Driving without a key card or phone

[Terri m3]

Hi. I had a very distressing experience and would like to hear if anyone else has had the issue or if there is a fix in the works.
My m3 was in my garage. I don’t lock it at home. I set my purse down next to my car which my phone in it. After taking items out of the back seat, I proceeded to get in the cat and drive off. My destination was about 10 miles away. I stopped looked for my purse and got out to look in the trunk. Remembered setting it down in garage. Tried to drive home to get it. Unfortunately my car then wanted key card to start. No key card no phone because both were in my purse at home. I was stranded.
maybe the Tesla should notify the driver when the car realizes the key or phone are not in the car and set off an alarm? Anyone experience something like this.

 

[GtiMart]

Since you can start the car with the keycard, and the keycard doesn't need to stay placed for you to drive, I'm unsure how they could alert you properly. They could probably have an alert for when the car was started with the cell phone and it'S not there anymore. Hwoever, for that to happen, you would need to have the cell phone with you in the car as you put it in Drive, then throw the cell phone outside without unbuckling or lifting your weight from the driver's seat otherwise the car goes back to Park. What you're saying is that you were able to set the car to Drive with your phone (purse) outside the car? It must have been damn close. It's probably hard to detect precise distances with bluetooth.

If you're stuck, you can borrow someone's cell phone, download the Tesla app, use your credentials, put the car to drive, and then delete that app Or you can call your spouse to have them use their phone to "start" the car remotely.

 

[EVRider-FL]

Other people have had similar experiences and have requested the same feature. The general idea is that if the phone key that was used to access the car goes out of Bluetooth range, the car should alert you. Makes sense.

 

[RedWhite19]

I normally leave one of the key cards in the glove department, just to be safe. You can try that or buy a third option, which is the key fob.

 

[chrstna4]

You could also wear a key-fob-ring like cnick (or leave that in your car because it doesn’t look like a key).

Tesla Key Ring | Smart Ring | Tesla Accessories

CNICK Tesla Key Ring enables opening, closing, and starting driving Tesla Model 3 and Y with a finger tap. First Tesla accessory which changed key fob, card, and smartphone fully.

www.teslaring.com

 

[UncertainTimes]

Hmm that would actually be a good feature to add. My BMW warns me when it can’t detect the remote and the engine is running. Btw, if someone can access your phone or has an authorized phone they can remote start the car for you and you can drive back home.

 

[HAL2001]

I normally leave one of the key cards in the glove department, just to be safe. You can try that or buy a third option, which is the key fob.

I would suggest enabling pin to drive if you leave a card in the car.

 

[RedWhite19]

I would suggest enabling pin to drive if you leave a card in the car.

That’s what I do.

 

[Terri m3]

Why is there no edit option? I drove my car, not my cat.

Since you can start the car with the keycard, and the keycard doesn't need to stay placed for you to drive, I'm unsure how they could alert you properly. They could probably have an alert for when the car was started with the cell phone and it'S not there anymore. Hwoever, for that to happen, you would need to have the cell phone with you in the car as you put it in Drive, then throw the cell phone outside without unbuckling or lifting your weight from the driver's seat otherwise the car goes back to Park. What you're saying is that you were able to set the car to Drive with your phone (purse) outside the car? It must have been damn close. It's probably hard to detect precise distances with bluetooth.

If you're stuck, you can borrow someone's cell phone, download the Tesla app, use your credentials, put the car to drive, and then delete that app Or you can call your spouse to have them use their phone to "start" the car remotely.

no spouse and I don’t keep phone numbers in my head. I got a ride from a stranger but it seems like an easy fix so you don’t have to find someone willing to download an app.

 

[bjrosen]

There was just a theft in SF that had the same cause. The car was parked close enough to the building that it was in Bluetooth range so the thief was able to start the car. They only got about a mile because they stopped the car and then couldn't restart it.

It would make sense for them to put in a warning if the car fails to sense the phone or the card which is what would happen when you got about 30ft away from your purse.

 

[JohnnyEV]

Pin to Drive, Key in glovebox, Pin on Glovebox or Just use the keycard only....probably the safest option.

 

[TLLMRRJ]

A creative option is to have a close friend or relative added to your car on their phone with the Tesla app. When you need it, you call them to remotely start the car from the Controls menu in the Tesla app.

When they activate that function, you have 2 minutes to get in the car and drive away without any type of key needed.

 

[JohnnyEV]

A creative option is to have a close friend or relative added to your car on their phone with the Tesla app. When you need it, you call them to remotely start the car from the Controls menu in the Tesla app.

When they activate that function, you have 2 minutes to get in the car and drive away without any type of key needed.

I had to this for my wife left her keycard and her phone died while in a store. Needless to say she always remembers to have the keycard now lol.

 

[Mattopotamus]

Pin to Drive, Key in glovebox, Pin on Glovebox or Just use the keycard only....probably the safest option.

That honestly isn't a bad idea in a pinch.

 

[rrohde]

Teslaring. Always on your finger.

 

[kjwhite0530@gm]

Same thing happen with my uncle's Buick, he started the car while I was standing next to it talking, to him. He then he drove home . When he got to him home, he got stuck in the condo's driveway after he turned it off. B/C I still had the key in my pocket. I had to drive 15miles to his location to move the car. So, it's not just tesla's any car with a push button start, or equivalent, this can and has happen.

 

[ODWms]

At least with Tesla’s, you can download the “key” on anyone’s phone, use it and then delete the app. No need foe anyone to have to bring a physical key.

 

[srs5694]

At least with Tesla’s, you can download the “key” on anyone’s phone, use it and then delete the app. No need foe anyone to have to bring a physical key.

I don't believe that's true -- at least, not by default. You can download the app, yes, and even link it to your account if you know the password. You could use this to unlock the car to get into it. There's a separate process to set up the phone as a key that requires a key card, though, so you couldn't drive the car from a freshly-configured phone without a key card. At least, that was the case when I last set up a phone as a key.

That said, it's possible that Tesla has policies and procedures to bypass these steps in special circumstances, so you might be able to do it with the help of a customer support call. I don't know if that's the case, though.

 

[GtiMart]

The app has a function to "start" the car remotely. So yes, you can drive that way without pairing the phone to the car.

 

[mikeyg_ev]

I really wish I could unlock and start the car with my Apple Watch.
I can use my watch to phone my wife and ask her to unlock the car with the app but it seems like a lot of unnecessary faffing about when the watch has all the necessary hardware to do it.