Quote:
The door thing is activated by a touch sensor on the inside of the door handle, so that the doors don't actually unlock until your touch it.

Not quite. On my Prius, at least, it is a proximity sensor, but one with an extremely tight range. It will unlock the door when my hand is about three inches or so from the handle with the key fob in my pocket.

The feature is implemented using several antennas to triangulate the location of the key fobs. It can tell the difference between a fob that is inside your pocket, just inside the door, and one that is in your hand just outside the door. Very well done.

After having the car for only three weeks, I now find myself reaching for the doorknob at home, expecting it to unlock automatically.

--Dan.