Card Keys and Phone Access to MY

[coupedncal]

I am a newbie and pardon me for asking elementary question.

We just took delivery couple of weeks ago. We obviously got two key cards. I plan to put one keycard in my wallet and another in my wife's purse. And I plan to program our phones to access the car.

ie. I will have my iPhone as the main access device. And a card in the wallet as a backup in case my phone is out of commission or there is no cell signal.
My wife will have her iPhone as the main access device. And a card in the wallet as a backup in case her phone is out of commission or there is no cell signal.

Now comes the two kids who will sometimes drive the car.

Do you recommend we do the same setup for them? Add them as drivers via their Tesla app and buy for them key cards as backup when the phones are not operational? Do you guys run your vehicles on just the phone access and without any backup way to unlock and drive the car? Is that a legit reason to purchase the third and fourth key cards or am I overthinking this?

Lastly, is cell signal required for the phone to unlock and turn on the car or is bluetooth access sufficient?

 

[exxxviii]

I would grant them phone access. I used just my phone for a long time and only recently started carrying a key card when I realized could not valet without it. Cell signal is not required.

 

[jjrandorin]

I am a newbie and pardon me for asking elementary question.

We just took delivery couple of weeks ago. We obviously got two key cards. I plan to put one keycard in my wallet and another in my wife's purse. And I plan to program our phones to access the car.

ie. I will have my iPhone as the main access device. And a card in the wallet as a backup in case my phone is out of commission or there is no cell signal.
My wife will have her iPhone as the main access device. And a card in the wallet as a backup in case her phone is out of commission or there is no cell signal.

Now comes the two kids who will sometimes drive the car.

Do you recommend we do the same setup for them? Add them as drivers via their Tesla app and buy for them key cards as backup when the phones are not operational? Do you guys run your vehicles on just the phone access and without any backup way to unlock and drive the car? Is that a legit reason to purchase the third and fourth key cards or am I overthinking this?

Lastly, is cell signal required for the phone to unlock and turn on the car or is bluetooth access sufficient?

How old are the kids? I personally would just give the kids keycards and not phone access, since everyone with phone access can see the location of the car (and speed driven etc) and interact with the car remotely (like unlocking doors, starting the car, etc).

The plan for yourself and your wife is exactly how I have my and my wifes Model 3 / Y (respectively). We both have the phone app, access to both cars inside the phone app, and keycards in wallet / purse respectively for backup.

The very few times I have had someone else drive my model 3 I have given them a keycard. Wife and I are empty nesters but if my child was still at home, I would give her a keycard, and not load the tesla app on her smartphone. Its not like I (or my wife) are doing anything that we dont want our daughter to see, its just that, that level of access is "excessive" for a child as it relates to their parents (unless and until the child is the parents caregiver).

 

[coupedncal]

These are all great points. I appreciate the responses.

 

[teca01]

Has anyone ever experienced phone/app glitch that prevents unlocking/driving? Just wanted to see the risk I'm taking by not carrying a key card.

Personally I haven't in about 9 months ownership.

 

[exxxviii]

Has anyone ever experienced phone/app glitch that prevents unlocking/driving? Just wanted to see the risk I'm taking by not carrying a key card.

Personally I haven't in about 9 months ownership.

Only momentarily a few times. But, I just wake up the phone and it connects.

 

[Colin Maxwell]

I haven't had an iPhone key glitch since Sept 22 (yet). I always have the Card with me and have never used it. I also bought the key fob before delivery after reading many threads but have never used that either. Also, the iPhone key works on Bluetooth

 

[JCLJorgenson]

I have 17- and 18-year old children and they won't be getting any access to my car! But if that is something you want to do, you may want to consider using the car's Speed Limit Mode, which allows you to set their maximum driving speed with a Pin #. It will also put the car in "Chill" mode, where it doesn't accelerate at the maximum level.

As mentioned by someone else, access through the app will allow them to do quite a bit, including changing your music stations, climate control, viewing all vehicle cameras, etc. I have both a Model 3 and Model Y on my app and went out to dinner last night. I used the app to open the frunk on my Model Y for leftovers, but it wouldn't open. I ended up just opening it from from the touch screen. When I got home and parked in the garage, I noticed my Model 3 had the frunk open (evidently I was connected to the wrong car in the app). But that's an example where your children could be fiddling with the app and potentially open the frunk or rear liftgate by mistake. The liftgate can be closed with the app but the frunk cannot.

 

[SidetrackedSue]

My 'child' is in her 30s but she has full app access specifically so she can see where I am. I loaded it onto her phone when I was doing a cross-country drive on my own. It gave me peace of mind that she would know where I was quickly, if I went off the road and it gave her peace of mind, knowing I was still making progress.


Of course, the downside of access is real. One day she texted me asking if she really had the option to stop charging my car? Why yes, she did. And so did the 3 year old who got ahold of her phone and opened the Tesla app.

Later, the same trip, I got notification that my frunk was open while I was well away from the car and unable to get back to it for hours. So did she and she asked if might have done it. Yes, possibly but more likely it was her father, in Germany, hitting it by accident from the widget on his phone. For her (or me) to have triggered it would have required more than an accidental finger touch due to the way I set up her app.

So, take these anecdotes as cautionary tales when making your decision of Key card vs App. (I'd go with key card, which is what my daughter has been given; she is not set up to use her phone as a phone key.)

 

[scooterdog]

I've had problems in getting the iPhone key to work on occasion, and I do remember perhaps three or four times in the past year where (impatiently) had to pull out the key card to unlock the car.

Typically when the phone doesn't unlock the car, turning on the phone / app does the trick. Sometimes I would power BT on and off and that would fix it then.

 

[Yeahnah…….]

I use my apple watch to lock @unlock car… if the car ask for a keycard i push unlock my watch again keycard is not required

 

[E90alex]

Another option is buying the key fob. That way you don’t need to give phone/app access but you still have features like passive entry/exit and start.

Buying new key cards is cheaper but honestly they’re annoying to use as the main method to use the vehicle.

 

[SidetrackedSue]

Another option is buying the key fob. That way you don’t need to give phone/app access but you still have features like passive entry/exit and start.

Buying new key cards is cheaper but honestly they’re annoying to use as the main method to use the vehicle.

The fob is no longer available for the model Y.

My husband uses that rather than his phone.

 

[E90alex]

The fob is no longer available for the model Y.

My husband uses that rather than his phone.

Still available.

 

[SidetrackedSue]

Sorry, my bad. I read this in the fall and didn't realize the product returned.

MY key fob no longer on Tesla store site

The Model Y key fob was on the Tesla website for purchase a few weeks ago. I just took delivery of my MY and now it looks like the fob is not on the Tesla store anymore. Anyone know if it's out of stock? Are they discontinuing it? Or is a new version of the key fob coming out?

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