My wife and I have cheap Android phones (Bluetooth 4.0), I imagine they'll be problematic. She has a little foldover jacket she keeps the phone in, with credit cards/drivers license... maybe 1/8" thick. Does anyone think the card key would work through that?
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Phone as Key Issues
- Thread starter AllDigital
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- Model 3 User Interface
I keep my card in my wallet. I have tried it in a pocket in the middle of the wallet. There is about a 3/8" of cards and wallet/leather between the card and the sensor. It wasn't really reliable (maybe 50% of the time) so I moved it to the location where bills are normally kept, which leaves 1/8" to 1/16" inch of leather between the card and the sensor. This works very reliably but I frequently put the wrong side of the wallet on the sensor. (My phone works enough, after some fiddling, to not required me to use the card much but when I do, this works much more reliably.)
I would set the Tasker profile to do it more often than 12 hours. I have it on every 1 hour, which is working well and I haven't had a failure yet when away from the car for many hours. So now we know that it has to be more often than every 12 hours but doesn't need to be more often than every 1 hour. The effect on battery life of the phone at an every 1 hour interval is negligible, though.
The issue that I'm working on now is the loss of phone key functionality when doing a quick return to the car where you barely leave Bluetooth range but need to turn back around to get in again. I've had the phone fail to open the car a few times in this situation.
JES2
Member
Maybe you don't understand, but it does not have to be a choice between the phone and the FOB. I would probably default to the FOB until Tesla gives me some advantage (summons) to utilize the phone. We're not trying to take your phone away.
I have a 5 year old boy that has to get into a car seat. Is he supposed to just stand out in a cold and busy parking lot while I try to see if the phone is working that day? Or, do I have to leave him hanging out by himself on the passenger side of the car while I go over to the driver's side pillar and use the card?
"Rational" is wanting to be able to get you and your family safely in the car.
Telling people they are not suited for a car, is very condescending. Don't be that guy.
I've worked in IT for 38 years. Code reliability should take a priority over functionality, especially when it comes to a vehicle. In this case, Tesla can have both, with a phone and a FOB.
Maybe you don't understand: Model 3 needs to make Tesla money so they cut out lots of little things: nearly all interior buttons and gauges, grab handles, power trunk, and key fobs -- lots of little things that add up. If supplying any of these items were near zero marginal cost, they would probably include them. This saves them money and is also consistent with a minimalist design aesthetic.
Lots of people are having no problem. I suspect some people have a conflicting app or some other unique circumstance that can eventually be remedied. If Tesla finds that there is no remedy for significant portion, they eventually rollout something -- maybe a fob, maybe a easier key card, or maybe use NFC or something.
If you are getting an EV you already have to adjust to new things. this is one more.
PS, when you say "I've worked in IT for 38 years" most people are more likely to think, "Great, if I have a COBAL or token-ring question I'll come to you" rather than "Great, you are likely a good person to adopt to new technology as people of your vintage are always excited about change and doing things a new way!"
cellogig
Model X..Model 3
Iceland, with all its free geothermal energy will outlaw ICE cars, except that in Icelandic "ICE" probably does not stand for internal combustion engine, and probably does not mean frozen water, so nobody there will get the joke.
So I shouldn't buy the best car on the road because it's not perfect? Or I should not help Tesla make its cars even better by pointing out the one thing they got wrong? Constructive criticism helps a company that truly wants to create the best product it can, and I believe Tesla is such a company. Offering an optional fob does not detract from the experience of people who don't want it.
You are telling people "If you are not the kind of person who knows how to optimize a smartphone, or if you don't want to have a smartphone at all, then you shouldn't buy this car." I'm asking Tesla to make a fob for those who want or need it to make the car-owning experience more accessible. And I have several times said that if all there was for this car was the card key, I'd still love the car, but it would be more of a nuisance to get in and out, just as in the present situation it is a nuisance to open the frunk when you are outside the car.
The Model S is too big. The Leaf is a fine economy EV but does not compare to the Model 3. I don't trust GM to support customers after the sale, and the Bolt does not have the performance of the Model 3. The phone key is an interesting idea, but it should have been rolled out along with a fob until it showed itself to be sufficiently reliable, not instead of a fob for its first appearance.
None of those other things require you to be a different kind of person. Making something as frequent and critical as opening the car rely on unreliable overcomplicated technology is a terrible idea. Not providing a fob is going to cost them some customers; people who aren't tech addicts or even very tech literate. Providing a fob would not cost them any customers because all the tech people AND the non tech people would still buy the car. And the phone app would still be there for people who love figuring out why things aren't working.
Not being able to reliably get into your car isn't something you adjust to. It's something you get more and more frustrated with over time and embarrassed about in front of your friends, some of whom are just waiting for ammo like this to prove that EVs suck.
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Another data-point.
I have owned my Model 3 for three weeks now, running 2018.14.13 for the last 2 weeks, and I use a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone with Android 7.0 Nougat, Tesla Android app version 3.3.5
Not once have I been unable to access (unlock or drive) my car with the phone. The only time I've used the card since delivery is to set up my wife's iPhone as a key.
What I HAVE experienced, is a delay of up to 5-6 seconds between physically interacting with the vehicle (pressing in on the door handle or pressing the trunk open button) and the vehicle responding/unlocking. Only happens when the vehicle has been 'asleep' i.e. parked and locked for a while -- if it's charging then it always responds right away. When it doesn't unlock immediately, I will just continue to press the button or push the door handle in, and it will eventually unlock.
The only case where it took longer than 5-6 seconds was once, when my phone had previously gotten down to 1% battery remaining and had shut down both the Tesla app and Bluetooth as a power-saving measure before I plugged it back in to charge. In that case I checked my phone, turned Bluetooth back on, started the Tesla app (don't know if that was absolutely necessary or not) and the car unlocked within 5-7 seconds.
I have owned my Model 3 for three weeks now, running 2018.14.13 for the last 2 weeks, and I use a Samsung Galaxy S7 phone with Android 7.0 Nougat, Tesla Android app version 3.3.5
Not once have I been unable to access (unlock or drive) my car with the phone. The only time I've used the card since delivery is to set up my wife's iPhone as a key.
What I HAVE experienced, is a delay of up to 5-6 seconds between physically interacting with the vehicle (pressing in on the door handle or pressing the trunk open button) and the vehicle responding/unlocking. Only happens when the vehicle has been 'asleep' i.e. parked and locked for a while -- if it's charging then it always responds right away. When it doesn't unlock immediately, I will just continue to press the button or push the door handle in, and it will eventually unlock.
The only case where it took longer than 5-6 seconds was once, when my phone had previously gotten down to 1% battery remaining and had shut down both the Tesla app and Bluetooth as a power-saving measure before I plugged it back in to charge. In that case I checked my phone, turned Bluetooth back on, started the Tesla app (don't know if that was absolutely necessary or not) and the car unlocked within 5-7 seconds.
Mine works fine too. But maybe Tesla should incur significant additional cost just because some people (how many? Who knows..) are having problems and they cant stand that they might have to troubleshoot their particular use case.
No.
Same for my house key. It's gone. Replaced by Bluetooth and it works great. No keys in your pocket is great.
Huh?
Yep, and there are lots more out there that have no reason to waste their time in this thread.
I made my earlier post in an attempt to share information to help people troubleshoot their particular use case. Let's use this thread to share information and help each other . If you want to start a petition to get your fob back I suggest a different thread.
N5329K
Active Member
While I expect Tesla anticipated saving money by using a phone as a fob, only they know if that's proven to be correct, somewhat correct, mostly false or entirely untrue.
And they aren't saying.
Robin
And they aren't saying.
Robin
On a Pixel running Android 8.1.0. Generally, if I reboot my phone every day it works without problems. But sometimes if I forget, it won't work first thing.
The most annoying thing that has happened was on Wednesday. Driving home from work, key worked without a problem. Park at my son's day care and go get him. I'm in there for maybe 3 minutes. Come back out, phone won't open the car. App makes me sign back in. Never had that happen before.
The most annoying thing that has happened was on Wednesday. Driving home from work, key worked without a problem. Park at my son's day care and go get him. I'm in there for maybe 3 minutes. Come back out, phone won't open the car. App makes me sign back in. Never had that happen before.
cellogig
Model X..Model 3
I still think you guys should put the energy derived from your anger into making a plan to convince Elon that this is a big enough issue and he should, at the very least, release an optional FOB. It's unhealthy to stay angry about something for so long. Think about how happy you'll be if you win.
I'm still waiting for my car (VIN & paperwork all secured, waiting on delivery date) so I don't have skin in the game yet but I might join in with you if I have the same level of frustration.
I'm still waiting for my car (VIN & paperwork all secured, waiting on delivery date) so I don't have skin in the game yet but I might join in with you if I have the same level of frustration.
I still think you guys should put the energy derived from your anger into making a plan to convince Elon that this is a big enough issue and he should, at the very least, release an optional FOB. It's unhealthy to stay angry about something for so long. Think about how happy you'll be if you win.
I'm still waiting for my car (VIN & paperwork all secured, waiting on delivery date) so I don't have skin in the game yet but I might join in with you if I have the same level of frustration.
I'm not angry. I love this car.
I just make as much noise as I can here in hopes that Tesla will hear. I don't have Elon's phone number or email. I mention it whenever I have need to call Tesla about anything else.
cellogig
Model X..Model 3
Twitter? I don’t tweetI'm not angry. I love this car.
N5329K
Active Member
I don't have Elon's phone number or email.
This one used to work. Can't say that it still does.
[email protected]
Robin
This one used to work. Can't say that it still does.
[email protected]
Robin
