Model 3 Locking Unlocking

[Thunderbird1]

I park the car very close to the front door not quite Magnum PI style.If the phone unlocks the car on approach how do you prevent the car unlocking when I am inside the house with my phone on me and say going up the stairs or into the garage ? The car will be close enough to the front door to unlock I suppose.

 

[ElectricJoules]

Switch bluetooth off?

 

[Tony Hoyle]

I presume just disable that feature.. seems very ill advised to me, I can easily use bluetooth from 20 feet away. If you park in front of your house your car will be unlocked much of the time.

 

[Roy W.]

I park the car very close to the front door not quite Magnum PI style.If the phone unlocks the car on approach how do you prevent the car unlocking when I am inside the house with my phone on me and say going up the stairs or into the garage ? The car will be close enough to the front door to unlock I suppose.

I’m concerned about this too.

From what I can see you can either disable auto unlock, so it won’t open as you approach. This means you have to unlock or lock using the app or keycard. Or you can turn off Bluetooth, but obviously this affects anything else you’ve got that uses Bluetooth - headphones, watch etc.

I asked about this at the Tesla store, and they did say it’s not just about proximity. The car monitors the BT signal strength and so knows you are approaching or moving away from the car. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if it’s a problem.

 

[Rooster6655]

I park the car very close to the front door not quite Magnum PI style.If the phone unlocks the car on approach how do you prevent the car unlocking when I am inside the house with my phone on me and say going up the stairs or into the garage ? The car will be close enough to the front door to unlock I suppose.

Simply disable the feature in the options, however I believe unless you are very close to the door and going for the door it doesn't unlock

 

[dst87]

In all of the videos I’ve seen of people using the phone key, the car has unlocked when the user was pretty close. It didn’t look like there would be a problem when using your phone in your house at all, but I could be wrong.

 

[Stach]

Simply disable the feature in the options, however I believe unless you are very close to the door and going for the door it doesn't unlock

I'd recommend testing the range / capabilities with a family member or friend, to see exactly how far away the M3 doors will unlock

 

[Yev000]

 

[Thunderbird1]

Thanks
Seems having phone on me is going to unlock car - wait test and see - i don't intend keeping valuables in it just incase !

 

[miimura]

In April 2018 when we first got our Model 3, it would unfold the mirrors and unlock when you approached like shown in that video. Since late Summer 2018, the behavior changed and there is no outward appearance that the phone is in range. When the phone is present within range and you pull the door handle it will open. If the car does not have a connection to a phone within range, when you pull the door handle it will put up a message on the screen to swipe the card key. If you do have the phone but it's not recognized, the most I have to do is open the Tesla app and it will make connection. The Bluetooth phone-as-a-key used to be much more of a hassle. It works quite well now after several software updates to specifically address those issues.

Basically, the OP's concern is a non-issue to me since I park in an attached garage. Other people who park very close to the house but in an insecure area may have a valid concern that the car might unlock if someone tried to enter the car while the phone was in the house near the car.

 

[Thunderbird1]

In April 2018 when we first got our Model 3, it would unfold the mirrors and unlock when you approached like shown in that video. Since late Summer 2018, the behavior changed and there is no outward appearance that the phone is in range. When the phone is present within range and you pull the door handle it will open. If the car does not have a connection to a phone within range, when you pull the door handle it will put up a message on the screen to swipe the card key. If you do have the phone but it's not recognized, the most I have to do is open the Tesla app and it will make connection. The Bluetooth phone-as-a-key used to be much more of a hassle. It works quite well now after several software updates to specifically address those issues.

Basically, the OP's concern is a non-issue to me since I park in an attached garage. Other people who park very close to the house but in an insecure area may have a valid concern that the car might unlock if someone tried to enter the car while the phone was in the house near the car.

Exactly my point and very well put

 

[Tony Hoyle]

" the behavior changed and there is no outward appearance that the phone is in range" So the car could be unlocked and you wouldn't know it, and there's no way of checking without testing the doors.. Yeah, no. That's a car theft waiting to happen.

I'm sure some don't bother about such things, but there's no way I'd even consider enabling something like that.

 

[miimura]

" the behavior changed and there is no outward appearance that the phone is in range" So the car could be unlocked and you wouldn't know it, and there's no way of checking without testing the doors.. Yeah, no. That's a car theft waiting to happen.

I'm sure some don't bother about such things, but there's no way I'd even consider enabling something like that.

It's perfectly OK not to use all the features of the car. You can either turn off the Bluetooth on your phone when you need to be sure the car is locked, or just don't use the Phone-as-a-key feature at all and just use the key card. However, even if the doors will open, the car is more strict about triangulating that the phone is inside the car when it actually starts the car when you press the brake pedal.

 

[MrBadger]

Can you use keycard for entry but allow phone in your bag to start?

What about key fob? What bits of what does it duplicate? Presumably it has a hook so can be used attached to a key ring?

Can you geofence this, so it wont use phone to open say at home but can other places?

 

[miimura]

Can you use keycard for entry but allow phone in your bag to start?

What about key fob? What bits of what does it duplicate? Presumably it has a hook so can be used attached to a key ring?

Can you geofence this, so it wont use phone to open say at home but can other places?

1. No. If the Phone is registered as a key, it can open and start the car. If you already have the card out to swipe on the door pillar, swiping it on the console is no big deal. Also, if you start the car within a short timeout after swiping for entry, you don't need to swipe again on the console anyway.
2. Key Fob is somewhat limited. You must press a button to unlock the car. There is no proximity unlock like the phone. I believe it will start the car by proximity though. Take a look at the photos - I don't know what tethering is available.
3. There is no geofence function on the phone key system. You also cannot geofence to disable walk-away-lock either. However, you can geofence to prevent Sentry Mode at home and other pre-defined locations.

 

[docdanijb]

Can you use keycard for entry but allow phone in your bag to start?

Yes, you can. As long as your phone has a valid key, you can lock and unlock doors with keycard, and put it in your pocket. The car will sense the phone and allow you to drive.

 

[spon88]

We have to switch Bluetooth off else the car is unlocked when we are sitting in the front room, or indeed one of the front bedrooms. It stops doing this at around 7m. We've done lots of testing so now won't risk it. It's 10 seconds job to enable/disable Bluetooth using voice activation on the 'phone.

 

[BillBot]

Mine seems to lock if I walk about 2 or 3 metres away. I was concerned because my office is only about 4 metres from the car but it seems to be ok. The walls might be helping to block the signal too I suppose.

 

[jimbo_hippo]

This is going to be interesting. Haven’t taken delivery yet but I sleep about 4 meters away from the car with my phone charging. Will definitely test this whole thing out and report back. Probably around March 2023 when it finally arrives. Bluetooth is useful for a lot of other stuff so not keen on assuming it’s always turned off.

another alternative might be to have an old iPhone such as my old 4s or 6+ have the app on it, using that one as a kind of key only. yes it means carrying two phones but at least then I could leave that one at the other end of the house and not be worries the car is sitting there awaiting an uninvited test drive! Might be a juggle for music and stuff as I use Apple Music but let’s wait and see.

 

[davidmc]

If you want Bluetooth turning off/on at a preset time, use the app IFTTT (If This Then That)

You search for "Turn bluetooth off at this time" and enter your Days you want it too happen, Time that you want it too turn off

Same as above for "On" in the morning

I set mine to turn off at 8pm and on at 5am (You can still override this if you need to use it). Just an added security if you forget too turn it off in the first place.

Also someone mention that the Google Pixel 3 had a huge bluetooth range.

Mine is a Razor phone and bluetooth is really short range (less than 1m)