Model S Locking System Just Doesn't Work As Well as the Rest of the Car

[bsd]

Toyota's system for powering on and off is pretty much like everyone else's, AFAIK, at least if you look at pure volume # of vehicles shipped. Tesla's is the oddball one.

It follows the conventions set by keyed ignition systems. Removing the requirement for a key is an opportunity to rethink these conventions.

Having now used both Toyota's and Tesla's approaches to fobs, I find Tesla's approach far more pleasant. I certainly didn't waste 4 minutes trying to understand how to lock the Tesla — I probably spent 4 minutes marveling at the genius of the automatic locking I don't find myself fumbling to find the keyfob to explicitly lock the car (I don't see these handle buttons mentioned above).

That said, the Tesla approach isn't ideal when the other passengers stay in the car, but they just have to tap the screen. Since there's no way to differentiate between a person and some deadweight (child car seat etc).

 

[Gizmotoy]

Having now used both Toyota's and Tesla's approaches to fobs, I find Tesla's approach far more pleasant. I certainly didn't waste 4 minutes trying to understand how to lock the Tesla — I probably spent 4 minutes marveling at the genius of the automatic locking I don't find myself fumbling to find the keyfob to explicitly lock the car (I don't see these handle buttons mentioned above).

As long as you're aware of the special cases, it I also think it's nicer. Someone hanging out by their car for (5, I think?) minutes and then walking away expecting the car will lock normally is in for a rude surprise. Same if the fob falls out of your pocket while driving and you walk away. Or if a passenger didn't close their door all the way. In these cases, there's no indication the car didn't lock itself unless you keep looking back to check. So like Toyota's and Nissan's, there is certainly bad behavior by Tesla's system as well.