Key fob availability?

[Peteski]

Umm, the Fob works exactly the same way...

For normal entry the car unlocks as you get close and you can open any door then drive away (PIN permitting)
Car locks, mirrors fold and blinkers flash as you walk away.
All with the Fob in your pocket untouched.

In addition it has a "boot button" - press twice for open/close boot lid, press once for longer time opens/unlocks the charge port.
It has a "car roof button" - press once for manual locking, press twice for unlocking (mirrors unfold and car interior lights come on).
it has a "frunk button" - press twice to open frunk.
All operable whilst in your pocket - no need to look at it or take it out of your pocket to use.

And, if it runs out of battery power, simply place it's "bottom" surface against the driver's B pillar to unlock/lock and briefly by the cupholders to drive (same as a keycard).

Plus, with a cover, it can be put on your house keyring - what more could you want?

I'm just surprised people still feel the need to carry a key fob when their phone does the same thing. Why would I need to add a key fob to my house key ring?

Of course I've had dozens of key fobs over the years (including our Tesla MX) but I've never seen the point in buying one for a M3/Y given the phone app. I was just wondering what I was possibly missing out on.

I do think there was more demand for the key fob in the early M3 days when the app was very flaky and often failed. But those days are long gone and I suspect that's why key fobs are harder to come by.

 

[Rooster6655]

The key to is useful for opening and closing the boot of the car as well as the charging port, is not cheap but can be kept for future cars and had a decent resale value.

The only downside is that if you keep your fob with the keys say in the front door and the car is close to it, it sometimes doesn’t lock the car which is super annoying and don’t get the car unlocked notifications anymore for whatever reason.

 

[page3]

I'm just surprised people still feel the need to carry a key fob when their phone does the same thing. Why would I need to add a key fob to my house key ring?

I’m just surprised people still feel the need to carry a phone when their watch does the same thing.

A house key is easily forgotten, a key on a fob less so, especially if that fob serves a purpose too.

We’re all different. There can be more than one solution.

 

[Durzel]

A key fob isn’t needed, but it’s nice to be able to unlock the charge cable or open the boot or bonnet without playing with your phone, particularly if it’s raining etc.

 

[WllXM]

I’m just surprised people still feel the need to carry a phone when their watch does the same thing.

A house key is easily forgotten, a key on a fob less so, especially if that fob serves a purpose too.

We’re all different. There can be more than one solution.

I would pay for my Apple Watch to act as a car key personally... I'm sure Tesla could implement it with minimal fuss.
Same with emulating the NFC keycard into Apple Wallet.

 

[WllXM]

A key fob isn’t needed, but it’s nice to be able to unlock the charge cable or open the boot or bonnet without playing with your phone, particularly if it’s raining etc.

I've found Siri Shortcuts particularly useful for that actually

 

[Durzel]

I've found Siri Shortcuts particularly useful for that actually

Will have to try it at some point. I guess my point was - with my key fob in my pocket with my keys (which I need to take anyway) I can pop the boot/bonnet and unlatch the charging cable with my hands in my pocket, by feel alone, as I'm walking to the car.

If I have to pull out my phone, talk to my watch, or whatever - and wait for Siri to acknowledge and respond to the message, whilst it's raining, etc - it's going to feel like a more labouring experience.

It is a lot of money to pay for convenience though, when you don't need one at all when a phone key performs the same functions.

 

[Casss]

The big thing for me with the phone key is that I can open the frunk/boot/door or whatever *before* I dash from the shop or whatever through the rain to the car, regardless of distance.

The biggest thing though is that just carrying the key card and license on a belt loop in addition to phone and house keys and that being *everything* I need to leave the house with (8 times out of 10) is amazing.

 

[Durzel]

Did you mean fob when you said "The big thing for me with the phone key" ?

 

[Casss]

Did you mean fob when you said "The big thing for me with the phone key" ?

No - meaning phone as key / app.

 

[Durzel]

Oh right. Why wouldn't I be able to do those things with the fob? I've opened the boot from upstairs in the office to allow a colleague who I was giving a lift home to to put their stuff in there. I don't think it only works from close range Bluetooth range.

 

[Casss]

Sure you can do them, my point is with the fob you are limited to doing those things within bluetooth /RF range (coincidentally, I can't find any solid sources on what the theoretical max distance is for the Tesla Key Fob using the buttons, not passive entry) whereas with the phone app, theoretically you can do it from any distance if you have a data connection (so for the purpose of opening the boot or whatever prior to you reaching the car, it's convenient for that).

From my own experience, when I had a physical fob, I kept using the app anyway for various reasons like the above.

Basically, the phone key/app is great for those of us who want to open the boot from up to 12,450 miles away (?)

 

[pgkevet]

On my S I can use the fob buttons from behind the kitchen door, across 30 metre yard,through the steel barn doors and affect the car inside.
Each to their own but my fob and house key deep in a trouser pocket is less of a mugging target than phone or wallet .

 

[MrBadger]

Each to their own but my fob and house key deep in a trouser pocket is less of a mugging target than phone or wallet .

But aren't the animals rummaging through your trousers an equal issue... Imagine if one ate the fob. You would be hearding them past the car just to find out which one opened the doors...

 

[Andy_RS2113]

I don’t take any keys with me anywhere any more. eKey biometrics on the front door of the house and 2 teslas with phone access. I’ve never felt more alive…

 

[Peteski]

I’m just surprised people still feel the need to carry a phone when their watch does the same thing.

A house key is easily forgotten, a key on a fob less so, especially if that fob serves a purpose too.

We’re all different. There can be more than one solution.

Personally I don't think watch phones are a viable alternative to a normal phone. Screen size would be way too limited for my use.

Since not having a car key fob for the last 12 months I haven't forgotten my house keys any more or less than I did previously. But having said that I never attached my house keys to my key fob anyway.

Basically I now have 1 less item to carry or forget. Which I think was the whole point of the phone key.

 

[Medved_77]

I don’t take any keys with me anywhere any more. eKey biometrics on the front door of the house and 2 teslas with phone access. I’ve never felt more alive…

At the risk of going off topic, can you let me know what you're using for your front door and if you recommend it?

 

[GRiLLA]

I use the keyfob as the backup to my phone. I don't carry a wallet and just have a single card on the back of my phone, so carrying the keycard wouldn't help. I do still have legacy door keys, so a keyfob makes sense. The phone key makes a lot of sense, but it does feel more likely to be lost, stolen or broken, despite having never been lost, stolen or broken before for me.

 

[Luro]

I’ve got a model s loaner at the moment with a key fob and I actually find it so convenient opening boot and frunk with it rather than going into the phone to open it. I might actually get one when they are back in stock.

Ironincly my MY is in to have the secure Bluetooth part replaced as the phone key and tire sensors are not connecting and it’s down to a faulty part.

 

[Andy_RS2113]

At the risk of going off topic, can you let me know what you're using for your front door and if you recommend it?

It’s an eKey fingerprint system which is built into the door handle of my front door, which is made by Austrian company Internorm. It works extremely well, and can handle 99 different fingers, for those with many family members/friends/staff etc… They’re not cheap as front doors go, however I supply them commercially to large sites all over the UK, so got a good deal

If you’re looking, talk to Mark at Scotia Architectural in Alva and tell him Andy from Internorm sent you