InsideEVs: Key Fob free to current owners!

[MorrisonHiker]

Definitely glad to hear that, as I’ll be using an iPhone X also

I have Android but it's always worked fine on the 3 or 4 Android phones I've tried it with.

 

[diamond.g]

Until it works for everyone its simply not a viable option as a primary way to unlock the doors.

It also bothers me heavily that something so simple and MISSION CRITICAL can function so poorly. The only thing that bothers menear as much as my phone not working is the infotainment system.

Its 100% asinine that a tech company like Tesla cannot produce a better infotainment system. All of the Tesla competitors have some phone integration built into them. XM radio, apple carplay, android auto its honestly ridiculous that the hardware is so good and the software so bad.

Look at the latest dash cam feature and how terrible it works for 90% of people. I know they will eventually fix it, but why release it at all if its so buggy and frustrating? Over the air updates sound cool until the manufacturer takes this as license to treat the customers as Beta testers. Now they dont even have to fully test updateds because the expectation is set that new updates will always be buggy. Us as consumers have accepted this, but cars used to be better tested than our phones or Operating systems.

Now days its release now, patch later and it reduces the quality of the customer experience.

I think dashcam was released before it was ready because folks told Elon that he said it was coming on twitter and wanted to make sure he was true to his word. Then they complained that it wasn’t very good. Just like how they removed walk up unlock due to listening to folks complain (instead of just setting it to off by default).

 

[ecarfan]

Don’t they explicitly say in the article that current and future owners will receive them?

I assume you are referring to the Electrek article I quoted from earlier today (up thread). The answer to your question is “No Tesla did not say that”.

According to the Electrek article, Tesla’s release notes for the software update coming soon that will support a key fob for the Model 3: “Your car now supports key fobs, which are available for purchase from Tesla.”

Did you read the article I linked to? Here it is again: Tesla starts rolling out Model 3 key fob to lucky few owners

 

[N5329K]

Does the key card not function as anticipated? I understand the phone, but doesn’t the key card work every time?

Probably it does. But having to stop, put down what I'm carrying, fish out my wallet, remove a card, tap it just so, then reverse the procedure is a major, major step backwards in first principles functionality over a key fob that stays in my pocket and the car simply opens. No muss. No fuss. No wondering, "Will it?"
I understand some people have a perfect experience with it. Some people don't. Don't need to wonder which it would be for me.
I'm happy waiting, though I was tempted by the midrange announcement. I'd be even more tempted with a midrange release.
Robin
.

 

[ebmcs03]

I assume you are referring to the Electrek article I quoted from earlier today (up thread). The answer to your question is “No Tesla did not say that”.

According to the Electrek article, Tesla’s release notes for the software update coming soon that will support a key fob for the Model 3: “Your car now supports key fobs, which are available for purchase from Tesla.”

Did you read the article I linked to? Here it is again: Tesla starts rolling out Model 3 key fob to lucky few owners

Did you read the article in post number 1?

 

[voip-ninja]

Did you read the article in post number 1?

Tesla could have changed their mind on providing a fob for free and Electrek have ben wrong about things they attributed to Tesla before.

 

[JG T3SLA]

For valet a “standard” Tesla fob would be nice. Phone as key works great for me (iPhone X then XS Max).

 

[ecarfan]

Did you read the article in post number 1?

Yes I did and commented on it early on in this thread. See my post #11. I wrote:
——————————————————————
Quote from the article: “Tesla has confirmed that the key fob will be included with future Model 3 purchases (no exact timeline was provided, aside from “when available“). But the bigger bit of news is that existing Model 3 owners will be able to get the key fob for free upon request. This means that current owners who’ve yearned for a fob will be able to receive one at no cost. Again, no specific timeline has been provided to us in regards to availability, so we suggest you reach out to your Tesla contacts to obtain more details.”

I would not assume that is true just because an anonymous writer at InsideEVs says it is. Find me an official statement from Tesla (not from an employee in a Tesla showroom or Service Center) and I’ll believe it.
——————————————————————

And now Electrek is quoting Tesla’s own release notes for the upcoming next release of Model 3 software which state that Model 3 key fobs will be available for purchase.

So at this point it appears that the InsideEVs article was incorrect.

 

[SageBrush]

I very much appreciate the fob in my Prius and LEAF cars but they are paired with a sensor in the door handle. If the Model 3 fob has to be handled I'll just stick with the card.

 

[voip-ninja]

I very much appreciate the fob in my Prius and LEAF cars but they are paired with a sensor in the door handle. If the Model 3 fob has to be handled I'll just stick with the card.

It won’t have to be handled it would work like the S/X fobs do and work over Bluetooth like the phone-as-key does but presumably be 100% reliable.

 

[Frieda’s Boss]

In a call with my local SC today, they offered Mobile Service to my home to repair my blinker issue.

At that point, I asked if I could also order 2 additional Key Cards and the response was “Absolutlely, and if you’d also like to get a Key Fob we can have Mobile Service bring it out to you on the repair call, it’s $15 if you’d like to add it.”

So at least there’s a data point. I’m probably eligible for a free Fob, but the cost to get 2 Key Cards and 1 Fob is less than $30 and brought to my home. I’m pretty sure that’s not a “money grab” by Tesla. What IS a money grab is when I had to pay $200 for my German keyfob + $100 to program it and have my car in the shop for 3hrs to do that, all because I left the Fob in my pants pocket and it went through the laundry...SMH

That being said, I’m a huge fan of using my iPhone as the key and have also not had any issues accessing/entering/driving the car. In fact, the only time I actually used the Key Card was showing my wife after we first took delivery.

 

[svp6]

For me this is a step back - on our second model 3, 2 iPhones without problems. In fact, I wish there was a reliable no key option for the house too, so I can permanently get rid of keys.

I understand the frustration of those who have phone issues - fob would be better for them. But one could imagine that Tesla and major Android phone producers could work out a bug fix so all phones work well...

I will ask for fobs as eventually I will need to sell the car - and future owner may be peculiar on his/her choice.

 

[xav-]

Is this going to be one of those key fob vulnerable to hacks like on the model S?

I.e. thief picks up signal from keyfob then amplifies it

 

[Guest]

My car is in for service, I will request a key fob and see what they say.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Is this going to be one of those key fob vulnerable to hacks like on the model S?

I.e. thief picks up signal from keyfob then amplifies it

There was some mention of a more secure fob as a result of the relay thefts. I don't know if anything came of it.

 

[lux_cars]

The phone works fine almost all the time but the issue is when someone’s out and about and their phone battery dies.

 

[SageBrush]

There was some mention of a more secure fob as a result of the relay thefts. I don't know if anything came of it.

BLE and PIN

 

[ebmcs03]

Tesla could have changed their mind on providing a fob for free and Electrek have ben wrong about things they attributed to Tesla before.

Hope they’ll just refund us later when we pay for the fob. Just like AWD. LoL

 

[lolder]

For me this is a step back - on our second model 3, 2 iPhones without problems. In fact, I wish there was a reliable no key option for the house too, so I can permanently get rid of keys.

I understand the frustration of those who have phone issues - fob would be better for them. But one could imagine that Tesla and major Android phone producers could work out a bug fix so all phones work well...

I will ask for fobs as eventually I will need to sell the car - and future owner may be peculiar on his/her choice.

Why will you need to sell the car?

 

[ebmcs03]

Why will you need to sell the car?

Upgrade to Porsche Mission E. Why? You think people keep cars for long? Too boring. Gotta try new things in life.