Model 3 Keyfob updated on Tesla shop to include passive entry

[M109Rider]

Just ordered one.
Cool.

 

[tambam]

Interested in buying one of the old ones if someone is upgrading and wants to offer a deal

[US Only] Model 3 Key Fob for sale, $80 shipped : teslaclassifieds

 

[CharleyBC]

I’m deducing stuff here. Tell me where I’m wrong.

The way the car supports passive entry and walk-away lock is by noticing a paired Bluetooth device coming and going. Up till now, that means our phones. So I deduce that the new fob must be a Bluetooth device in order for the passive, no-hands features to work. True?

For Bluetooth to work no-hands, there must be a Bluetooth radio in the fob that’s live all the time. That’s going to suck the poor little coin-style batteries that power it pretty fast.

I’d love an alternative explanation.

 

[hydro 481]

If someone can confirm this is a whole new passive key fob, different from the one offered previously, I would like to order one before they sell out. Last time it sold out, it was unavailable for at least 6 weeks.

No one on here has it yet.

 

[hydro 481]

I’m deducing stuff here. Tell me where I’m wrong.

The way the car supports passive entry and walk-away lock is by noticing a paired Bluetooth device coming and going. Up till now, that means our phones. So I deduce that the new fob must be a Bluetooth device in order for the passive, no-hands features to work. True?

For Bluetooth to work no-hands, there must be a Bluetooth radio in the fob that’s live all the time. That’s going to suck the poor little coin-style batteries that power it pretty fast.

I’d love an alternative explanation.

Perhaps low energy bluetooth

 

[wtwieder]

I just ordered one, too. As a new adopter, I hope I'm not sorry, again. I only bought one of the old fobs, which I will either sell or give to my wife, unless she demands the new fob.

 

[hydro 481]

I just ordered one, too. As a new adopter, I hope I'm not sorry, again. I only bought one of the old fobs, which I will either sell or give to my wife, unless she demands the new fob.

Sell it to your wife

 

[fajitamondays]

That was quick. Sold out already!

 

[Az_Rael]

If someone can confirm this is a whole new passive key fob, different from the one offered previously, I would like to order one before they sell out. Last time it sold out, it was unavailable for at least 6 weeks.

It has already sold out. Hope you got your order in.

 

[quitepossibly]

Perhaps low energy bluetooth

The old key fob was already using Bluetooth LE.

A lot of Bluetooth LE devices have pretty good battery life. The Tile tracker comes to mind.

When I bought my old fob, it came with an extra battery. I haven't need it yet. Maybe they were planning on the increased power consumption of the new one.

 

[M3-Florida]

To all who have used the old keyfob, does it unlock the car instantly? The issue I have now (not why I am buying a keyfob) is that there are times it takes 5-10 seconds for the vehicle to unlock after pulling on the driver's door handle.

 

[CharleyBC]

A conversation in Tesla product management:

JIM: Hey, Tina, the new fob is out of engineering. We need to tell manufacturing how many to make. What do you think?

TINA: Hmm. Good question. Let’s get 100 of ‘em.

JIM: 100? Wow. That’ll tie up a lot of money in inventory. I was thinking more like 50.

TINA: Yeah, I’d hate to have Elon think we’re wasting cash. How about 75?

JIM: 75 is good! I’ll order them.

(A month later.)

TINA: Hey, Jim, the new fobs are in!

JIM: Great! I’ll put them on the website.

(An hour later.)

JIM: Wow! Tina, guess what. The fobs already sold out!

TINA: Oh, my. I had no idea they’d be popular.

JIM: No kidding. Me either. I’ll order another 50 from manufacturing.

 

[Az_Rael]

To all who have used the old keyfob, does it unlock the car instantly? The issue I have now (not why I am buying a keyfob) is that there are times it takes 5-10 seconds for the vehicle to unlock after pulling on the driver's door handle.

with the old keyfob, when you double click to unlock it does it instantly.

 

[vickh]

[US Only] Model 3 Key Fob for sale, $80 shipped : teslaclassifieds

wow another early adopter casualty. Anyone here go lower ? I want to give it to my wife to use as a backup when she needs to get stuff out w/o me unlocking the app.

 

[M109Rider]

It has already sold out. Hope you got your order in.

I must have just got my order in just in time.
once it arrives, I won’t be able to compare it to the old style though, because I did t get one of the originals.

 

[Axtrader]

It has already sold out. Hope you got your order in.

I was able to order two of them an hour ago.

 

[diamond.g]

Back in stock. I ordered one.

 

[Phlier]

Back in stock. I ordered one.

Apparently Tina ordered an extra 25 behind Jim's back.

 

[jkoya]

Back in stock. I ordered one.

Thanks again for the update - much appreciated ! I just ordered one also. I sent Tesla an email asking if I can tell which version of the fob I got from the outside of the box. Basically, can I tell if I got the passive capable one without having to open the box. I hope they get back to me before I get the actual fob.

 

[happyzod]

I’m deducing stuff here. Tell me where I’m wrong.

The way the car supports passive entry and walk-away lock is by noticing a paired Bluetooth device coming and going. Up till now, that means our phones. So I deduce that the new fob must be a Bluetooth device in order for the passive, no-hands features to work. True?

For Bluetooth to work no-hands, there must be a Bluetooth radio in the fob that’s live all the time. That’s going to suck the poor little coin-style batteries that power it pretty fast.

I’d love an alternative explanation.

I assume there is some BLE beacon action going on here (like tile).

"Battery life can range between 1–48 months. Apple's recommended setting of 100 ms advertising interval with a coin cell battery provides for 1–3 months of life, which increases to 2–3 years as advertising interval is increased to 900 ms.[12]"