Turning an electronic key to battery- saving mode

[Roger_N]

Just found this in my Rav4 manual, I did a search and nothing came up so I've posted it as we are coming to holiday time and it may help if you are leaving you car parked up.

 

[philip42h]

I find the second part of that guidance most useful ... put the key down and leave it alone - it will then go into Battery saving mode of its own accord - pick it up again and normal function will resume. No magic button presses required ... 😉

[Cyker]

If it's going to be left sat for a while, it's also worth disabling the Smart Entry system completely (Via the head unit settings) as that will let the 12v Battery last longer

[nlee]

There's been a discussion about this on the "other forum" relating more towards potential relay type theft than Battery saving. I've read somewhere that the motion sensing auto sleep for the fob is only on later models, and may not be on some MY19/MY20 Mk5s. It's also maybe not present on some other Toyota models at all, the RAV was the first to get it.

If it's important for you to know you have it, for security peace of mind, then probably worth testing it, or check your vehicle specific manual online. Put the keys on the floor by the driver door and leave them. Occasionally try to lock/unlock the door with the door handle sensors and a timer running. Mine stopped after 4 mins. Tap the keys with your foot and it will lock/unlock again.

This is a fairly new additional security implementation that only some of the bigger brands have introduced in the last 3 or so years. The autosleep time seems to generally be in the range of 45 sec to 15 mins across brands and models but those who have tested the RAV4 seem to be getting 4 mins.

 

[Roy124]

Auto sleep is fine but the manual operation is one of those engineer  'look we can do this' things but something an owner might need so rately that they forget. 

The 'old' map update procedure is another. 2-3 hours work twice a year is always novel. I wonder how many owners never bother?