I am disabling Autolock (Goodbye Autolock)

[Cosmacelf]

One of the minor features I really like about my Model S is the Autolock. Park somewhere and just walk away. Very cool, very useful.

The ugly downside of this feature, though, is that the car auto locks itself in your garage too. Which drives everyone in the family nuts. A kid leaves their backpack in the car, and has to search out me or a car key to open the car up. My wife especially hates it.

It would be really nice if Tesla could come out with a GPS enabled autolock. Until then, I am going to have to disable the feature...

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

One of the minor features I really like about my Model S is the Autolock. Park somewhere and just walk away. Very cool, very useful.

The ugly downside of this feature, though, is that the car auto locks itself in your garage too. Which drives everyone in the family nuts. A kid leaves their backpack in the car, and has to search out me or a car key to open the car up. My wife especially hates it.

It would be really nice if Tesla could come out with a GPS enabled autolock. Until then, I am going to have to disable the feature...

Create a driver profile 'unlocked' or 'Home' and disable the auto lock so when you are home (or in a place you don't want to Autolock) you just select the profile. That way you can always keep the auto lock active in your profile. No need to dig through the menus that way.

 

[Cosmacelf]

I know, but I never remember to select that profile...

 

[ohmman]

Where do you keep your fobs? I keep mine on the other side of the wall from the nose of the car - I have a key/wallet dish where mine is placed. Even though the handles retract, if I touch them while I'm out there, the car will unlock and present them. If that's a reasonable workaround, you could give it a try.

 

[smilepak]

Use phone app to unlock door from the house

 

[wayneone]

Create a driver profile 'unlocked' or 'Home' and disable the auto lock so when you are home (or in a place you don't want to Autolock) you just select the profile. That way you can always keep the auto lock active in your profile. No need to dig through the menus that way.

This one is also a useful trick to move the steering wheel out of the way to make it easier to get out of the car.

 

[wayneone]

Use phone app to unlock door from the house

With the Tesla API, it should seem possible to create Vera home automation plug-in and assign one of the Scene switches to unlock the car. Maybe geo-fence it: button only works if car is nearby.

 

[Kittylitter]

Have the kid remember his/her backpack. If not, they have to do some leg work to hunt down a key. Kid's problem that will likely go away after a couple of times it affects them and not you.

 

[bob_p]

Because the geolocation isn't 100%, there is a possibility that the GPS locking might not be solid enough - so disabling auto-lock based solely on location might risk having it disabled somewhere else (such as sitting outside of your house).

A better solution might be to use a combination of GPS location and/or connection to your home WiFi network to determine location, coupled with having the car plugged into a charger. That means if you have your car outside of your house - and it's not charging, auto-lock would be enabled. It would only disable the auto-lock if it believes it is at home AND plugged into your charger.

 

[mochouinard]

I've made the site TeslaLog.com and looking to integrate GeoFencing Unlock feature for when your car is in the garage.

Here is a picture that I got off my site to show all the stop over the past +1 year of my car at my house :

The GPS have a few meter accuracy, but that still enough to detect the position of the car in my garage and enough spacing to separate outside of my garage and inside of it ! Note this is a Pre autopilot car. New auto pilot car provide a corrected GPS coordinate that I do not record yet that might be even better... But in reality, that good enough

I've already made the geo fencing feature that allow you to select precise section on the map, so in your trip list, you can show Home - Driveway, or Home - Garage. I also have a older geo fencing page that support radius only that when you park let say at school to pickup kids, or at the grocery, your car climate will remain ON.

I hope that within a month I'll have that unlock feature in there !

 

[mrElbe]

Have the kid remember his/her backpack. If not, they have to do some leg work to hunt down a key. Kid's problem that will likely go away after a couple of times it affects them and not you.

+1 .

 

[Soolim]

Because the geolocation isn't 100%, there is a possibility that the GPS locking might not be solid enough - so disabling auto-lock based solely on location might risk having it disabled somewhere else (such as sitting outside of your house).

A better solution might be to use a combination of GPS location and/or connection to your home WiFi network to determine location, coupled with having the car plugged into a charger. That means if you have your car outside of your house - and it's not charging, auto-lock would be enabled. It would only disable the auto-lock if it believes it is at home AND plugged into your charger.

Good but less than perfect for me because I do not charge everyday. I will be happy with geofence and wifi as the criteria to disable unlock because I never leave the car on the driveway unattended.
OTOH, I suggested before for the camera to recognize a garage sign/poster you custom design for yourself and disable the autolock. The downside is that you have to park nose-in. Sounds too hard and low priority for Tesla?

- - - Updated - - -

Have the kid remember his/her backpack. If not, they have to do some leg work to hunt down a key. Kid's problem that will likely go away after a couple of times it affects them and not you.

Agree.

 

[wayner]

There is now a homelink_nearby concept in the API so you potentially you could use this to keep the car unlocked when homelink is nearby. But this is a security risk - as is keeping your fob nearby so that the handles come out when you touch them. That could also facilitate a thief or someone vandalizing your car.

 

[mochouinard]

There is now a homelink_nearby concept in the API so you potentially you could use this to keep the car unlocked when homelink is nearby. But this is a security risk - as is keeping your fob nearby so that the handles come out when you touch them. That could also facilitate a thief or someone vandalizing your car.

homelink_nearby
should also show when your out of your garage, so not a good solution. Keeping an extra keyfob in your garage in a position far enough from the front door of the garage (you can test it with your car outside and have someone move in closer to the door) is actually a pretty good solution, but cost an extra keyfob and if someone get into your garage, he could drive away with your car (There is way to mostly deal with that, like hiding it in the ceilling for example (maybe the car won't see it).

 

[ohmman]

Obviously these workarounds require common sense. We have a gated property, and keep the garage door closed, so having the fob able to reach the vehicle isn't an increased security risk. Each of us has to evaluate our situation and decide what works. That goes for parenting advice as well. :wink:

 

[LetsGoFast]

Have the kid remember his/her backpack. If not, they have to do some leg work to hunt down a key. Kid's problem that will likely go away after a couple of times it affects them and not you.

+1 .

Agree.

Why do people always do this? Obviously, you can quibble with the specific scenario laid out by OP, but it is a perfectly reasonable feature request. I too would like to be able to leave my car unlocked inside my garage -- it a feature that many have asked for and pointing out that it would be better if teenagers didn't leave stuff in the car seems spectacularly unhelpful. I've had it happen several times that I've left something in the trunk when out shopping and I go back to the car to retrieve it without the key, curse, go back inside and get the key and then retrieve my stuff.

Obviously, the world would be a better place for me if I always remembered to fetch the key from the hook when I went to fetch something from the trunk, but it would also be improved if I could define my home as a safe zone where it is not necessary to lock the car. Mine is in fact just on the other side of the garage wall, but the car sadly does not see the fob.

 

[AgentWimplo]

I agree, and I wish this was automatic for my garage / wifi location.

I've fixed this process for me by reading another post about this on the site here. Per the manual when I exit the car in my garage I double click the fob which puts the car into a garage unlocked state. Then I'm free to get things out of the car, open the doors to wash/dry, etc, without needing to remember to key fob.

Double click your fob and your car will remain unlocked until the next time your brake pedal is depressed

 

[cgiGuy]

Any good with programming? You probably don't even have to be good (I certainly am not) but need to know how to modify a script. This guy programmed one of those Amazon "I'm out of Gatorade" buttons to turn on his Tesla's AC. No reason you couldn't have it unlock the door. Then you just mount this little button next to the exit door to the garage.

Watch: Amazon Dash buttons control Tesla temperature - UPI.com

Link to download script is in the video description.

 

[jeffro01]

Any good with programming? You probably don't even have to be good (I certainly am not) but need to know how to modify a script. This guy programmed one of those Amazon "I'm out of Gatorade" buttons to turn on his Tesla's AC. No reason you couldn't have it unlock the door. Then you just mount this little button next to the exit door to the garage.

Watch: Amazon Dash buttons control Tesla temperature - UPI.com

Link to download script is in the video description.

Now that is a neat idea actually... I just might do that... Not because I'm bothered by having to grab my fob when I go out to the garage, but because I'm lazy... I'd rather push a button then grab the fob...

Jeff

 

[GregTexas]

This is an easy fix for Tesla. Just have an option to disable auto locking between the time your garage door auto opens and auto closes. I have other reasons I want this feature. I have 2 Teslas that share one outlet. If the cars remain unlocked in the garage it is easier to move the charger from one car to the other.
The other thing is it will stop the unlocking and flashing of lights every time I pass by my car in the garage.