3 ms·

I believe the issue was that, after losing both reception and battery, the car needed reception before being unlocked.

• simonh 7y ago
  Looks like it. They got a tow to somewhere with reception but the car wouldn't start. That implies they did get into it, but were still stuck due to the dead battery. So presumably the door unlock system has it's own backup battery?
  • undecisive 7y ago
    No, the power required to unlock the door (a small motor) is usually a lot less than the power required to ignite the fuel. You'll probably find that the radio and internal lights still worked too (though likely not for long).
    • huffmsa 7y ago
      To turn the engine. Lighting the fuel is easy enough. But overcoming the pressure inside the engine and getting ~50lbs of metal reciprocating and spinning from 0 to 1500rpm in a few seconds takes a bit of a kick.