What happens if you lose the key fob?
Well, if that’s the case (too bad!) then you simply have to replace your current fob. A locksmith can no longer help in this situation. The car industry has moved on 🙂
Your best option is to do it through the certified dealership that supplied you with your car or an independent repair shop. You’re probably looking at a $250-350 expense. Of course, you can go with a key fob replacement from Amazon (a much cheaper option) and then have someone program the fob specifically for your car. The chances of this method being a success, however, is about 50/50
Conclusion
To sum up, the bottom line is that the fob is required to start the car – but it is certainly possible to drive without it as far as the eye can see.
Once you have turned off the vehicle, however, you’re on your own: you will not be able to lock or restart your car. In that case, your only option would be to call a friend or a family member who is kind enough to drop off the forgotten key fob.
Good luck!