Current drawn by the keyfob of a 2018 Passat

[guyburns]

I have tested the current drawn by a 2018 Passat keyfob. When dormant, the current is 4.7µAmps, resulting in a theoretical life of a Duracell CR2032 battery of around 5 years. Other tests include the current drawn when:

• buttons are pressed
• for keyless entry, and
• when the keyfob is left inside and becomes deactivated.

I've included the maths to enable life calculations for various numbers of button presses per day.

The PDF can be downloaded here. The keyfob section is on page 3.

[petemac110]

Love your work Guy! Nicely done indeed.

[ope126]

Another tip!
Lock the car over night.
I personally change the CR2032 batteries every 12mths as part of my own servicing regime.
I have hear too many horror stories of people being "locked out" of their car once the remote has failed. As popping of the locks and manually opening seems to be a pain for some!

For hat its worth, I use Maxell (Made In Japan) CR2032 batteries.

[Micky 32]

My experience. I bought my car new in 2017. I have replaced my key battery twice. Seems to last approx 2/2.5 years. Car has 150,000 miles (240,000 km)The key was still working but kept getting the warning.
Here’s a tip. When you get the warning replace the battery immediately. I locked my keys in the boot because the signal must have been too low to detect the key in the car.