Tesla App, Phone Key, Bluetooth, Security

[ptf1]

Newbie Questions:

Just got my MYLR a week ago & have questions. I park on the street (no driveways in historic 100+ yo neighborhood). The car is maybe 30’ from the house. The Tesla app recommends leaving it running in the background on my iPhone “for the best Phone Key experience”. When inside the house, the app shows “Phone Key - Connected”. If I walk out to the car without the phone, it won’t unlock the doors (Good) & if I try the door it activates Sentry mode (also good). Seems like the car is still locked & secure, even though the phone key is “connected”.

it seems like I’m probably within Bluetooth range of the car so the phone key connects, but not close enough for the proximity detection to allow the car to be unlocked. if I’m connected via BT, is that enough to keep the car awake and possibly adding some drain to the battery? I’m noticing a loss of several miles in range when the car is parked for a few hours - maybe 10 miles of range overnight. Is that normal?

 

[jcanoe]

Newbie Questions:

Just got my MYLR a week ago & have questions. I park on the street (no driveways in historic 100+ yo neighborhood). The car is maybe 30’ from the house. The Tesla app recommends leaving it running in the background on my iPhone “for the best Phone Key experience”. When inside the house, the app shows “Phone Key - Connected”. If I walk out to the car without the phone, it won’t unlock the doors (Good) & if I try the door it activates Sentry mode (also good). Seems like the car is still locked & secure, even though the phone key is “connected”.

it seems like I’m probably within Bluetooth range of the car so the phone key connects, but not close enough for the proximity detection to allow the car to be unlocked. if I’m connected via BT, is that enough to keep the car awake and possibly adding some drain to the battery? I’m noticing a loss of several miles in range when the car is parked for a few hours - maybe 10 miles of range overnight. Is that normal?

You don't have to worry about the BT being connected when the Tesla Model Y is parked. When you walk away the Tesla Model Y will lock. To ensure and reassure you that the Tesla Model Y is locked you can tap the lock icon on the left side of the screen after you open the driver's door and the other passengers exit. This will cause the Model Y to immediately lock as soon as you close the driver's door. You can set the horn to honk once and or the lights to flash when the Tesla Model Y locks. Since the side mirrors will automatically fold when the Tesla Model Y locks this is another visual cue that the Tesla Model Y is locked.

The Tesla Model Y consumes additional power whenever Sentry Mode is active. Since you park on the street you may want Sentry Mode always be active but this will cause the Tesla Model Y to remain powered on, it consume ~230W all of the time instead of ~25W if allowed to enter sleep mode (with Sentry Mode turned off for the home location.) Sentry Mode will consume approximately 6% to 7 % of the battery charge every 24 hours until only 20% remains. Then Sentry Mode will not remain active.

For added security of your Tesla Model Y you can set PIN to Drive to be ON. With PIN to Drive set to ON you will need to enter a 4 digit code every time you start to drive (your foot on the brake pedal will bring up the PIN entry screen.) It is an extra step but you have the peace of mind that no one can hop in your Model Y and drive away if you leave the Tesla Model Y unlocked with your phone in the vehicle to load or unload the vehicle.

 

[Cisco_248]

I agree with jcanoe, with the exception of the latest Android 13 update. If ptf1 has an Android phone recently updated to Android 13, the car may not automatically lock on the walk away feature. This is a bug reported to Android and hopefully will be fixed soon.

 

[Michael Baldry]

I have the same worry. How do I know I'm not in range to unlock when my car is outside my window and I've got my phone? It would be nice to have a visual que to show you are in range for unlocking or something..