2nd phone app user: Same Tesla account or separate?

[BrianDunning]

Took delivery yesterday, got my phone app set up great. Then when installing the app on my wife's phone, I wondered whether it makes any difference if we log in on her phone using my same Tesla account, or is there a reason to create a separate Tesla account for her? We're only ever going to share the one car.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

You can both log into the same account. If you have multiple cars then you can either use one account or share cars across multiple accounts.

 

[IDRVSLO]

If you have two or more cars and you want to lord over both but you don’t want the other person tracking movement in “yours”, that’s a reason to have 2 accounts. Or you want one or more people to have access to one car but not all.

 

[PianoAl]

We both use the same account. Works great.

 

[arnolddeleon]

Three different humans, three different accounts, one car.

Features:
proper security/credentials separation
secondary users don't have full control of the account
You can "loan" out using one of the secondary accounts without giving access to owner account

Bugs:
secondary users don't have full of the account/car (if desired)

I'm expecting when we get Model Y I will have them set it up so my wife's account is the owner account on that one.

 

[IDRVSLO]

You can do that? I’ve only been able to do a secondary user for the account not tertiary.

 

[eXntrc]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet. For me, the number one reason to have two separate accounts is that the driver profile can be linked with the key used to enter the vehicle. This includes phone key. Which means that if your wife uses her phone (with her own Tesla account) to access the car it will automatically load her seat / mirror / steering wheel preferences. Same goes for you when you enter the vehicle using your phone and your own Tesla account.

 

[fr100]

Do they actually allow more than one account to access the same car? Seems like a good way to lose track of who has access to your car.

 

[eXntrc]

Do they actually allow more than one account to access the same car? Seems like a good way to lose track of who has access to your car.

Yes they do. When I bought my 3 a year ago you had to create a second Tesla.com account then open a ticket with customer service to add the second account to the car. I don't know if there is a more automated way to do it now, but it wasn't overly complicated and I feel it's nice to have.

 

[IDRVSLO]

Yes they do. When I bought my 3 a year ago you had to create a second Tesla.com account then open a ticket with customer service to add the second account to the car. I don't know if there is a more automated way to do it now, but it wasn't overly complicated and I feel it's nice to have.

Now you can just go into the account management page and the secondary contact email gets access. Good info about the driver profile.. however if I used 2 accounts my wife would want to know why she can't track my car

 

[drtimhill]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet. For me, the number one reason to have two separate accounts is that the driver profile can be linked with the key used to enter the vehicle. This includes phone key. Which means that if your wife uses her phone (with her own Tesla account) to access the car it will automatically load her seat / mirror / steering wheel preferences. Same goes for you when you enter the vehicle using your phone and your own Tesla account.

That's because the profile isnt linked to the account, its linked to which iPhone is used to unlock the car, even if they share the same account. So you can still do what you say regardless of how the account is setup.

 

[EldestOyster]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet. For me, the number one reason to have two separate accounts is that the driver profile can be linked with the key used to enter the vehicle.

It's not mentioned because it's not necessary. Since each phone is matched to its own key, the driver profile feature works even if you share one account. It's the key that determines which profile to set. Ours is set up this way and it works as expected.

 

[arnolddeleon]

Do they actually allow more than one account to access the same car? Seems like a good way to lose track of who has access to your car.

Well yes, lots of existence proofs. Adding a second account is now appears to be easy (there is a website option). I suspect a third account still requires interacting with support.

I'm not sure how this makes it easier to lose track who has access :shrug:

 

[eXntrc]

That's because the profile isnt linked to the account, its linked to which iPhone is used to unlock the car, even if they share the same account. So you can still do what you say regardless of how the account is setup.

Ahh. I liked your response BTW because I didn't know that. My assumption about it being tied to the account was wrong then. That's how we had it setup from day one. But now that I think about the phone key user interface on the touch screen, that makes sense. It's driven by the phone and not the account.

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[SigNC]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this yet. For me, the number one reason to have two separate accounts is that the driver profile can be linked with the key used to enter the vehicle. This includes phone key. Which means that if your wife uses her phone (with her own Tesla account) to access the car it will automatically load her seat / mirror / steering wheel preferences. Same goes for you when you enter the vehicle using your phone and your own Tesla account.

You don't need a separate tesla account for that. You just tie the persons phone to the car profile. It's tesla account agnostic.

 

[Ecmiyake]

Ordered my 3, still waiting for delivery. Just wondering, if you've created 2 phone keys, one for self and one for wife. When going out together, is it the one who opens the driver door that the driver profile will be set to?

 

[stopcrazypp]

Ordered my 3, still waiting for delivery. Just wondering, if you've created 2 phone keys, one for self and one for wife. When going out together, is it the one who opens the driver door that the driver profile will be set to?

After you set up the 2 phone keys and 2 profiles, you can assign the current active profile to a specific phone key (also can do the same to any of the included key cards) by pressing the person icon under the keys section. You then switch to the second profile and then assign it to the second key in the same way (rinse and repeat for up to 19 keys total).

Here's a video that shows the process.

Then whichever key you used to unlock the door, it will load the profile of that key. This is obvious for the key card given you have to scan the car on the driver's side b-pillar to unlock. However, if both phone keys were active at the same time when you pulled the handle, I'm not 100% certain it'll be able to figure out who opened the door first (is it based on whose bluetooth signal was closer to the car or the driver's seat?). This isn't something I have come across, given all the people using my car don't have bluetooth on regularly on the phone and only enable it to unlock and use the car. Maybe I will test out when I have the chance on the weekend.

 

[akenham]

The car has a notion of priority bluetooth device for audio pairing (so that your phone gets preference when you're all in the car).

Since bluetooth audio and locking/authorization are separate I suspect that this makes no odds to priority for selected profile but you never know...

 

[stopcrazypp]

The car has a notion of priority bluetooth device for audio pairing (so that your phone gets preference when you're all in the car).

Since bluetooth audio and locking/authorization are separate I suspect that this makes no odds to priority for selected profile but you never know...

Right, that's my impression also (bluetooth audio and locking are separate). I'm more talking about the bluetooth signal used for key authorization and locking, given that uses bluetooth also (as does optional the fob). Not sure how the car handles the situation where there are two phone keys that are active and approach the car at the same time.

 

[BeeGood]

Right, that's my impression also (bluetooth audio and locking are separate). I'm more talking about the bluetooth signal used for key authorization and locking, given that uses bluetooth also (as does optional the fob). Not sure how the car handles the situation where there are two phone keys that are active and approach the car at the same time.

My wife and I use the same account on our phones. It seems random, but most of the time her phone would “win” if we approach the car at the same time (ironically, prior to Christmas, her phone was older than mine).

With my device set as the priority device, it seems to always unlock with my phone.