Need Feature that Disables Auto-Lock When Car’s Parked at Specified Location

[spsheridan]

Since I got my Model 3, I’ve been annoyed by how the car locks even when it's parked in my garage. I enjoy the auto-lock feature and use it all the time. But I often go out to the car when it’s in my garage only to find I don’t have my phone with me to unlock the car. So I have to go back inside, grab my phone, then back out to the car. I would love a feature that disables auto-lock when the car is parked at certain locations, like my garage.

Until then, the only work-around I've found is to configure another driver profile (I called it Unlocked) that I set the car to after I pull into my garage. I made sure the steering wheel is positioned at an absurd location for this profile so I'd remember to set it back to my normal profile before I drive again. Now I select a profile every time I park in my garage and then again when I get back in to drive away, but I’m getting used to it and it’s less annoying than forgetting my phone and not being able to unlock my car in the garage. The Model 3 has enough location awareness to “know" that it’s parked in my garage. It seems like a useful and easy-to-code feature to give drivers the option to not auto-lock the car when it’s parked at a specified location.

 

[jjrandorin]

People keep asking for this, and as long as its not the default state I would be ok with it. Thing is, I know the location is not 100 percent accurate, so (for example) you could park IN your garage and have it not lock, and then park in your driveway, and still have it not lock 100% of the time.

Here is some more discussion on this topic.. people have been asking for this for a while.

Feature request - keep car unlocked at home location

Feature Request: Disable Autolock Near Homelink

Feature Request: Home Settings

 

[RichNot]

I also would like the option to opt out of autolock when the car is in my garage. I'm ok with it not locking while it's in my driveway because it's never left there except for a brief time while I get something out of the garage. If I had to leave it out overnight or leave it out unattended I assume I could disable the autolock feature, or just lock the car from my phone app. Many times I've gone out to get something out of or put something into the car and had to come back into the house and get my phone.

 

[spsheridan]

People keep asking for this, and as long as its not the default state I would be ok with it. Thing is, I know the location is not 100 percent accurate, so (for example) you could park IN your garage and have it not lock, and then park in your driveway, and still have it not lock 100% of the time.

Here is some more discussion on this topic.. people have been asking for this for a while.

Feature request - keep car unlocked at home location

Feature Request: Disable Autolock Near Homelink

Feature Request: Home Settings

Thanks for the links. I can understand why this would be a popular feature request. I noticed all of them begin with Feature Request. Is this just a convention for the TMC forums or do requests labeled this way actually get channeled to Tesla for evaluation? If they don't, does Tesla have an official channel for submitting feature requests?

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks for the links. I can understand why this would be a popular feature request. I noticed all of them begin with Feature Request. Is this just a convention for the TMC forums or do requests labeled this way actually get channeled to Tesla for evaluation? If they don't, does Tesla have an official channel for submitting feature requests?

Honestly I dont know. I would assume tesla (as in some people at tesla) monitor these forums for interesting tidbits etc, but these are not tesla official forums (and tesla's official forums are a joke so I wouldnt bother looking there).

 

[APC7]

I can't figure out how to create a driver profile that keeps the doors unlocked. The only options for a new driver profile are steering wheel, side mirrors and seat. Or does it automatically keep the doors unlocked with the "easy entry" options? This issue - the car locking in the garage - is really the only thing that bothers me about the car. Thanks in advance.

 

[APC7]

Actually I just figured it out. Now let's see if I can train myself to turn it to the Garage profile whenever I get home.

 

[Manitoba Keith]

Or, you could just;
1. Unlock the car from inside the house using the app.
or
2. Carry your key card in your wallet and pull it out to unlock when you forget to take your phone. Good to have the card in your wallet regardless.

Personally, I keep the card in my wallet but when I get to the car and it doesn't unlock, that reminds me to grab my phone from the house.

 

[drtimhill]

Since I got my Model 3, I’ve been annoyed by how the car locks even when it's parked in my garage. I enjoy the auto-lock feature and use it all the time. But I often go out to the car when it’s in my garage only to find I don’t have my phone with me to unlock the car. So I have to go back inside, grab my phone, then back out to the car. I would love a feature that disables auto-lock when the car is parked at certain locations, like my garage.

Until then, the only work-around I've found is to configure another driver profile (I called it Unlocked) that I set the car to after I pull into my garage. I made sure the steering wheel is positioned at an absurd location for this profile so I'd remember to set it back to my normal profile before I drive again. Now I select a profile every time I park in my garage and then again when I get back in to drive away, but I’m getting used to it and it’s less annoying than forgetting my phone and not being able to unlock my car in the garage. The Model 3 has enough location awareness to “know" that it’s parked in my garage. It seems like a useful and easy-to-code feature to give drivers the option to not auto-lock the car when it’s parked at a specified location.

Well you can already automate the “select a profile when I drive away” by connecting that profile to your phone. So it’s just down to choosing a profile when you leave the car. I think having a “purposeful act” to leave the car unlocked is somewhat safer.

 

[PianoAl]

Actually I just figured it out. Now let's see if I can train myself to turn it to the Garage profile whenever I get home.

We've gotten into the habit and rarely forget.

 

[Dan203]

You can set a profile to not lock the car? How? I hate that it locks when it's in the garage.

 

[Msjulie]

Actually I just figured it out. Now let's see if I can train myself to turn it to the Garage profile whenever I get home.

Well if it really works, please elaborate

 

[SDKoala]

This feature has been requested since the car was released. This workaround with constantly switching profiles is kind of absurd, IMO. It just doesn't seem to me that the hassle of switching profiles every single drive outweighs the annoyance of going to the car without the phone once in a while, but obviously others have a different threshold. Honestly, it was only an issue for like the first 1-2 months of ownership when I constantly wanted to go sit in the car in my free time and tinker with the screen. The novelty is long gone almost two years later and learned to just grab my phone if I want to get something in the car long ago.

That said, I too want to keep the car unlocked in my garage and I'd disable auto-lock at home in a heartbeat if it became an option.

 

[Kevy Baby]

That said, I too want to keep the car unlocked in my garage...

Just curious as to why? Not questioning your desire at all: just merely curious.

 

[SDKoala]

Just curious as to why? Not questioning your desire at all: just merely curious.

While I've learned to carry my phone with me when I need something from the car, my better half has not. The fewer reasons she has to be frustrated with the car, the better.

 

[Kevy Baby]

While I've learned to carry my phone with me when I need something from the car, my better half has not. The fewer reasons she has to be frustrated with the car, the better.

Solid reason

 

[drtimhill]

This feature has been requested since the car was released. This workaround with constantly switching profiles is kind of absurd, IMO. It just doesn't seem to me that the hassle of switching profiles every single drive outweighs the annoyance of going to the car without the phone once in a while, but obviously others have a different threshold. Honestly, it was only an issue for like the first 1-2 months of ownership when I constantly wanted to go sit in the car in my free time and tinker with the screen. The novelty is long gone almost two years later and learned to just grab my phone if I want to get something in the car long ago.

That said, I too want to keep the car unlocked in my garage and I'd disable auto-lock at home in a heartbeat if it became an option.

But let's look at this realistically. How accurate does the cars position have to be for this feature to be secure? Often, it's only a few feet difference between inside your garage (safe for most people) and on the driveway (unsafe for many people). It's pretty much impossible for the car to reliably tell the difference. The result? A significant risk that the car will be left outside and unlocked.

And I'm sure some people might say "but that's MY choice" or "my driveway is secure" etc. But I'm sure Tesla looked at this and evaluated how many people would scream and shout and blame them when their car was burgled as a result of this feature. No matter how many warnings they put on the screen (there is a lot of this with autopilot abusers). So, do the minor pros really really outweigh the significant cons in this case? Really? I mean, we are talking about a first-world problem here ("oh damn I left my phone in the house again!").

 

[Cyber_Dav]

Just curious as to why? Not questioning your desire at all: just merely curious.

Biggest reason: I keep my portable tire air compressor in the car. When I need to air up the trailer, tractor or another car I need access to the car. Frustrating to have to go back in the house (detached garage) to get a method to unlock car, then go back to house to put that away (so I don't forget where I left it).

I'm retired, I 'work' in the garage a lot more than I drive the car.

 

[SDKoala]

But let's look at this realistically. How accurate does the cars position have to be for this feature to be secure? Often, it's only a few feet difference between inside your garage (safe for most people) and on the driveway (unsafe for many people). It's pretty much impossible for the car to reliably tell the difference. The result? A significant risk that the car will be left outside and unlocked.

And I'm sure some people might say "but that's MY choice" or "my driveway is secure" etc. But I'm sure Tesla looked at this and evaluated how many people would scream and shout and blame them when their car was burgled as a result of this feature. No matter how many warnings they put on the screen (there is a lot of this with autopilot abusers). So, do the minor pros really really outweigh the significant cons in this case? Really? I mean, we are talking about a first-world problem here ("oh damn I left my phone in the house again!").

I don't know about that. It shows the distance for HomeLink activation when both entering and leaving my garage reliably. So much so that it opens my garage when I approach and closes my garage as I leave at the exact same point on my driveway every single time.

I'd bet more on it being a very low priority fix for a system that's working as designed and could get screwed up by changing it's behavior. There would be way more people screaming if walkaway lock failures started happening. I could totally see that as a by-product of introducing a way to disable walkaway lock based on location. I'm sure as far as they are concerned, better to have it always working (feature enabled) or always not working (feature disabled) without introducing other variables.

 

[drtimhill]

I don't know about that. It shows the distance for HomeLink activation when both entering and leaving my garage reliably. So much so that it opens my garage when I approach and closes my garage as I leave at the exact same point on my driveway every single time.

I'd bet more on it being a very low priority fix for a system that's working as designed and could get screwed up by changing it's behavior. There would be way more people screaming if walkaway lock failures started happening. I could totally see that as a by-product of introducing a way to disable walkaway lock based on location. I'm sure as far as they are concerned, better to have it always working (feature enabled) or always not working (feature disabled) without introducing other variables.

I think it's quite likely that 3 factors were involved: risk associated with false unlocks (my point), concerns about causing regressions in a critical system (your point), and relatively low bang-for-the-buck compared to other items on the work list.