Gen2 Key Fob first impressions

[ElGuano]

I've had mine for a few days now, sharing some initial thoughts. Note that I've never seen a Gen1 keyfob before, so can't provide a direct comparison.

1. Appearance/build quality: Well, it's not super premium. The carabiner part is really light, sandblasted aluminum, and has the exact same feel as those cheap chinese aluminum doo-dads you get off Amazon for $5 for a 10-pack. The clip spring action isn't smooth, as the barrel rubs against the plastic fob housing when you lift the clip, and when you spin it, feels kind of sandy. The locking button is nice, and works as advertised. When closed, the clip is locked down but the tolerances are loose enough where it can jiggle and clack against the latch. The plastic fob part is fine.

2. Activation/pairing: Flawless, it worked exactly as you'd expect. Pop the battery in, an orange light starts flashing on it. Load the Rivian app on your phone and select "Add keyfob" in the Drivers and Keys section, done. It took about a minute.

3. Function: Great. PaaK can be a bit annoying, if you're walking out to the mailbox or doing yardwork and the car constantly locks/unlocks. Its does it as well with the keyfob, but I don't have my keys unless I'm intentionally going to the car, so this is a case where having a single-purpose device helps. NFC seems to work well too for unlocking and vehicle start. Excited to see what UWB will bring.

4. Battery is a chonker. Never seen a CR2477 before. Hope it can last a year or more.

Overall, it's fine. I don't think the build quality is in line with the attention to detail of the vehicle itself, or with the various other keyfobs I've used before. Price-wise, that doesn't bother me. It's the same as others charge, and I wanted it for the extra functionality/convenience, which it provides.

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[HapticWagon]

Thanks for your thoughts.

For the price, kinda surprised no rechargeable battery and more premium feel.

 

[iamnid]

I concur with the cheap feel. Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as you with getting mine to work. I went through the pairing process, it said successful, it shows up in the app as one of my many keys as well as in the car... but it doesn't work. None of the buttons do anything, I get a red flashing LED when I try them. NFC works to lock/unlock the doors (pressing the fob to the handle) and it will allow me to drive the car.

The management of the fob within the app is pretty poor as well. You can't remove it from the car and try to re-pair it. There doesn't appear to be any way to reset the fob and try again. Going through the pairing process again just tells me that the fob is already assigned to my car.

As far as your annoyance about locking and unlocking when you're home, there are two settings for this you can change from within the vehicle. You can make it so that the fob doesn't lock/unlock via proximity. You can also disable locking/unlocking when at home.

 

[ElGuano]

As far as your annoyance about locking and unlocking when you're home, there are two settings for this you can change from within the vehicle. You can make it so that the fob doesn't lock/unlock via proximity. You can also disable locking/unlocking when at home.

Absolutely. I love the *idea* of proximity unlock, and I've been trying to make it work well. And when it works, it's great, it's fine. The only real issue is that it can't read minds, and my house isn't so big that I can avoid the truck as I walk around the yard, to get mail, etc.

I'll probably end up using one of the settings you mentioned, but haven't yet decided.

 

[SANZC02]

Absolutely. I love the *idea* of proximity unlock, and I've been trying to make it work well. And when it works, it's great, it's fine. The only real issue is that it can't read minds, and my house isn't so big that I can avoid the truck as I walk around the yard, to get mail, etc.

I'll probably end up using one of the settings you mentioned, but haven't yet decided.

For PaaK I solved the issue by setting location services on my Rivian app to only work while using the app. If I’m working around the house, in the garage, or anyplace I’m around the vehicle but do not want it reacting to Paak, I just close the Rivian app and it does not interact with the vehicle. Then I just relaunch the app when I’m ready to use it.

 

[cobras.risers]

I purchased 2 (one for myself and one for my significant other). Both paired flawlessly. I then assigned one of them to my significant other and it shows up as such in the app (one under my profile and one under SO’s profile). However when viewing the drivers and keys in the car itself both key fobs still show up under my profile. What gives? Shouldn’t the drivers and keys within the app match with the drivers and keys in the car UI?

 

[ElGuano]

I purchased 2 (one for myself and one for my significant other). Both paired flawlessly. I then assigned one of them to my significant other and it shows up as such in the app (one under my profile and one under SO’s profile). However when viewing the drivers and keys in the car itself both key fobs still show up under my profile. What gives? Shouldn’t the drivers and keys within the app match with the drivers and keys in the car UI?

This behavior happens with ALL my keys. The app will reflect re-assigned keys fine, but that message never gets to the car, which will show all keys on the Owner profile. When I unlock using the "reassigned" key, it uses the Owner profile, and not the profile the key was reassigned to.

I have a service appointment next week to address this, but I suspect it's much more widespread than just me (but nobody notices it because few people reassign keys, and it still works to unlock and start the car even if it isn't actually reassigned in the car).

 

[cobras.risers]

This behavior happens with ALL my keys. The app will reflect re-assigned keys fine, but that message never gets to the car, which will show all keys on the Owner profile. When I unlock using the "reassigned" key, it uses the Owner profile, and not the profile the key was reassigned to.

I have a service appointment next week to address this, but I suspect it's much more widespread than just me (but nobody notices it because few people reassign keys, and it still works to unlock and start the car even if it isn't actually reassigned in the car).

Thanks. Would love to hear if this gets resolved and how. Hopefully everyone who wants to reassign keys won’t have to make a service appointment just to get the keys to reflect properly in the car.

 

[ElGuano]

Yeah, will report back. It's definitely not the most serious problem, but I see it everywhere I look. For example, RivianTrackr's video on the keyfob below shows symptoms of it as well (his car's Drivers and Keys section doesn't show any keycards at all, but you can see the keycards are indeed assigned in the app for him and his wife):

 

[cobras.risers]

Also one feature I miss from my Tesla key fob was the ability to open the charge port door (when holding down trunk button for 1-2 secs). Would be nice for them to add this feature.

 

[SadHill]

Also one feature I miss from my Tesla key fob was the ability to open the charge port door (when holding down trunk button for 1-2 secs). Would be nice for them to add this feature.

since the fob can have over the air updates they may just add that in the future

 

[ElGuano]

There's also the possible UWB use case. Stand next to the charge port for a few seconds and it'll open the port automatically (or the frunk if you stand in front, etc.).

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

PaaK can be a bit annoying, if you're walking out to the mailbox or doing yardwork and the car constantly locks/unlocks.

I set mine to not do anything when it's at home. I don't need it waking up every time I walk out to the garage, etc. Maybe an option for you?

 

[DuluthDad]

Just received mine today. Hoping for an easy pairing.

 

[norivian]

I purchased 2 (one for myself and one for my significant other). Both paired flawlessly. I then assigned one of them to my significant other and it shows up as such in the app (one under my profile and one under SO’s profile). However when viewing the drivers and keys in the car itself both key fobs still show up under my profile. What gives? Shouldn’t the drivers and keys within the app match with the drivers and keys in the car UI?

Maybe do “Assign Key”

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