The first time I pressed the button to start the car, it was so easy and convenient – as if I was somehow stuck in a tax bracket that I didn’t belong to. “Are you saying,” I thought, “that I can put the keys in my pocket and the car will let me in and drive around?”
Push-button ignition is one of those buttons that doesn’t really add any new functionality to what it replaces (in this case, an ignition system that allows you to insert and turn a key). It exists only for convenience, which it does well. You get in the car, press the brake pedal and the button, and you are ready to go. It’s hardly more difficult than unlocking your phone.
Regardless, for most of us, it is also the most brute force we can generate with our fingertips. By flipping the switch on the surge protector, you will get almost 2000 watts of power. It’s not a small amount, but with the push of a button to start the car, you can transport yourself, your family, luggage and, oh yes, a car that weighs thousands of pounds on the highway.
The button itself is relatively standard for the automotive industry, which is surprising given how different regular old keys are. All the ones I’ve seen are round, located somewhere to the right of the steering wheel, and have lights to indicate that your car is on. There are some safety measures – many cars prevent accidental starting by requiring simultaneous depressing of the brake pedal. Personally, I think it’s the perfect combination of convenience and manual process – the coordination of the legs and arms makes it feel like you’re doing something, but you don’t have to fiddle with the keys.
When I started writing this article, I was under the impression that button launch is a relatively new feature, but its origins go back over a century. The 1912 Cadillac Model 30 was one of the first cars to feature push-button ignition, a button that activated an electric starter that replaced the engine crank. Of course, for “cars” these are the early days, so the convenience is somewhat diminished by a few other steps you need to follow, such as setting the engine’s fuel/air ratio and setting the ignition timing. However, it’s fair to describe the Model 30 as a button start. It’s also keyless, not because it communicates with the key wirelessly like modern cars do (obviously), but because…there’s no key at all.
However, at some point, people realized that there must probably be a way to prevent someone from starting your car. There was a time when cars had keys that turned on the ignition, but you didn’t actually use the key to turn the car on. By the 1950s, however, many cars were fitted with the turnkey ignition system we are familiar with today, replacing the push-button system. It basically stayed that way for a long time, until someone decided it was time to bring back the button and all the keyless convenience it brings.
Mercedes-Benz is usually credited for popularizing this feature with the KeylessGo system in the 1998 S-Class (I asked the company if they considered themselves the inventor of the modern KeylessGo system, but got no answer). While this car came with a standard key that you turn to start the car, you can opt for a keyless system that wouldn’t be out of place in a modern car. As long as you have a special plastic card, you can walk up to the car, get in it, and press the button on the top of the switch to activate it.
There was a time when push button start was a luxury. The S-Class started at $72,515, which is about $130,000 in today’s dollars. If you remember a lot of songs written in the 2010s by people like 2 Chainz, Rae Sremmurd, Gucci Mane, Lil Baby and Wiz Khalifa that had lyrics about cars that didn’t have keys or started with buttons, here’s why. Khalifa refers to pushbutton ignition in two songs).
While this feature isn’t all that exotic in 2022, it’s not yet very widespread; if you look at the top 10 best-selling 2022 models in the US, only half of them have this feature as standard. If you buy the smallest Toyota RAV4, Camry or Tacoma, Honda CR-V or Ford F-150, you will get a traditional starter key. (That the base F-150 doesn’t use push-start is no surprise, since the truck doesn’t even come equipped with cruise control—yes, I’m serious.) Ditch the ignition cylinder like a button.
When I got my first push button start car in 2020, I found the first few months very confusing (probably because I had only driven cars for a few decades back then). I pressed the button for a moment before braking, and an annoying beep and the message “start applying the brake” came out of my car. However, I have come to love it, and now when I’m driving another car, having to take the key out of my pocket and put it in the ignition seems completely outdated. However, I admit that for a month or two I tried to get out of the car (2016 Ford Fusion Energi) without turning it off completely, which prompted her to yell at me again.
However, this creates a problem: like many conveniences, pressing a button comes at a price. Dozens of people have died from carbon monoxide poisoning or loss of vehicle control after their cars were left waiting to turn off after leaving with the keys. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration even has a page warning people to be especially careful if their car has a keyless ignition system. These deaths show that when a car becomes easy enough to use without thinking about it, people don’t think about it – and that automakers haven’t considered the deadly consequences of the situation. In 2021, several senators introduced legislation making mandatory measures to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and rollovers, but so far these bills have not been passed.
Many manufacturers began to come up with systems to prevent further deaths. But the days of hitting the start button may be numbered now that companies are pushing convenience even further. Many luxury electric vehicles, most notably Tesla, are moving away from manual starting entirely. You get in, select your driving mode, and the car is ready to pick you up.
While a large number of electric vehicles from traditional automakers such as Ford, Hyundai and Toyota have push-button start, there are signs that push-button start may already be gaining momentum. The Volvo XC40 Recharge turns on and off automatically, while the VW ID 4 has a start/stop button and, according to the car’s owner’s manual, its use is completely optional. It’s more or less the same technology; these cars identify you with a key fob, card, or even your smartphone, but they just turn the engine on or off when you use the gear selector, not as a separate step.
Like I said, I’m not a big fan of rituals, so I think it would be a shame if the push-to-start button was completely replaced. Luckily, if this is the future, it could take a while considering how slowly the button has spread since its rebirth. Until then, the button will still serve as a small luxury, allowing those lucky enough to have one less fuss to fiddle with in the morning when they drive to the car.
Correction May 31, 7:02 pm ET: The original version of this article incorrectly referred to carbon monoxide as CO2. Its real chemical formula is CO. We are sorry for the mistake.