Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill14564
EDIT: Was useful to look this up.
It seems current fobs have a passive system to "wake up" the active system that actually communicates with the car. The car sends out a signal that the fob can sense without using any energy, similar to how a gate card works. When the fob receives the correct signal it activates the transceiver that communicates with the car. It is entirely possible that the range of the "wake up" signal is ten feet.
This means it is very possible that the fob uses little or no energy when it is outside the "wake up" range. Now, just because the fob is inside the house doesn't mean it is outside that range. I keep my keys in a bin that is one door and another wall away from the car but might be within 10 feet. Perhaps that is why my battery doesn't last much longer than the 13 months you experience.
Most vehicles can tell where the fob is: whether it is in the car or out and even which door it is close to. It makes sense that the starter system would not work if the fob was not inside the vehicle.
I don't know what the range of the fob is (haven't looked it up). The system in the vehicle should be designed to sense how far away the fob is before allowing the door to unlock. You don't want someone to be able to unlock your door as you are walking away from your vehicle and you don't want a stranger to be open the passenger door while you are getting into the driver seat.
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I never tested the range, but I can start the vehicle with my fob from about 20 feet away from the vehicle. I can open the lift gate from about 20 feet away. I can start or unlock the vehicle from thousands of miles away using an app on my smart phone.