Tesla Software updates - Australia

[Max Spaghetti]

I have this fairly regularly. It’s one of the annoying things about the car that is making me look forward to getting rid of it in 12 months time.

I have this occasionally. But in recent times I have worked out that just because it says on the screen "keycard required" it doesn't actually need the keycard - it just means your phone is not successfully communicating with the car over bluetooth (right now).

Whether this is the car's fault or the phone's fault is a good question, but I suspect it is often the phone's fault, because if I get the phone out of my pocket and wake it up, the car unlocks (iPhone 15Pro - so not an old phone). Sometimes I can just stand there pulling on the door handle for a few seconds and it wakes up and unlocks. I'm talking maybe once per month I get this behaviour.

I also recall that on iOS giving the Tesla app access to your "Motion and Fitness" can help its auto-unlock feature - something about letting the app know when you are walking to your car so it can wake up and pay attention. I have that turned on.

It's funny though. My ICE has keyless entry that requires me to carry an active RFID key fob. I often wish it would just talk to my phone via bluetooth. My Tesla talks to my phone via bluetooth, and when it misbehaves I sometimes wish Tesla would just give me an active RFID key fob... Anyway, so I carry a small wallet with the Tesla keycard in it and that makes me feel safe.

 

[qldoldun]

Back in late January I received one AP strike. I presumed it would be forgotten after 1 week but it still remains on the AP screen.
Could it be that you need 5 strikes and a total ban before the 1 week suspension removal kicks into play? Anyone been so foolish recently and can comment?

 

[sammody]

Back in late January I received one AP strike. I presumed it would be forgotten after 1 week but it still remains on the AP screen.
Could it be that you need 5 strikes and a total ban before the 1 week suspension removal kicks into play? Anyone been so foolish recently and can comment?

I assume you need 5 strikes to get the 1 week suspension and then it resets itself.

 

[Max Spaghetti]

Back in late January I received one AP strike. I presumed it would be forgotten after 1 week but it still remains on the AP screen.
Could it be that you need 5 strikes and a total ban before the 1 week suspension removal kicks into play? Anyone been so foolish recently and can comment?

From what I've read in the US threads, the strikes don't seem to reset after any time interval. This strikes me as a bit mean, but I haven't seen any evidence otherwise. Even the Jacks wipe our speeding points after 3 years or something. I would think it would encourage safe driving if Tesla made a point of wiping the strikes after a time period of good behaviour. Particularly since some reports of strikes have allegedly been completely unfair or baseless.

 

[Priit]

Weird! In 31 months of ownership I have not had this occur even once where I believe it was caused by the car. We had OnePlus3 and Oneplus6 phones for a couple of years and zero requests for the key. HOWEVER for the past 6 months I have had a Google Pixel 7A phone and perhaps 8 times I have had this. But in every case, it was not the car, because I turned off the phone Bluetooth and then turned it on again and the car opened or started fine. The card has remained, wrapped in foil, in my wallet throughout my ownership. Several times that the Pixel BT has mucked up, it has also affected other devices which have stopped working. BT on the Pixel was really bad when I first got it but now, several updates later, it is much improved though not completely fixed. Lots of complaints about Pixel BT on phone forums. As I write this, the last time I had a problem was over a month ago. I'm on 2024.8.7

The Oneplus3 phone has died but the Oneplus6 is current, as is the Pixel. Never once had or have a problem with OnePlus, only Pixel.

So the only 3 phones I have used with my Teslas have been Pixel 2XL, Pixel 5 and currently Pixel 8. Back when I was purchasing my first Tesla I did a bunch of research into the BT keys and stumbled on to some advice to disable the activity detection for the app and disable any settings that try to save power. So far the BT key in the phone has always worked.

 

[sammody]

I have this occasionally.

Occurs to me occasionally as well. Most recent early this morning. I always assume it's because my phone hasn't communicated the car over bluetooth before I tried opening the door. Take out the phone from back pocket and all works fine and I'm on my way. Haven't carried the RFID card in the 2 years of ownership.

 

[ZeeDoktor]

From what I've read in the US threads, the strikes don't seem to reset after any time interval. This strikes me as a bit mean,

...not mean, stupid. This is likely going to result in litigation. They take a feature away we paid for, based on a shady detection algorithm accusing us of wrongdoing, without any solid evidence (those of us who don't have inward facing cameras). I've had one strike on a particularly smooth stretch of motorway where I managed to have such a light touch on the wheel, the car thought my hand was a defeat device.

 

[Power Hungry]

I have this occasionally. But in recent times I have worked out that just because it says on the screen "keycard required" it doesn't actually need the keycard - it just means your phone is not successfully communicating with the car over bluetooth (right now).

Whether this is the car's fault or the phone's fault is a good question, but I suspect it is often the phone's fault, because if I get the phone out of my pocket and wake it up, the car unlocks (iPhone 15Pro - so not an old phone). Sometimes I can just stand there pulling on the door handle for a few seconds and it wakes up and unlocks. I'm talking maybe once per month I get this behaviour.

I also recall that on iOS giving the Tesla app access to your "Motion and Fitness" can help its auto-unlock feature - something about letting the app know when you are walking to your car so it can wake up and pay attention. I have that turned on.

It's funny though. My ICE has keyless entry that requires me to carry an active RFID key fob. I often wish it would just talk to my phone via bluetooth. My Tesla talks to my phone via bluetooth, and when it misbehaves I sometimes wish Tesla would just give me an active RFID key fob... Anyway, so I carry a small wallet with the Tesla keycard in it and that makes me feel safe.

Ditto!

 

[Power Hungry]

Occurs to me occasionally as well. Most recent early this morning. I always assume it's because my phone hasn't communicated the car over bluetooth before I tried opening the door. Take out the phone from back pocket and all works fine and I'm on my way. Haven't carried the RFID card in the 2 years of ownership.

Did a lot of investigation on RFID and what I learnt is that it's bull***t

 

[JonDarian]

Did a lot of investigation on RFID and what I learnt is that it's bull***t

How so? RFID is used for lots of things.

 

[Quickst]

RFID is not Bulldust. Its a proven technology used widely
RFID can be long range - these are powered devices which can transmit signals lolllong distances - like your Road toll tag or your car key fob

Or they can be unpowered - these are for very short range - Tesla key card or security access card. The energy sent by an RFID scanner is just enough for an RFID card to send back with its ID.

NFC is very short range RFID with some additional features (if used)

 

[Max Spaghetti]

Did a lot of investigation on RFID and what I learnt is that it's bull***t

I’m not sure what you mean by “a lot of investigation”.

The RFID fob in my ICE is what they call “active RFID” which means it is battery powered and medium range. The key fob is bulky because it contains a lithium coin battery which I have to replace every 3-4 years.

The advantage seems to be that it is a simple technology that is very reliable, unlike Bluetooth which is not so reliable (although Bluetooth has improved tremendously in recent times). Active RFID could be built into phones (technically) but isn’t.

There is a newer technology called UWB (Ultra Wideband), which apparently the Highland supports (please help) which iPhones have supported for a few years now, which should theoretically out-perform Bluetooth.

RFID is not Bulldust. Its a proven technology used widely
RFID can be long range - these are powered devices which can transmit signals lolllong distances - like your Road toll tag or your car key fob

Or they can be unpowered - these are for very short range - Tesla key card or security access card. The energy sent by an RFID scanner is just enough for an RFID card to send back with its ID.

NFC is very short range RFID with some additional features (if used)

Yep, thanks Quickst

 

[e-enthusiast30]

2024.8.9 seems to be getting pushed out en masse. I wasn't going to be able to do a manual check until after 5pm today but after a recent drive this morning, my car just prompted me to install the latest update.

I just found out Tesla manually pushed it to my vehicle in support of a service request I lodged.

 

[moa999]

Matrix headlights getting closer for non-Highland.

Kiwis and other Asian countries reportedly getting it with 2024.8.12

https://twitter.com/x/status/1777410259528614063

 

[e-enthusiast30]

I’m not sure what you mean by “a lot of investigation”.

The RFID fob in my ICE is what they call “active RFID” which means it is battery powered and medium range. The key fob is bulky because it contains a lithium coin battery which I have to replace every 3-4 years.

The advantage seems to be that it is a simple technology that is very reliable, unlike Bluetooth which is not so reliable (although Bluetooth has improved tremendously in recent times). Active RFID could be built into phones (technically) but isn’t.

There is a newer technology called UWB (Ultra Wideband), which apparently the Highland supports (please help) which iPhones have supported for a few years now, which should theoretically out-perform Bluetooth.


Yep, thanks Quickst

Correct, the new Highland supports UWB which in my iPhone settings I can now toggle UWB permissions for the Tesla app (presumably for CarKey support). I'd love if Tesla got on board with Apple and allowed your key to sit within Apple Wallet, but I'm inclined to think this will never be the case, at least in the short-medium term.

The UWB vs Bluetooth arguments are currently in favour of UWB having better range, better accuracy, less battery drain and improved security. Of course, software revisions may improve both Bluetooth and UWB in the future, notwithstanding hardware limitations.

Also looking forward to the new Apple Watch app that will hopefully also support UWB with compatible watches.

 

[sammody]

2024.8.9 seems to be getting pushed out en masse. I wasn't going to be able to do a manual check until after 5pm today but after a recent drive this morning, my car just prompted me to install the latest update.

I got mine early this morning. Model Y ‘22.

 

[Power Hungry]

I’m not sure what you mean by “a lot of investigation”.

The RFID fob in my ICE is what they call “active RFID” which means it is battery powered and medium range. The key fob is bulky because it contains a lithium coin battery which I have to replace every 3-4 years.

The advantage seems to be that it is a simple technology that is very reliable, unlike Bluetooth which is not so reliable (although Bluetooth has improved tremendously in recent times). Active RFID could be built into phones (technically) but isn’t.

There is a newer technology called UWB (Ultra Wideband), which apparently the Highland supports (please help) which iPhones have supported for a few years now, which should theoretically out-perform Bluetooth.


Yep, thanks Quickst

Oooops, apologies. I thought you were referring to those wallets that are supposed to stop individuals stealing you credit card details.

 

[JonDarian]

Oooops, apologies. I thought you were referring to those wallets that are supposed to stop individuals stealing you credit card details.

I wondered if there was some kind of mix-up in the terminology. A Faraday cage would be effective, but I suspect (just from the tin-foil-hat way they are marketed) that a lot of the products marketed to block RFID chips are of very low quality. I could be wrong, but I am reassured that they are not needed by the fact that I have to make really good contact with a card reader before it can read my credit card. Good luck doing that through my wallet, clothing and at any kind of distance. If someone is actively rubbing a device against my pocket, I will probably notice and either a) punch them or b) ask them to buy me a drink.

Anyway, back to software updates, this next one (2024.8.9) looks like it has some useful bits - I will like a simple one-press way to override Charge-on-Solar on the rare occasions I want to fill the battery overnight.

 

[schnaxxl]

I have this occasionally. But in recent times I have worked out that just because it says on the screen "keycard required" it doesn't actually need the keycard - it just means your phone is not successfully communicating with the car over bluetooth (right now).

yep - I discovered that a few weeks ago
I just go to the app and do something with the phone-bluetooth-car connection [don’t recall exactly what] and it’s working again
I usually carry the card anyway

 

[Jules22]

2024.8.9 seems to be getting pushed out en masse. I wasn't going to be able to do a manual check until after 5pm today but after a recent drive this morning, my car just prompted me to install the latest update.

I just found out Tesla manually pushed it to my vehicle in support of a service request I lodged.

Yeah, just checked my software tab and 8.9 has started downloading for me.