[joper90]

Correct, you just have the key (well a card) in your pocket/wallet and walk up to the car, which unlocks, you can then get in and press 'start'..

So if you leave your keys in a bowl by the door, they can just extend the range of the key with a relay/booster.

The car will only stop when you turn it off.

[agumonkey]

Yeah I've read that these "start" cars won't stop for security reasons.

Still a button less key .. with a distance based protocol .. I'm no expert but it sounds so naive.

[pc86]

I will occasionally stop at a mailbox a block or two from my house to drop off outgoing mail, and when I get back in I always have a warning about the fob not being in the car. I can drive away no problem but the warning stays up for 5-10 seconds. I can't imagine the engine would stop once you can get it running.

[redbeard0x0a]

The car won't stop running, it will just complain about the key not being in the car. It will let you drive away. (I tested this is my car when I got it - I started it, left my keys in the garage, then drove down the block and back).

[pessimizer]

Juvenile power fantasies are going to kill us all. People want to be magical, wave their arms and move their hands mysteriously, and affect the world.

Things like this save an infinitesimal amount of time (or sometimes even make actual usage more difficult), and introduce orders of magnitude more complexity ripe for exploitation. All so people can feel like they're magical.

[laumars]

You're being overly harsh there. I've found not having to reach for my keys to be rather convenient when shopping with both of my kids (eg opening the boot by touching it when my hands are full carrying shopping + kids under my arms).

Sure, I would still cope with conventional keys; I wont deny that. Just as my mum coped raising me when she didn't even have a car. But I'm just making the point that this feature isn't just some "juvenile power fantasy" and actually does help make like a little bit easier.

Though frankly, even if it was just a vanity feature then I still wouldn't begrudge anyone wanting it. Isn't that the half the reason people buy nice cars in the first place?

For what it's worth, if this is a feature you have but don't like, then some cars (mine included) do allow you to disable that feature. So it might be worth consoling your manual / checking the in car settings menu.

[agumonkey]

> Juvenile power fantasies

I believe society still have a lot of inertia toward this. I also think video games tapped into this brain subsystem, that IMO was designed as a desire to learn how to master the real world, except now technology can bridge the fantasy

[rconti]

It's extremely convenient and I have no regrets.

I have car insurance and zero worries about theft.

[kevin_thibedeau]

It is a cost savings move. If you have power locks and a transponder system anyway, the lock cylinders are effectively redundant (minus security concerns) and can be eliminated for more profit.

[djrogers]

These cars all still have physical lock cylinders for backup, the key is usually hidden inside the fob.

[bradlys]

I don't think this is really how it is. From what I know, all of the cars have lock cylinders still because if your battery dies, how do you get into your car to replace or jump the battery?

There is a very slim key that is included in all the key fobs that I've seen.