Stranded! (forgot keyfob at home, was still able to drive car away)

[carrerascott]

Argh. Wife put the key on a shelf near the car. We were in a hurry and hopped in and drove off to my son's school. Parked. Realized we didn't have the key. No warnings until trying to turn it on now. Big flaw!

Luckily neighbor is bringing the key. What if we had driven 200 miles before stopping?

This needs to be addressed!

 

[dsm363]

Does need to be addressed but have you attached your Model S keyfob to your house keys? That makes this much less likely.

 

[YoungStranger]

there would be a straightforward fix for this - a warning on screen as soon as the key goes out of range... The car could stop, but that would be dangerous

 

[carrerascott]

Needs a real audio and visual warning!

 

[dsm363]

Needs To real audio and visual warning!

It does need to do this and it should be more obvious. Attaching the keyfob to your house key (assuming you use a physical key to lock your house when you leave) would virtually eliminate this problem until they offer a better fix.

 

[mitch672]

They could also have some kinda of override using the smartphone app, that would solve the keyfob being left nearby issue.
Perhaps a secondary password to enable it, for extra security.

Even if you do not have your smartphone you could call the significant other and get them to do the override, or Tesla service could also via a phone call (again a secondary security password would be required).

Elon, if your reading this, your welcome

 

[gregincal]

I can't imagine people really wanting to do this, so a big flashing warning with a tone does seem appropriate.

 

[bollar]

Interesting. I had assumed the car was using Keyless Go, but KG has sensors that confirm the key is physically inside the car before it will allow a start.

 

[jerry33]

The correct way to fix this problem is to insure that the car won't start unless the fob is actually inside the car. That is how other manufacturers do it. Of course, you can still get stuck like the OP if you toss the keys out the window or if you exit with the car running and leave the fob somewhere, but it's much less likely.

 

[dsm363]

Interesting. I had assumed the car was using Keyless Go, but KG has sensors that confirm the key is physically inside the car before it will allow a start.

It sounds like the keyfob was placed on a shelf in the garage close enough to the car to make the Model S think it was inside allowing it to start.

 

[ZBB]

I had an '08 CTS that had the keyless option. The car would give an attention gong and display a message on the dash if the key was not in the car and in gear. But it also would not start if the key was not inside the car (so that message would not come up unless the car was on and you got out of the car with the key and then got back in to drive and didn't bring the key back (say changing drivers...).

Why doesn't Tesla do that?

 

[cinergi]

Argh. Wife put the key on a shelf near the car. We were in a hurry and hopped in and drove off to my son's school. Parked. Realized we didn't have the key. No warnings until trying to turn it on now. Big flaw!

Luckily neighbor is bringing the key. What if we had driven 200 miles before stopping?

This needs to be addressed!

If you haven't already, please let ownership know about your experience and desire for an improvement (e.g. where the car alerts you while driving).

 

[Johan]

My Volvo V70 (2011) warns me with blinking lights and loud bells if the fob is removed from the car while the engine is on (or of the car is removed from the fob, as in the OP). For it to do this I guess it somehow keeps "pinging" the fob? Would this drain the battery of the fob quicker? However, my batteries last for years...

 

[bollar]

It sounds like the keyfob was placed on a shelf in the garage close enough to the car to make the Model S think it was inside allowing it to start.

Yeah, but my KG system rarely makes that mistake. I can have the key in my open palm just outside the driver's window and the car will give a "key not recognized" warning. Move it inside a couple of inches and the car starts.

If it is a KG system, there's tuning to be done.

 

[carrerascott]

We don't use house keys so that won't solve it.

 

[carrerascott]

It sounds like the keyfob was placed on a shelf in the garage close enough to the car to make the Model S think it was inside allowing it to start.

Correct. And got no warning that I noticed. Didn't realize till we were parked and looking for the keys.

 

[carrerascott]

If you haven't already, please let ownership know about your experience and desire for an improvement (e.g. where the car alerts you while driving).

I will when I get home, for sure.

 

[dsm363]

Correct. And got no warning that I noticed. Didn't realize till we were parked and looking for the keys.

I know that warning is small and not that obvious but you didn't get that 'key not inside' warning when you drove away? I've had a few times where the key fob was in the car and it thought it wasn't and that message popped up but that was with earlier software versions.

 

[kinddog]

on a side note, I have lost one of my key fobs.

anyone know how much a replacement costs?

 

[NigelM]

I know that warning is small and not that obvious but you didn't get that 'key not inside' warning when you drove away? I've had a few times where the key fob was in the car and it thought it wasn't and that message popped up but that was with earlier software versions.

That warning is there. I've had it when the key was in my pocket shielded by my phone. It goes away after howevermanyseconds though.

- - - Updated - - -

on a side note, I have lost one of my key fobs.

anyone know how much a replacement costs?

It's $230 posted here. Note that you still need a Service Tech to reset BOTH keys at once when you get a new one.