Can R2 owners chime in on their experience with PAAK?

[rsfkff]

Works well for me. Coming from a Cadillac Optiq which doesn't even have PaaK, one of the reasons I traded in so soon. Had a Mach-E before that, over the four years I had the Mach-E it continued to improve.

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[RoadtripEV]

I had this issue when I did my second test drive of the R2, but it was more because I forgot to lock it with the keycard when I left the vehicle. My wife and I ran a brief errand while we were on our test drive, and it wasn't until I returned to the car that I noticed that the car was unlocked, with the handles presented.

With our Model Y and 3, we're just so used to walking away and everything locking (and even if it wasn't locked, the handles remain flush).

The walk-away lock thing is so ingrained in my brain that when we took a family vacation to San Diego earlier this year, we had a Jeep Compass rental car. On more than one occasion, I got out of the car without turning it off... then quickly realized that the vehicle was still running when I closed the door. And on two nights, I left the vehicle unlocked because I forgot to press the button on the key fob after exiting (which has been a foreign concept to me 5 years into EV ownership).

I've been driving Tesla's for close to a decade at this point and it is absolutely engrained in my head as well. Given the couple of failures I had in the Gen 1 R1T, I've forced myself to look over my shoulder as I walk away especially since I often have my dog with me often on my travels and I want to ensure she is safe.

And I, like you, have left numerous vehicles on or unlocked when I rent vehicles or drive family members vehicles given that I just get out and walk away. Electric ownership rewires the brain.

So far though, the R2 has been very consistent. Hoping it stays that way.

 

[slillie]

Works Great! We park "Chief" in our garage at home so we have the auto-lock feature disabled (in settings) when pulling in the driveway. One caveat: The one time I parked the truck in the driveway overnight, someone came by and stole some personal items from the inside. That was on me. Regardless, PAAK is awesome! Can't think of any suggested improvements to the system...works as advertised.

 

[cthelan]

Seems to be working exactly the same as our Gen2. I'd bet it's the same hardware. Way better than Gen1, but still nowhere near as good as it could be (Tesla).

 

[SANZC02]

Seems to be working exactly the same as our Gen2. I'd bet it's the same hardware. Way better than Gen1, but still nowhere near as good as it could be (Tesla).

I’m curious, in what way is the Tesla better? I have an older Tesla with a key fob and using the electronic key for the R2 I can’t tell a difference between the fob on the Tesla and the electronic key on the R2.

Not sure I can think of a way PAAK on Tesla could be better than what we are seeing.

 

[Redmond Chad]

Same question here. I've had several Teslas, and PaaK was fantastic on the Gen 1 R1S that I had for over 3 years. It was the same experience I had with the Teslas.

I am sure it could vary depending on things like phone, electronic interference, etc. Just curious what cthelan experienced.

 

[macb00kemdanno]

I’m curious, in what way is the Tesla better? I have an older Tesla with a key fob and using the electronic key for the R2 I can’t tell a difference between the fob on the Tesla and the electronic key on the R2.

Not sure I can think of a way PAAK on Tesla could be better than what we are seeing.

You're comparing a key fob Tesla, and we're talking about PAAK. However, using PAAK with our '24 and '23 Teslas, it's flawless and works 100% of the time.

With my phone in my pocket, I don't have to "disable it at home" or whatever. I walk to the car, and in the fraction of a second I press the door handle to open it, it unlocks automatically and lets me in. No waiting, no stuttering, no fuss. If my kid goes out to the car and I'm not nearby, it won't open. I walk within 6 feet, and it unlocks when he pulls the handle. I can walk around the house or near the car without it unlocking and locking itself for no reason.

It's really just seamless, so much to the point that I don't even think about it because it never fails for any reason whatsoever. Also, driver profiles load 100% of the time based on if I or my wife opens the drivers door.

Now, I know that Rivians have a different layer to it all because the door handles self-present, so that makes things a bit tricky with regard to "phantom" locks/unlocks.

 

[cthelan]

I’m curious, in what way is the Tesla better?

Had early model Y prior to Rivians. It just worked, every time.

Gen2/R2 are close, but it still seems to get confused sometimes if my wife and I are both approaching the vehicle. Also will get confused between my phone and watch.

Probably just notice it glitching out more than tesla between the handles moving and the lock/unlock sounds. Either way the Tesla key experience was totally seamless and for whatever reason, we just notice it more on Rivian and it’s not always as easy as just walking up and getting in sometimes.

 

[GromitATL]

PaaK worked pretty well in my 2018 Model 3.

Here and there it wouldn't work unless my phone was REALLY close to the car and it seemed to happen more when I had my hands full (conspiracy theory!).

That usually resulted in being in the parking lot of a Publix, dry humping my car while holding multiple bags of groceries.

 

[SANZC02]

Had early model Y prior to Rivians. It just worked, every time.

Gen2/R2 are close, but it still seems to get confused sometimes if my wife and I are both approaching the vehicle. Also will get confused between my phone and watch.

Probably just notice it glitching out more than tesla between the handles moving and the lock/unlock sounds. Either way the Tesla key experience was totally seamless and for whatever reason, we just notice it more on Rivian and it’s not always as easy as just walking up and getting in sometimes.

Interesting, not my experience.

We have only had the R2 for a few weeks but at this point it has been seamless for us.

 

[SANZC02]

You're comparing a key fob Tesla, and we're talking about PAAK. However, using PAAK with our '24 and '23 Teslas, it's flawless and works 100% of the time.

With my phone in my pocket, I don't have to "disable it at home" or whatever. I walk to the car, and in the fraction of a second I press the door handle to open it, it unlocks automatically and lets me in. No waiting, no stuttering, no fuss. If my kid goes out to the car and I'm not nearby, it won't open. I walk within 6 feet, and it unlocks when he pulls the handle. I can walk around the house or near the car without it unlocking and locking itself for no reason.

It's really just seamless, so much to the point that I don't even think about it because it never fails for any reason whatsoever. Also, driver profiles load 100% of the time based on if I or my wife opens the drivers door.

Now, I know that Rivians have a different layer to it all because the door handles self-present, so that makes things a bit tricky with regard to "phantom" locks/unlocks.

I under stand the thread initial inquiry was for PAAK but the fob is honestly the standard people shoot for with PAAK as they have been around with passive entry for over 20 years.

At this point the electronic key using our iPhones in the R2 has been as solid as any passive fob we have used.

 

[Adagia]

Just got our R2 yesterday. The key on my husband's iPhone worked right away, no issues. My Samsung S26 was another story. Up until this evening I could only start the car if I put the phone on the charger. I'd like to say I now know all the settings that must be set to make it work, but honestly I'm not sure what finally did the trick. The last thing I had changed were battery settings on the phone and the Rivian app. Once it started working I reversed my last changes to verify that is what did the trick, but it still continued to work after that. Still a mystery.

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