Long Range Rescue

[Tron 3]

Wife comes out of the grocery store, opens the rear hatch and unloads the bags from the cart. She shuts the hatch, places her purse in the cabin, shuts the door and returns the cart to the store. When she comes back the car is locked...

With the phone and card key in her purse, she goes back into the store and calls me. "You did what??" So I wonder - "Go back to the car and I will try to unlock it from here." From the comfort of my pajamas two miles away, I let her back into the car! That's one handy App.

I have a connected laser engraver that gets updates pushed to it, and now my car. The only things besides my phone that have continued to evolve after I bought them. I'm loving the connectivity. What would take the shine off is if my insurance company ever gets access and learns how I drive this rocket...

 

[darth_vad3r]

If her phone is setup as a key she should have been able to just open the door, no? Did she try? or just assume she was 'locked out' ?

Otherwise ya, it's cool to be able to do the 'OnStar' style remote rescue with a family member having the app able to rescue you remotely

 

[OCR1]

Something doesn’t sound right here. There are only two ways to lock the Tesla: 1) Walk away from it with your phone in hand (assuming your phone is setup as a key), 2) Lock it with the key card.

If you leave your phone and key card in the car the car would not lock on its own.

Theoretically it can be locked remotely using an app but I’m assuming that would not apply here.

 

[Tron 3]

I didn't think it would lock with a phone key in the car either, but when driving the car locks with the phone inside.
I would think the car would have to be in drive for that to happen, but she was locked out. She would not have called me from inside the store if the car weren't locked.

 

[Krugerrand]

If her phone is setup as a key she should have been able to just open the door, no? Did she try? or just assume she was 'locked out' ?

Otherwise ya, it's cool to be able to do the 'OnStar' style remote rescue with a family member having the app able to rescue you remotely

Her phone was IN the car.

 

[Krugerrand]

Something doesn’t sound right here. There are only two ways to lock the Tesla: 1) Walk away from it with your phone in hand (assuming your phone is setup as a key), 2) Lock it with the key card.

If you leave your phone and key card in the car the car would not lock on its own.

Theoretically it can be locked remotely using an app but I’m assuming that would not apply here.

If there was a connectivity issue with the phone, the car can lock itself with phone in it. Or if the phone runs low on battery. Or if the APP bugs out then the phone is no longer working as a key.

So yes, it can happen. I’ve had it happen, though not recently and I don’t make it a habit to leave my phone in the car nor not have the physical keycard on my person.

It can also happen if there is a 12v battery issue. This seems quite rare for Model 3s to date and is not the reason here because the car was unlocked remotely.

Most likely explanation is that Bluetooth took a crapper.

 

[animorph]

I usually have to take the phone out of my front pocket to get the car to see it, and usually to get get the car to "start" as well. So if it was my phone in a purse the car would not know it was inside the car.

 

[dhrivnak]

Something doesn’t sound right here. There are only two ways to lock the Tesla: 1) Walk away from it with your phone in hand (assuming your phone is setup as a key), 2) Lock it with the key card.

If you leave your phone and key card in the car the car would not lock on its own.

Theoretically it can be locked remotely using an app but I’m assuming that would not apply here.

What if you set the locks to lock when you are in the car? Some people like the doors locked when they are inside.

 

[darth_vad3r]

Her phone was IN the car.

Ya, it should work like a key from IN the car, no??

 

[Krugerrand]

Ya, it should work like a key from IN the car, no??

If the APP is working. If the phone hasn’t lost connection. If the car’s 12v is functioning.

I suspect the phone lost the Bluetooth connection.

 

[darth_vad3r]

If the APP is working. If the phone hasn’t lost connection. If the car’s 12v is functioning.

I suspect the phone lost the Bluetooth connection.

Ok, but none of that has anything to do with the phone being IN or out of the car.

 

[electracity]

If her phone is setup as a key she should have been able to just open the door, no? Did she try? or just assume she was 'locked out' ?

Otherwise ya, it's cool to be able to do the 'OnStar' style remote rescue with a family member having the app able to rescue you remotely

Don't ruin a good pajama rescue story with your "facts"

 

[Krugerrand]

Ok, but none of that has anything to do with the phone being IN or out of the car.

Dude, read the original post again. Slowly. She could NOT use her phone because it was locked IN the car. She was locked OUT of the car. So you suggesting she use her phone was not helpful.

 

[Leafdriver333]

I just did an experiment.
I opened the driver's door, tossed the phone in the car, and closed the door.
After a few seconds, all doors locked.
The car doesn't care if the phone is in the car or not.

I did another test.
I opened the passenger side door and entered and sat in the passenger seat.
The doors locked after a few seconds.

On the next test, I opened the driver's door and entered and sat down in the driver's seat.
I waited and waited but the doors didn't lock automatically.

Conclusion
The driver's seat has to sense body weight for it to stay unlocked.
Possibly, it is for convenience when the driver is waiting for the passengers to arrive. The driver can manually lock the doors if he is not driving away right then.

The body weight in the passenger seat didn't matter. The car automatically locked.



A work around would be to own a Apple watch like me and purchase an App like "Remote S".
I can unlock the doors with the watch app. My watch is a wifi only version so the phone has to be in the Bluetooth range for my watch commands to work. If your watch is LTE enabled, you could go for a drive without your phone because you can remote start the car with the watch app.


For the owner to leave the purse in the car expecting the car to stay unlocked while putting the cart away is not a good idea anyway because a thief could grab the purse or the car.

 

[woof]

Wait...I smell something odd. She put the cart away? Aren't you supposed to leave it in the spot so it can roll around in the wind, and then come smashing into my door, like every other denizen of the store does? Gotta give those lot attendants something to do,

 

[darth_vad3r]

Dude, read the original post again. Slowly. She could NOT use her phone because it was locked IN the car. She was locked OUT of the car. So you suggesting she use her phone was not helpful.

Dude, do you know how your phone as a key works?

Read my post again.

If I leave a device that is a key locked in the trunk, I can open the trunk. I’m not “using” the device, the car detects that it is close and lets me open the door/trunk.

Get it?

 

[Leafdriver333]

Dude, do you know how your phone as a key works?

Read my post again.

If I leave a device that is a key locked in the trunk, I can open the trunk. I’m not “using” the device, the car detects that it is close and lets me open the door/trunk.

Get it?

If the car lets you open doors because the phone is in the car, then a robber can open the doors when you are just sitting in the car with your phone.
Fortunately, it doesn't.

 

[OCR1]

My car has never locked on me when I left my IPhone in the car. I have to walk away from the car with Iphone in hand to get it to lock. I’m not sure why others are having a different experience. If your phone is your only key and you don’t carry the credit card key as a backup this could present a big problem if you leave your phone in the car and close the doors.

 

[Leafdriver333]

My car has never locked on me when I left my IPhone in the car. I have to walk away from the car with Iphone in hand to get it to lock. I’m not sure why others are having a different experience. If your phone is your only key and you don’t carry the credit card key as a backup this could present a big problem if you leave your phone in the car and close the doors.

My guess.
You are referring to when you leave the phone in the car and walk away After driving.

The locking scenario happens when you approach a locked car. Open the door. Toss the phone in. Walk away or stand next to it. Timed lock will activate.

 

[OCR1]

My guess.
You are referring to when you leave the phone in the car and walk away After driving.

The locking scenario happens when you approach a locked car. Open the door. Toss the phone in. Walk away or stand next to it. Timed lock will activate.

Yup, that makes more sense. I guess I haven’t run into that scenario yet.

I was running Stats on my Iphone and Apple Watch just so that I had the ability to lock/unlock my car using just the watch. I figured it’s a good backup if I forget or lose my Iphone. But I’m averaging an extra 7 miles per day of vampire drain by running Stats so I’m not sure if it’s worth it. It is nice to have though.