Coated windshield impacting door openers and EZpass

[hodas]

Our new Los Angeles FastTrak needs to be mounted somewhere convenient, because our transponders have a switch to set how many people are in the car, as HOV access/charges on the 110 and 10 freeways varies for time of day and number of passengers.


Fortunately, the spot to the right of the rearview mirror base seems to be working ok for me.


I was faced with the problem of ALSO having an RFID credit-card-style parking pass for work. I was going to just live with swapping it and the FastTrak as needed (fortunately my FastTrak use is mostly on the weekends), but I discovered that velcroing it to the inside of the small triangle of glass at the front part of the driver door works. You could not fit a FastTrak/EZpass there, but for card-style transponders this appears to be an option.

 

[vbandl01]

ez pass NY/NJ area

Guys

I can also confirm with my NY/NJ E-ZPass that if you hold it up by the stem (mount) for the rear view mirror, it works like a charm!

Aaron

i tried all the ways i can to hold it when nearing ezpass but as of today it worked only couple of times.
any guess where else i can try to install this in car

 

[lloyds]

darn, I just found this after changing the batteries to my garage opener.

 

[dc_transformer]

Installed Virginia EZPass successfully 1/2" to the right side of the rear-view mirror mount, 1/2" below the top of the glass, per recommendation from Tesla Service. The left half of the transponder is on the area covered with black dots. Left side didn't work, presumably due to coated glass as noted elsewhere in this thread.

 

[TeslaSinHR]

Great information in this thread! My "FastPass" for going over the toll bridge at Hood River, OR wouldn't work through the windshield so they gave me a motorcycle transponder. Another owner had suggested putting it in the nose cone and I had the Tesla service people in Portland do it. It never quited worked correctly - I had to slow down to 7 mph about 50 feet before the gate in order for it to pick up.

Looking at the photos I see that it may be mounted in a bad spot so I'll try moving it. Also good to know about the potential "clear spot" on the windshield.

 

[NJS1207]

My standard-issue interior New Jersey EZPass transponder only worked intermittently when installed above the rear view mirror in the suggested location. I exchanged it for one of the larger exterior transponders that is supposed to be mounted on the license plate bracket. Instead of mounting it on the license plate, I attached it to the top of the rear-view mirror with Velcro. It just so happens that the exterior tag is precisely the same width and color as the rear-view mirror. It is completely unobtrusive to my eye, and I have not had a failed signal since installing it four months ago.

 

[TylerCA]

I stick mine out of the window

 

[caddieo]

I had tried various locations on the windshield in the past based on the many suggestions in this thread but could never get the gate opener to our community to work - even when placed in close proximity to and all around the rear view mirror base. It occurred to me this afternoon that the dotted area to the right of the base, often mentioned in past posts, was roughly rectangular in shape and my past trials were done with the transponder's long axis perpendicular to the long axis of the dotted area. In that type of orientation, most of the transponder is actually in the clear area. So I went out a while ago with the transponder's long axis along the long axis of the dotted area - i.e., vertical instead of horizontal. This orientation puts most of the transponder within the dotted area. Voila! It works! I do have to go very slowly and get as close to the transmitter as possible but it does work as soon as the nose of the car is at or just past the transmitter. No more PITA of sticking my hand out the window. :biggrin:

 

[ecarfan]

Placing the EZ toll tag license plate bar (black) behind the nose cone on the metal bumper just below the upper ridge on the bumper works like a champ.

After trying to get my San Francisco Bay Area Fastrak transponder to work in various positions at the top center of the windshield with only inconsistent success, I ordered an external transponder (looks like the one flybob08 posted about) and attached it to the two lower screw holes of my front plate using the special "tamper-resistant" screws provided with the transponder. Seems like the easiest approach.

Update: went over the Golden Gate Bridge today with my new external Fastrak transponder and it worked perfectly.

For those of you who are struggling with how to make your standard Fastrak transponder work from inside the car, I think the external transponder is the best solution.

 

[billmccl]

After all of the posts concerning transponders, and my need to use two of them---the Georgia PeachPass and my second home gated community north of Atlanta---, I solved the problem with no visible change on my Tesla.

The Atlanta service center has attached the transponders (similar to the one pictured ecarfan) on the inside of the nosecone. They work and are invisible. Like everyone else, the patch transponders simply will not work consistently through the windshield. They used velcro tape and it works fine.

I have attached pictures from the service center installation. All is now well and the transponders both work flawlessly.

 

[JPP]

...inside of the nosecone...seems like more work and risk of plastic damage versus mounting the same 'license plate' transponder to the black bumper (between the 2 ridges). I did mine with heavy duty velcro and a zip tie for security. No worries if the nose cone needs to be removed or replaced.

 

[DFibRL8R]

Interesting update after cracked windshield replacement:

I have an early Model S Vin 3983. When I first got the car, the only place I could mount the transponder (after about a month of experimenting) was directly on the plastic cover of the rear view mirror. Now, 1 year later, I just had the front windshield replaced due to a crack and now it works fine placed directly to the right of the rear view mirror on the glass. I read somewhere that the windshields on early production vehicles had the RF blocker throughout with no unblocked area for toll tags.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Does anyone have an actual picture or diagram of exactly what areas are clear and which ones are blocked? Every description is a bit different and not too clear.

 

[mknox]

Does anyone have an actual picture or diagram of exactly what areas are clear and which ones are blocked? Every description is a bit different and not too clear.

This post shows the location for an Ontario, Canada transponder if it helps...

 

[HankLloydRight]

Has anyone tried mounting the regular white EZPass transponder (not the black license plate style) inside or on the nosecone? Seems to me that two of their standard connectors and the tag mounted on the nosecone or on the inside strut would work. Any reason that wouldn't work?

 

[ecarfan]

Hank, I believe that several posts in this topic, including some just a few posts earlier than yours, have done inside nose cone mounts and reported success.

 

[mknox]

Hank, I believe that several posts in this topic, including some just a few posts earlier than yours, have done inside nose cone mounts and reported success.

I've been reluctant to do that because of how cold it would get there in the Canadian winters. Plus the Canadian transponders beep and have confirmation lights which I wouldn't be able to see.

I just posted this in the Canada forum this morning. Might be worth a try with some of these EZ Pass transponders (the transponder my brother uses in LA looks very similar to my Canadian one).

 

[fuelsman]

I don't have a photo but the Florida SunPass Transponder (the one with suction cups) works well when positioned just below the rear view mirror. I haven't had a mis-read yet. Sept. 2013 Model S build. The card type SunPass that sticks to the windshield doesn't work in any location.

 

[MarkR]

Our gated community uses something similar to the EZ Pass transponder. We used some heavy-duty Velcro tape to install it behind the nose cone. You may have to play with the angle of the transponder a bit to get it perfect, but the Velcro allows for easy modification. We like that the transponder is well hidden and opens every time.

 

[caddieo]

Does anyone have an actual picture or diagram of exactly what areas are clear and which ones are blocked? Every description is a bit different and not too clear.

This is the only spot that works for me (see also my post #228 in this thread). Note that the transponder is oriented to conform to the shape of the dotted area. The sensitivity is less than ideal, perhaps due to the dots, and I have to come almost to a dead stop next to the transmitter post for it to work but that beats sticking my hand out of the window especially when it's raining.
I did consider the nose cone but my experience with this type of transponder (14 years) is that its longevity is shortened considerably by constant exposure to the heat of the sun so I never went that way. This present set-up allows me to remove the transponder when I am parked outdoors.