Hi all, I have a 2023 M3 and have it set to remain unlocked in my garage. I do not have a Tesla charger, so I would like to be able to open the charge port door by hand while parked in the garage. As it is now, I have to open a door to wake the car up before touching the charging port door. Is there a way to eliminate this extra step? Not a big thing, but annoying.
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New M3 owner- unable to open charge port in garage.
- Thread starter Jon4uu
- Start date
You must wake the car up before it will open the charge port. The fastest way to do this is by half-pressing a door handle (3/Y), waiting a moment, then tapping the charge port or pressing the button on the charging wand (which you don't have, but I'm including it for context). If the charging wand is already inserted in the car (e.g., charging completed), you can hold the button on the wand (about three seconds) until the car unlocks and unlocks the charge port.
Thanks for the suggestion. I tried the half-press, but it didn't wake the car. I have to push it until the door unlatches, then the car wakes up. I guess Tesla wants people to buy their charger to avoid this inconvenience.
I think that even a Tesla charger requires the car to be awakened before the charge port door will open via the button on the charge handle. That may or may not happen because a phone is close by, but I think I always need to unlatch the back door before the charger door will open.
This is simple. Plug in the car when you get out and not after it goes to sleep after X hours.
Weird. Why automate something just to make it less convenient. Kinda like the glovebox
It seems to me that the charge port isn't handled by the security module, which is one of the few things that remains awake when the car is asleep. I don't know why they did this - presumably to minimize standby power consumption. The easiest work-around is to plug in the car before it goes to sleep.
Well if it's to save on standby power, Tesla needs to get their priorities in order. Every time I open the door, the screen lights up, the music starts playing and the air conditioning starts. Massive waste of energy that could be avoided just by using the seat as the wake sensor. When you sit down in the driver's seat, the car wakes up. Simple. Easy for them to do too, just by using the on/off switch that is built into the seat for airbag deployment
But then there'd be people complaining that they opened the door to kick the A/C and music on but it didn't work, and noe they have to sit in the car and get back out again.
That has nothing to do with standby power consumption - the energy used while the car is sitting unused.
Not sure why someone would want to turn on the music while they're not in the car, but if you want to cool the car, just hit the precondition button on the app. I just think it's silly that the car turns on and off each time I open the doors. I was wiping down the car yesterday and each time I opened a door to clean the inside glass, the car would wake up and the same song would start over again. I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. lol
I just mean that these behaviors can be highly subjective. Often, I open the rear door to let my son in first. I want the screen and climate controls to be on immediately so that by the time I sit down it's ready to roll.
The seat sensors might not be on until the computer is on, at which point everything else is on. There could be a lot of hairy workarounds in the software to make it behave like you want it to, and that might not even be desirable to most other owners.
I'd say opening the door again and again without getting in is a very small edge case. You could always turn off the climate and music while cleaning the car.
The whole idea is that things are as automated as they can be (it's not perfect, but that's the idea). You walk up, open the door, get in and drive away... no unlocking the door, no ignition... and the same on the way out - you can just pull up, open the door and walk away (no park, no ignition, no locking the doors).
There's the "principle of least astonishment"... that everything turns on when you open the door makes a lot of sense. Everything turning on when you sit in the seat is less expected behavior in my opinion. Keep it simple.
A minor annoyance for sure, but extra steps, work arounds, charge port malfunctions, repairs and replacements would all be eliminated with a manual opening charge door. Someone (Elon?) once said the best designed part is no part at all, i.e. the simpler the better. I drove Chevy Volts for the last 10 years, the first generation required pushing a button inside the door to open the charge port (like most ice vehicles) but in 2017 GM eliminated the button and just went with a manual door. It was a nice little improvement over the previous gen. Just push on it and it pops open. Maybe with Project Highland, they will design something super advanced like a manual opening charge port door...and glove box...and windshield wipers...
"Walking away without locking the door" is another thing that I would change. The car should have a touch sensor on the door handle like other cars. I'd much rather have confirmation the car is locked before stepping away from it. Here's what happened to me when I first got the car. My wife had placed her new iphone in the charging tray and we stopped for lunch at a restaurant. As I was walking away from the car, I looked back to confirm visually that it was locked (folded mirrors). The traffic noise was masking the horn sound. Another car was blocking my view of the mirrors and I just assumed the car was locked. About 20 minutes into our lunch, my wife said "oh, I left my phone in the car". I realized immediately that the car was probably unlocked (her phone was paired) and I ran out to find the window rolled down and her phone in plain view. Not only would we have lost the phone, but the perp could have driven off with the car, too! Closest I've ever come to having valuables or my car stolen in 45 years of driving. I'd gladly pay the extra 5 bucks to include a touch sensor on the door so I KNOW my car is locked before walking away.
Millions of Tesla owners disagree. It's new to you, you'll get used to it.
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