Locked out of car... what did I do wrong?

[ozweepay]

Embarrassing.

I had the fob in my backpack because I had no pockets in my running shorts. Trunk and driver's side door open. I loaded my backpack into the trunk, aware that the fob was contained inside. As I closed the trunk, the shock of the closure caused the front door to swing shut (wind plus slight uphill parking spot).

I thought, "No big deal... the handles are still out."

But then, within .2 secs, the handles pulled in. I pushed on the handles but they wouldn't present. I still had my phone in my hand, so I pulled up the Tesla app, but the phone wouldn't connect (endless spinning circle, "Trying to connect to Model S.")

Questions:

1. Is this normal behavior? Wouldn't the car sense the fob within the interior and act as though it was physically nearby?
2. Why would the handles retract immediately after the door shut?
3. Any ideas why the app couldn't connect? I think it's because the console computer was once again unable to get LTE (I verified this later: it needed to be rebooted for the 500th time and then LTE came back and my app worked again).
4. My friend's Range Rover refuses to let you lock the car if the fob is within the vehicle. The Tesla apparently locks itself with the fob inside. Is there an option somewhere to emulate the Range Rover's behavior?

 

[Ldub22]

Embarrassing.

I had the fob in my backpack because I had no pockets in my running shorts. Trunk and driver's side door open. I loaded my backpack into the trunk, aware that the fob was contained inside. As I closed the trunk, the shock of the closure caused the front door to swing shut (wind plus slight uphill parking spot).

I thought, "No big deal... the handles are still out."

But then, within .2 secs, the handles pulled in. I pushed on the handles but they wouldn't present. I still had my phone in my hand, so I pulled up the Tesla app, but the phone wouldn't connect (endless spinning circle, "Trying to connect to Model S.")

Questions:

1. Is this normal behavior? Wouldn't the car sense the fob within the interior and act as though it was physically nearby?
2. Why would the handles retract immediately after the door shut?
3. Any ideas why the app couldn't connect? I think it's because the console computer was once again unable to get LTE (I verified this later: it needed to be rebooted for the 500th time and then LTE came back and my app worked again).
4. My friend's Range Rover refuses to let you lock the car if the fob is within the vehicle. The Tesla apparently locks itself with the fob inside. Is there an option somewhere to emulate the Range Rover's behavior?

Open the trunk.

 

[yo mama]

Can't help you. I've done the same exact thing before but the handles came out when I pressed them.

 

[green1]

There are a few "dead spots" within the vehicle where the fob can't reliably be detected. Congratulations, you found one.

 

[MikeC]

I remember this being reported in 2012 by very early Model S owner "rodandbarbara" on the Tesla forum. You had bad luck with the app, I guess you just gotta learn not to do that again.

 

[Lex]

Hmm, if you have a mobile hotspot on your phone, and then activate it -- in this case, in OP's situation where there might be an issue with 3G/LTE -- would the car switch over even if "off" and locked ? I am guessing yes, as mine just looooooves glomming onto my hotspot when I have it on.

Then the data could leave the app, go over the internet to Mothership, then back to car via phone again

?

 

[ozweepay]

I don't have a mobile hotspot. I have a Samsung Galaxy, rooted, but Sprint wants me to pay for hotspot service (as does pretty much any provider that gives unlimited data), and I'm not going to put hotspot software on my phone to circumvent this (even though it's easy to do so).

So that wasn't it.

---

I'm taking from the responses I've read that there is no way to set an option on the MS to prevent it locking itself with the fob in the car?!

 

[green1]

I'm taking from the responses I've read that there is no way to set an option on the MS to prevent it locking itself with the fob in the car?!

It already doesn't auto lock when the fob is in the car (at least not instantly like you're reporting). The problem is that it didn't know the fob was in the car, so it assumed you had walked out of range and acted appropriately. You could turn off walk away locking, but beyond that, all you can do is make sure that the fob is either not in the car, or if it is in the car it's in a place where the car can detect it.

 

[ozweepay]

According to this site:

Roadside assistance & tech support | Tesla Motors

A "common issue" is that the fob is not detected while in the cabin. They give a fix for it that may or may not work. But apparently I'm not the first to experience this... unfortunately I also have a car that loses 4G/LTE constantly and needs to be rebooted pretty much every time I drive.

Wonder if this is worth a trip to the service center?!

 

[Lex]

Yes, sorry, as green1 said the car thought you were walking away. I was just trying to figure out what next when car isn't connecting to cellular.

I used to have something on my rooted Android that was free.. not perfect but worked in a pinch, maybe it was called open garden ? or something garden.

 

[kevincwelch]

Same exact thing happened to me a few months back. App wouldn't connect. Trunk wouldn't open either. Had to call my wife who came by with my spare fob. I called Tesla about it, and they reported that they did lose contact with my MS for an hour or so -- the duration of time I was at the gym and while waiting for my wife to deliver the fob. Hasn't happened again -- leaving the fob in the trunk, that is.

 

[jcaspar]

You may also have had your phone or other device up against the fob which forms sort of a Faraday cage, making the fob invisible to the car. Double bad luck to put your fob where not visible and be out of cell range.