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wildcrazybunch
Member
Charging Door:
I have noticed this for me too! Is this standard? I thought it was all related to my phone not connecting properly, but the charging door would not open.
Regarding Driver Door:
I noticed yesterday when I rebooted my phone (for some other non-related reason earlier....) then I went to my car to go home it would not unlock and I then I had to find my phone, ran the app again then it worked. Frustrating! I rarely reboot my phone, but it would have been nice if it just automatically worked and I didn't have to restart my app manually. I can't remember but maybe I shut down all my apps before rebooting my phone? I just can't remember. I will pay attention!
I do notice though that the door doesn't open pretty regularly for me when I try to get in my 3 (unlike our S, it ALWAYS works even when though my key buried in my bag, it is an older S). I know on a couple occasions (NOT after rebooting my phone, app was running in background) my door wouldn't open so I then had to dig through my bag to find my phone (frustratingly, always at the bottom) and held it up to the sensor thingie and then the door would open - maybe it was just a timing thing, but it was definitely frustrating having to get it out of my bag. All of our cars over the last decade have had keyless entry & starting so having to find a "key" even just to have it out is definitely SUPER frustrating! :-(
N5329K
Active Member
it would have been nice if it just automatically worked.
Then it would be a key fob. Not a brave new feature.
Robin
Then it would be a key fob. Not a brave new feature.
Robin
Nick's Life
Tesla Life
Wolverinegeoff
Member
You can just push the handle in a little bit (not enough to open) and it’ll let you unplug. Still annoying, but slightly more convenient than opening/closing door every time.
Nick's Life
Tesla Life
I think I might have figured out the issue with unlocking the car via the Charging Cable. If you are away from your car with the charger plugged in for a while (over 5 minutes) and the car is fully charged (not sure this matters) then when you walk up to your car I have been unable to unlock the car or remove the charger with just pressing the button on the charger cable. However, with the car unlocked, if I plug in the charge and either lock the car from the mobile app or walk away for 2 mins or so (the green Tesla icon stays ON) then walk back up, I can unlock the car and remove the charging port WITHOUT opening a door first. With the car unlocked, if I plug in the charge and either lock the car from the mobile app and/or walk away for less than about 5 mins or so (the green Tesla icon turns OFF after around 2 mins) then I can walk back up and still unlock the car and remove the charging port WITHOUT opening a door first. The Model 3 seems to go into a LOCK mode after first walking away and then go into a SUPER LOCK mode after around 5 minutes.
I've turned off walk-away lock because of this, as well as making it easy for the kids to load themselves into the car before I can get to the garage. The disadvantage of this is that I have to remember to lock the car every time when I'm out and about. I find it's quicker to just tap my wallet on the B-pillar to lock than fiddling with the phone app. And sometimes I'm on the other side of the car, and I want to lock it, and I have to walk around to the driver's side to lock with the wallet. Kinda wish they had placed NFC sensors on both B-pillars.
I've requested a feature to exempt walk-away lock at home location. I know I'm not the first.
This is by far the most ANNOYING problem with my Car I've had since I got it in February. Several times when it was real cold an''vd raining I've stood with hands full of stuff like groceries etc and been unable to unlock my car. One of my cell phones actually broke from water damage cause I was trying to login to the app and remotely unlock it since it wouldn't sense my bluetooth. It happened to me again today and its unbearably frustrating. If I saw someone doing what I have had to do I would think hey look at that idiot in the expensive car that cant even get in while its pouring rain on he/she and there phone.
I have had several phone calls with Tesla Support about issues with it recognizing my bluetooth and my inability to unlock the car half the time. Here's what I've learned.
The bluetooth issue is well known and I was told it's actually not 'buggy' but that technology hasn't caught up and the car senses and overrides other things your phone sends out over the bluetooth signal (like gps/4g/etc). The tech guy I talked to basically said he has no idea why they designed it this way. So the bandaid fix they suggested was to put your phone in airplane mode, only turn on your bluetooth. This does seem to work just about every time. He also said they are seeing it alot in Iphone 10 users. I personally use an android but anyways I have been surprised to not see some kind of fix or update to this. Also am surprised there has not been a public outcry about this because #1 it was clear to me this is happening to alot of people when the tech guy knew exactly what it was when I mentioned it and #2 not being able to get in your car is beyond inconvenient and something I would not expect in a car that sells for $50,000+.
The bandaid fix of putting car in airplane mode then turning on bluetooth may work, and once I get in and turn car on I take it out of airplane mode and its fine. However, this is terribly inconvenient. Several times I have forgotten to take it out of airplane mode and missed important calls. Also if your on the phone and headed to your car you cannot put it in airplane mode without ending the phone call. This also do not fix the charging bug people have mentioned which I also have issues with. I generally open my trunk to 'wake up' the car and then I'm able to get the charger fixed.
Of the tweaks they've made for minor complaints people have had this one seems like a big miss that has been ignored.
I have had several phone calls with Tesla Support about issues with it recognizing my bluetooth and my inability to unlock the car half the time. Here's what I've learned.
The bluetooth issue is well known and I was told it's actually not 'buggy' but that technology hasn't caught up and the car senses and overrides other things your phone sends out over the bluetooth signal (like gps/4g/etc). The tech guy I talked to basically said he has no idea why they designed it this way. So the bandaid fix they suggested was to put your phone in airplane mode, only turn on your bluetooth. This does seem to work just about every time. He also said they are seeing it alot in Iphone 10 users. I personally use an android but anyways I have been surprised to not see some kind of fix or update to this. Also am surprised there has not been a public outcry about this because #1 it was clear to me this is happening to alot of people when the tech guy knew exactly what it was when I mentioned it and #2 not being able to get in your car is beyond inconvenient and something I would not expect in a car that sells for $50,000+.
The bandaid fix of putting car in airplane mode then turning on bluetooth may work, and once I get in and turn car on I take it out of airplane mode and its fine. However, this is terribly inconvenient. Several times I have forgotten to take it out of airplane mode and missed important calls. Also if your on the phone and headed to your car you cannot put it in airplane mode without ending the phone call. This also do not fix the charging bug people have mentioned which I also have issues with. I generally open my trunk to 'wake up' the car and then I'm able to get the charger fixed.
Of the tweaks they've made for minor complaints people have had this one seems like a big miss that has been ignored.
T34ME
Active Member
I wonder how difficult it would be for Tesla to retrofit a NFC sensor in the passenger B pillar. If the smartphone app is not working for me, having the NFC sensor on the driver B pillar only to read the key card is going to be durn inconvenient for me.
Nick's Life
Tesla Life
Tesla should provide an optional FOB for model 3.
The issue here is NOT Tesla's SW or bluetooth. It is about how the bluetooth implementation works on both Android and iPhones. The phone needs to save power, so they do NOT have the bluetooth radio advertising all the time its presence. It is dynamically managed by the OS in the phone and it decides when to broadcast the bluetooth services of the phone that are to be received by any other BT device. The car's BT radio is always on scanning to see if a known BT advertiser (your phone) is around and then unlock the car.
This varies from phone to phone and from OS to OS on both Android and iOS, to give you an example sometimes on iOS there can be lapses of 30s or more with the BT radio not advertising its ID making it impossible for the car to detect the presence.
I have developed bluetooth proximity applications in the past and i am familiar with the power policies of BT in the phones and how it impacts ANY BT proximity applications, it is documented on both Android and iOS developer guides.
As the battery of your phone gets lower the power management policies become more aggressive and bluetooth is not advertising for longer periods of time. (the same behavior is seen on BT door locks for example)
Tesla knows this, and still they chose to use this as the primary method to unlock the vehicle due to conveniency.
From an App development perspective you can't override the phone OS bluetooth power policy when the App enters background. When it is on the foreground (app open) your car will unlock easier (because the App now has full control of the BT radio on the phone and can start BT advertising right away) but when the phone is in your pocket (App in background mode) the phone OS takes control of the BT radio and has to arbitrate the use of the BT advertising of all the services requested by all BT apps in your phone (Tesla app being just one of them). This is how phone OSs work so you do not burn battery as BT will be advertising its ID too often.
So, give us the option of an FOB like in the model S. Also heard phone auto unlock is coming on Model S at some point, hopefully the other way around comes first
The issue here is NOT Tesla's SW or bluetooth. It is about how the bluetooth implementation works on both Android and iPhones. The phone needs to save power, so they do NOT have the bluetooth radio advertising all the time its presence. It is dynamically managed by the OS in the phone and it decides when to broadcast the bluetooth services of the phone that are to be received by any other BT device. The car's BT radio is always on scanning to see if a known BT advertiser (your phone) is around and then unlock the car.
This varies from phone to phone and from OS to OS on both Android and iOS, to give you an example sometimes on iOS there can be lapses of 30s or more with the BT radio not advertising its ID making it impossible for the car to detect the presence.
I have developed bluetooth proximity applications in the past and i am familiar with the power policies of BT in the phones and how it impacts ANY BT proximity applications, it is documented on both Android and iOS developer guides.
As the battery of your phone gets lower the power management policies become more aggressive and bluetooth is not advertising for longer periods of time. (the same behavior is seen on BT door locks for example)
Tesla knows this, and still they chose to use this as the primary method to unlock the vehicle due to conveniency.
From an App development perspective you can't override the phone OS bluetooth power policy when the App enters background. When it is on the foreground (app open) your car will unlock easier (because the App now has full control of the BT radio on the phone and can start BT advertising right away) but when the phone is in your pocket (App in background mode) the phone OS takes control of the BT radio and has to arbitrate the use of the BT advertising of all the services requested by all BT apps in your phone (Tesla app being just one of them). This is how phone OSs work so you do not burn battery as BT will be advertising its ID too often.
So, give us the option of an FOB like in the model S. Also heard phone auto unlock is coming on Model S at some point, hopefully the other way around comes first
