Considering that they have no control over the highly dynamic environment their "key" has to work with, namely iOS and Android, I wouldn`t get my hopes up that it`s even possible to 100% reliably solve the issues.
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Tesla backing away from "Phone Key as primary key"
- Thread starter watilo
- Start date
i'm going to keep pointing out how ridiculous this is every time it's said.
nobody is saying you can't just keep using the phone key if it works for you. nobody is saying they should just automatically give everyone two fobs. however, just because it works FOR YOU doesn't mean that the hundreds if not thousands (possible at this point, considering android is by far the most used phone OS) of us who it DOESN'T WORK FOR should never be given another option.
stop trying to turn this into something it's not and making yourself look like a fool.
FWIW, I've been on the .32.2 release for about 2 weeks. Also got the phone app update awhile back that added the persistent notification. In my case, I've had zero phone key issues in that time. Prior to these updates, I'd have a failure every 2-3 days.
Which is not to say that I disagree that the phone key environment is much tougher to work with than a simple fob. But they are clearly making progress in improving its reliability, for me and mine, at least.
diamond.g
Active Member
(I bolded) At least 1 person thinks they should be given to existing owners for free. I don't think they will be free (but wouldn't be mad if they were).
the persistent notification has helped slightly, but it's still a complete crap shoot as to whether it will work or not on any given attempt. it's so frustrating.
saying they should be given to existing owners for free if they're having issues (which i agree with) is not the same as saying "everyone should be given two key fobs." if you are fine with the phone key and cards, nobody is saying you should have a fob forced upon you for no reason.
i've said this before, but it bears repeating - in the end, it's sad that cars that cost half what the model 3 does have a better experience in place for entering and driving the car. i've owned my volt for 5+ years and can count on one hand the number of times i've had to take my keys out of my pocket to enter the car and drive away...in fact, i don't think i've even had to do so once. not once in five years. i don't think i've even gone five trips with my model 3 in the month i've had it where i haven't had to get the card out at least once...
I apologize for my insensitivity to those of you who are having difficulty using the phone as the primary method to open and operate the car. Just because I have not had any problems doesn't mean others aren't satisfied with the phone as a solution. Thank you for making this distinction. I hope Tesla comes up with a solution that works for all. It sounds like they are working on the problem. I'm assuming your key card will work in the interim.
diamond.g
Active Member
My concern is that the fob they are going to make won't be the 100% solution some are asking for as their other vehicles have 315mhz support in addition to the BT support (unless the conformity section for the S and X manuals are wrong) so there is fallback where the 3 won't have that. So if you run into the normal BT issues, like meatbag [person body] attenuates signal and thus the vehicle won't see the key, there will still be complaints.
Pretty sure they would be complaining about how much the key card sucks and demanding a fob...
Why should they be free? There's a cost to making them, just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's free. $5 is a decent good price. I pay about as much in small increments (10 at a time) for super basic generic 125kHz RFID badges for our employees (though granted pre-programmed with specific ID #'s). At larger order sizes it can go down to under $2 a card, but we rarely need to order more than 10 at a time.
The Tesla cards are far more sophisticated, even if simpler than a BT fob. A nominal $5 is more than fair, plus they don't want people to mistreat or lose them just because they cost nothing to replace - having a $5 value is enough to get most people not to be too reckless with them, without making the price punishing for those who really need a new / extra one.
diamond.g
Active Member
For the quantity of cards Tesla needs I would be surprised if they cost over a dollar a card. Really though it was meant to point out that the cards are super cheap compared to a bt fob and yet we still have to pay for them. They are a business after all.
no. the problem here is not just that the experience sucks for those of us who can't get it to work reliably, it's that tesla continues to insist this is the primary way of entering and driving the vehicle. we are annoyed (justifiably so) that the primary way of entering and driving the car does not work the majority of the time.
if they had said from the jump that the card was primary and the phone key was still in development, that'd be different...but that's not the case. they continue to act as if the technology is foolproof and should work 100% of the time, when in reality it maybe works 50% of the time if we're lucky.
i wouldn't expect to have the right to complain about something that's still in development not working 100% of the time. anyone who would is an idiot.
also, i'll throw this out there as a data point - today, even opening the app didn't work. walked up to the car, pressed the handle...the all too familiar "tap key card to unlock" comes up on the screen. i get my phone out, open the app, and try again... "tap key card to unlock." it wouldn't work until i got the damn card out and tapped it. i quit.
When that happens to me, I usually have to disable/enable BT. It's probably happened less than once a week, but when it happens, it is SUPER frustrating.
diamond.g
Active Member
I don’t know what it shows for Android but for iOS there should be three BT devices that connect whenever you are in range of your car. They should connect even if the car is sleep. Maybe I’ll add my MotoX to the list so I can see what it looks like.
Interestingly if I swipe the Tesla app up those BT devices are still connected. I really should add my X4 and see what it does.
Interestingly if I swipe the Tesla app up those BT devices are still connected. I really should add my X4 and see what it does.
There's actually up to 4 devices, but you won't usually see all 4 connected at once. One in the interior of the vehicle (somewhere in the center console area I think), one in either B pillar, and one in the rear (I don't recall if it's in the bumper or trunk lid though).
The last digit indicates which one : C : Center/Console, P : Passenger B Pillar, R: Rear, D: Driver B Pillar
N5329K
Active Member
i'm starting to wonder if this is a car issue for some of us, not just a phone issue. i set up a tasker profile to launch the tesla app every 2 minutes if the screen is off, just to see if that would have any effect (i know this will probably tank my phone battery life, i'm fine with that right now in an attempt to figure out WTF is going on)...when we left dodger stadium last night, it worked, but only after i stood there and held the handle in for 10 seconds or so. i thought this may have been a sleep issue, but teslafi said the car was asleep in the garage before we left the house, and that time it worked instantly. so it's not sleep vs awake...
there has to be more in play here. i just don't know what to do at this point other than scrap it and start using the key card exclusively since at least i know that will work 100% of the time...
there has to be more in play here. i just don't know what to do at this point other than scrap it and start using the key card exclusively since at least i know that will work 100% of the time...
iwannam3
Active Member
13 pages, everything that can be said has been said about this topic. I'll wait for a tweet from Elon or a fob to show up.
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