Spotted on Reddit: FCC paperwork for a new Tesla BLE Fob.....

[darkenergy]

As long as the Tesla app is running on my Galaxy S8 I don't seem to have a problem with it as the key. Sometimes I do have to come around to the driver's side, but that's about it.

 

[nvx1977]

The fob is going to be optional. So people who are fine with the status quo can continue with the status quo. For the rest of us, f*ck yeah.

 

[kavyboy]

Offer a fob and I'd likely jump back in line for a Model 3. But not until.
Robin

Same here. My wife's 15 year old car just had the air conditioning die, in Houston, in July. She came home drenched in sweat and simply asked "Is the fob ready for the 3 yet?" We were going to look at Bolts next week, so this can't come soon enough.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

That’s only true if they use bluetooth for this fob. Which would probably as unreliable as the current phone keys.

The current S and X fobs have always used BLE.

 

[ebmcs03]

Why? The evidence suggests the problem is mostly with the phones - iPhones seem to have a better success rate than Androids, for example. BLE is already used for the S and X (the Model X always came with a BLE fob, and the Model S should have been changed in 2016 to use BLE, IIRC). There is no reason why a dedicated fob that only has to talk to one device should have any problems, as compared to a general purpose device that has to connect to multiple devices. Especially since both the car and the fob would have the same manufacturer, and the software in both should be optimized to talk to each other.

I hope so. Bluetooth has never worked 100% all the time for me on anything.

 

[nvx1977]

BLE radio tuned to only work with a dedicated device (a Tesla) is going to be way more reliable than BLE radio intended to work across a spectrum of devices. 1 use case vs millions. Tesla's BLE fobs for refreshed S and X are not plagued with issues that we currently see with phone keys.

Tesla's woes with phone key is not unprecedented. Fitness machines use BLE and ANT FE-C protocols to communicate with computers via a dedicated hardware USB dongle. Works flawlessly if you're in range. But when you pair fitness device with phone using phone's built-in BLE, the experience varies widely depending on the phone.

 

[Knightshade]

My 2008 Lexus I carry a credit card key in my wallet

It works 100% of the time and never has to leave my wallet

Door or trunk handle unlocks at a touch if I have card in my wallet, locks with a press on the handle

That’s what I’d have liked for the 3.

A fob you have to carry in addition to your wallet is like 1990s tech

 

[ℬête Noire]

Same here. My wife's 15 year old car just had the air conditioning die, in Houston, in July.

Aeiiieeeee!

She came home drenched in sweat and simply asked "Is the fob ready for the 3 yet?" We were going to look at Bolts next week, so this can't come soon enough.

Wow, that's hard core to hold out just on a BLE fob vs the phone/RFID fob combo. Not smartphone users, or just don't trust the proximity based method rather than always having a button ready to press?

 

[brobinson]

the thought of someone not getting a car because there isn't a keyfob is absolutely absurd.

 

[nvx1977]

as much as I'm happy about the possibility of having a fob option for Model 3, I would have purchased this car if it used oldschool keys.

 

[ℬête Noire]

as much as I'm happy about the possibility of having a fob option for Model 3, I would have purchased this car if it used oldschool keys.

It's looking a lot like I would purchase it if it required me to throw $1000 down with nearly no idea of price or options, wait 2 1/2 years, throw another $2500 down, finally get to drive a somewhat different version of it for 10 minutes, and yet still have an indeterminate number of months of waiting ahead of me.

My guess is I'd buy this damn thing if I needed to unlock it using a live rabid weasel.

I may have a problem.

 

[kavyboy]

Not smartphone users, or just don't trust the proximity based method rather than always having a button ready to press?

No smart phones and absolutely no interest in ever buying one. (Cue the insults from the peanut gallery!)
That leaves us with keycard only, which is about the worst key option I can think of. Even diehard Model 3 fans have no love for the keycard.

 

[Swampgator]

Agreed I don’t want a fob personally. Hell I wish I didn’t need to carry my wallet. If only CA would allow us to use an electronic I.D. for my license.

If this does come out I’ll probably still use my phone as my main and card as backup.

Yeah all that's great until they decide YOU don't need to have electronic access. Because of whatever reason you are an enemy of the state. Political regimes change. Careful what you ask for.
Everything (including transportation and money) computerized means the state can shut you down when you disagree with them. We all need to be cognizant of this. Love the phone as a key though. But the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Autonomous driving is great...until the state says you can no longer drive yourself. It could easily become The Red Barchetta circa 2020 if we are unaware of the risk.

 

[kavyboy]

My guess is I'd buy this damn thing if I needed to unlock it using a live rabid weasel.

I felt that way about my Model S. I might feel that way about the Roadster 2020 when the time comes. Now, however, the 3 is a utility car for us. It has to "just work", reliably, easy.

 

[Swampgator]

BLE radio tuned to only work with a dedicated device (a Tesla) is going to be way more reliable than BLE radio intended to work across a spectrum of devices. 1 use case vs millions. Tesla's BLE fobs for refreshed S and X are not plagued with issues that we currently see with phone keys.

Tesla's woes with phone key is not unprecedented. Fitness machines use BLE and ANT FE-C protocols to communicate with computers via a dedicated hardware USB dongle. Works flawlessly if you're in range. But when you pair fitness device with phone using phone's built-in BLE, the experience varies widely depending on the phone.

I think the issue with phone as key comes down to differing ecosystems.
Many android devises for example have system level control over apps, and will put them to sleep when inactive for awhile. And different versions of Android OS control that functionality differently.
I think that is why we see more complaints on Android that IOS. On my S7 edge for example, there is a certain setting I need to go into to keep the OS from putting certain apps to sleep. I guess I'm not sureif this is the cause, but I will know soon enough.
With dedicated hardware interfaces like Apple uses, you can control every device to act the same way.
Less, freedom to innovate and differentiate, but better repeat-ability of results.

 

[kavyboy]

Yeah all that's great until they decide YOU don't need to have electronic access. Because of whatever reason you are an enemy of the state. Political regimes change. Careful what you ask for.
Everything (including transportation and money) computerized means the state can shut you down when you disagree with them. We all need to be cognizant of this. Love the phone as a key though. But the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Autonomous driving is great...until the state says you can no longer drive yourself. It could easily become The Red Barchetta circa 2020 if we are unaware of the risk.

If you're driving a Tesla, they can shut you down unless, maybe, you yank the SIM card and WiFi antenna (unless you're never in range of the Tesla network). I believe they took away certain features in Hong Kong due to legislative changes with no ability to opt out. I have no doubt that "they" could disable any Tesla they wanted.

 

[Runt8]

That leaves us with keycard only, which is about the worst key option I can think of.

Better than an actual key

 

[voip-ninja]

I still don’t understand why Tesla didn’t go the NFC route, should have been able to use your phone and be 100% reliable.

 

[thesteve]

I think this is mainly because of the Canadian market, we need a fob legally to use summon. Right now summon isn’t available on the 3 but this fob gives me some hope we’ll have summon soon!

 

[Runt8]

I still don’t understand why Tesla didn’t go the NFC route, should have been able to use your phone and be 100% reliable.

I can think of a couple reasons:

1. NFC is much more limited in range (a couple inches to max 3ft under ideal conditions with the very latest protocols) so they would have needed a lot more antennas.
2. Many phones don’t have NFC hardware or don’t allow access to the hardware except under very specific conditions, so they would need to build a fob anyway, in which case they might as well use the same technology as the Model S/X fobs.