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Things you may not have discovered about your Model S?!

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A suggestion: We have a sophisticated $100K automobile. Instead of guessing, tape, tennis balls on string, etc -- all like I used in my garages until 8+ years ago -- you guys may want to try something like this Amazon.com: Chamberlain LiftMaster 975LM Laser Parking Assist: Home Improvement

I've had one of these laser lights installed on each of my openers for years, now in two different homes. They come on when your door opens for a period of time, and provide a blinking red dot of light. I line myself up in the garage, slow down a bit and note where the dot begins appearing on my dash, pulling in until it just hits or crosses the edge of my dash over the center of the IC in front of me. I immediately know how far left or right I may be from my optimum position at the same time.

To set it up, get your ladder out and wire it in to the same places your door emergency beams are connected to the opener. Simple. Screw the laser light itself somewhere onto the bracket holding your door opener so the adjustable light can point approx to just ahead of where your MS driver seat will be. Move your ladder. Pull your MS in and park exactly in what you consider the most optimum spot of your garage. Get your ladder out and set it next to the MS and adjust the light so that red dot shows on your dash where you'll be expecting it when you turn your MS off. Done. Park with ease, knowing you're in the right position,,and using a little bit of tech matching what you're driving. ;)
 
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A suggestion: We have a sophisticated $100K automobile. Instead of guessing, tape, tennis balls on string, etc -- all like I used in my garages until 8+ years ago -- you guys may want to try something like this Amazon.com: Chamberlain LiftMaster 975LM Laser Parking Assist: Home Improvement

I've had one of these laser lights installed on each of my openers for years, now in two different homes. They come on when your door opens for a period of time, and provide a blinking red dot of light. I line myself up in the garage, slow down a bit and note where the dot begins appearing on my dash, pulling in until it just hits or crosses the edge of my dash over the center of the IC in front of me. I immediately know how far left or right I may be from my optimum position at the same time.

To set it up, get your ladder out and wire it in to the same places your door emergency beams are connected to the opener. Simple. Screw the laser light itself somewhere onto the bracket holding your door opener so the adjustable light can point approx to just ahead of where your MS driver seat will be. Move your ladder. Pull your MS in and park exactly in what you consider the most optimum spot of your garage. Get your ladder out and set it next to the MS and adjust the light so that red dot shows on your dash where you'll be expecting it when you turn your MS off. Done. Park with ease, knowing you're in the right position,,and using a little bit of tech matching what you're driving. ;)
Quite clever, but more technology than I need. I put a rubber bar on my floor from Girot's Garage and pull up to it. No wires, works every time.
 
One cheap and easy way to ensure you don't pull in too far, park in a 1920's gravel floor barn/outbuilding like I do.
Over time, the car digs a nice 4" deep groove in the parking spot and you eventually just coast in and the car stops on it's own at the right spot every time.
And I've put a small cardboard box at the back wall just in case, if the box moves, I've gone too far.
"Belts and suspenders".
 
My Model S cae from the factory with this really cool display that shows how close i am to objects around the vehicle when parking. Tennis ball and lasers not required.
"...not required"... UNLESS you have a small garage like mine where I have to pull in well past the point where the car's sensors yell "STOP", otherwise there's not enough clearance between the rear of the car and garage door! actually my front bumper has to almost touch the front wall if I want to be able to safely open the trunk with the garage closed (or avoid a nasty surprise if the fob trunk button accidentally gets pressed while parked). So a hanging tennis ball does the trick for me - I'd never seen one those laser parking guides before Bert mentioned it above
 
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"...not required"... UNLESS you have a small garage like mine where I have to pull in well past the point where the car's sensors yell "STOP", otherwise there's not enough clearance between the rear of the car and garage door! actually my front bumper has to almost touch the front wall if I want to be able to safely open the trunk with the garage closed (or avoid a nasty surprise if the fob trunk button accidentally gets pressed while parked). So a hanging tennis ball does the trick for me - I'd never seen one those laser parking guides before Bert mentioned it above
This is the issue. 30cm as the closest it can measure? Makes the sensors all but useless. I can easily avoid hitting things that are that far away from my car, what I need help with are the things that are 10cm away from my bumper.
 
My solution (for my very classic 2013 Model S with no parking sensors) was a variation on the hanging tennis ball. For those who think in 3D, you'll recognize it is a variation of the Tesla logo rotated 360 degrees.

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We can talk around it, but accidental key presses are a problem with every fob out there. The BMW i3 forums also yack about this and that fob is much slimmer with buttons moulded lower than the periphery of the fob.

It's a design issue that needs to be revisited by some more clever mechanical and/or electrical engineers. Meanwhile those with the problem (I've never had the issue myself) know who they are and seem to develop work arounds.

The Summon crash in Utah reads to me as the perfect combination of an unintended button push and an obstacle that is "above the radar" of the MS.

That driver engaged summon with a double stalk press, not via his keyfob.
 
When washing the car, I normally have the wipers in service mode. Of course, it's always tough to reach across to the touchscreen with wet hands and park the wipers, smudging the touchscreen in the process. Today, I discovered I can just flip the wiper switch into auto mode to park the wipers. Much easier to reach without dripping all over the place.
Here's an improvement on my previous post: Instead of moving the wiper switch to repark the wipers, now you can just use the key fob. Hold down the center button to enter summon mode and the wipers will park. After that, I usually summon forward or backward half a tire rotation so I can finish cleaning the wheels.
 
That driver engaged summon with a double stalk press, not via his keyfob.
Yes, that's correct, which doesn't explain the time that the driver said he stood by the car and nothing happened until he went in the store. The story doesn't quite all hang together.

However, since we're on the subject of unintended button pushes, it's not hard to see that the unintended Summon button push could happen which is why I disabled it and only use it from the app.
 
Forgive me as I do not have an AP car, but if you activate Summon with the double-park button press and do NOT confirm on the screen, does Summon engage moving forward automatically when you get out? If not, what if you then "accidentally" press the hood button on the fob? Or are you required in all cases to confirm Summon on the 17"?
 
Forgive me as I do not have an AP car, but if you activate Summon with the double-park button press and do NOT confirm on the screen, does Summon engage moving forward automatically when you get out? If not, what if you then "accidentally" press the hood button on the fob? Or are you required in all cases to confirm Summon on the 17"?
No confirmation is ever necessary on the display, even when using the double-park option. The only time you would need to select something on the display is if you wanted to change from forward to reverse summon (or vice-versa). Otherwise, get out, close the door, and the car goes.
 
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