Configuring your Tesla for a show

[kiwi]

All,

I occasionally attend EV events, bringing along my Tesla for people to look at, sit in,
and occasionally I take them for rides. I've never let anyone else drive it yet.

There's always concerns doing this - will anyone "accidentally" put it in drive,
children opening and shutting the FWDs into crowds (its an MX), people stealing my charging cables etc.
To date I've never had an issue.

I think the new feature "PIN to Drive" is really good as it allows me a level of assurance that the
car won't move when others are in it.

Are there any other preparatory actions others take when attending these types of events?
(Other than cleaning it).

Thanks!

 

[Tam]

...events?

PIN to drive is good.

Another option is to bring your charging cable or even only Tesla J1772 adapter (Does New Zealand use something similar?) and plug either of them in to disable the car from shifting out of Parking gear.

 

[kiwi]

@Tam - CCS type 2 (combo Mennekes) and Chademo are the main fast charging connectors here, and (as in Australia and Europe) the Tesla cars and superchargers all use Mennekes (normal, not combo). I could leave my Mennekes to Chademo connector plugged in. Be nice if it locked in place.

It's a good idea, and could act as a backup for PIN to drive.

 

[Tam]

...locked...

Thanks for the explanations on New Zealand adapters.

Another idea is: Keep your fob in a Faraday Cage.

I haven't bought any so I am not sure which brand is effective.

Make sure that cage is good enough to prevent fob signal from escaping out.

I put my fob in a used tin can but that's not enough. I have to additionally get aluminum foil and fold it many folds and put the fob inside both the foil and the can and it does the job.

 

[kiwi]

@Tam That faraday cage would be really useful as a place to leave your keys
in the evening - given all the instances of key relays being used to steal cars.

If use a cage at the event, I'd have to remember to turn off walk-away locking of the doors.

 

[Tam]

...If use a cage at the event, I'd have to remember to turn off walk-away locking of the doors.

It's called a "cage" but commercially, they look just like a normal and soft fob cover. Some may be as big as a credit card size.

Without the cage, the signal still communicates with your car and if you are close enough, a driver can start and drive your car off even when you are not inside of the car.

With the cage, there's no signal escaping out to communicate with your car so even when you are in the car, the car won't start.

Another advantage for the cage is avoiding accidental activations of the doors.

Without the cage, if I put my fob in my pant's pocket and lean on table or something, it might activate doors, trunks... which might accidentally hit someone.

Again, some cages are small enough so before you leave for the event, you start your car, then place your fob in the cage and put the cage in your pocket.

The car still drives until you arrive at the event and as soon as you get off the driver seat, that car won't start and the doors won't be accidentally activated because of the cage.

 

[kiwi]

Nice! For anyone else who's interested, I found them on Amazon for $30.

 

[Rockster]

And/or just pull the battery from your key fob.

 

[compu85]

I like the idea of plugging in the charge cable - Easy, plug it looks interesting.

 

[Tam]

And/or just pull the battery from your key fob.

Tesla should have a hard on/off switch for this purpose.

I find it's too hard to take the battery out. It's fine to do it once a year but I wouldn't want to do that more frequently.

 

[Tam]

I like the idea of plugging in the charge cable - Easy, plug it looks interesting.

And the good side effect is: The audience might think it's just part of the setup to show how the car is hooked up to a charge port without realizing that is to disable the car Drive switch.