UMC won't open charge port without fob

[apacheguy]

My search of the forum didn't come up with anything, but my apologies if another thread exists.

The past several nights I have gone out to connect the UMC and have been unable to open the charge port without the key fob. I have to go back in the house, grab the fob and then the port opens when the signal is sent from the UMC. Previously, I had been able to open the charge port without the fob and IIRC, this is the intended behavior.

Why all of a sudden has my Model S decided to check for the presence of the key fob when plugging in? I am on 1.33.61 and have not changed any settings recently.

 

[MarkR]

You might be aware that the sensor for the UMC is actually on the rear window just above the charge port. I'd suggest that you press the button on the UMC when it is positioned a bit higher.

 

[jerry33]

The charge port has never unlocked for me without the car also being unlocked. I thought that was the normal behaviour.

 

[yobigd20]

This is by design for security reasons. I wouldn't want any random joe to be able to unlock my car with the press of a button.

 

[andrewket]

The charge port has never unlocked for me without the car also being unlocked. I thought that was the normal behaviour.

+1. Having the fob with me has never been sufficient. The car has to be unlocked.

 

[apacheguy]

Hmm, interesting. It's curious that it allowed me to open the charge port for several months without the fob (this "bug" survived various firmware updates during that time).

@andrewket - Do you have auto-present door handles enabled?

 

[XrstalLens]

The charge port has never opened for me either without the car being unlocked. If I had to guess, I'd say that you keep your fob close enough in the house where the car could sense it, but now the battery has weakened enough to where it doesn't do that anymore.

 

[spleen]

The charge port has never opened for me either without the car being unlocked. If I had to guess, I'd say that you keep your fob close enough in the house where the car could sense it, but now the battery has weakened enough to where it doesn't do that anymore.

This would be my guess as well.

 

[PBEndo]

Did you recently enable "auto door lock on walkaway"? I know you said you made no settings changes but it is the only thing I can think of other than the weakening battery or new keyfob position in the house.

- - - Updated - - -

I have exactly the opposite problem, my Chargeport won't open even with the keyfob present, if the car is locked. There is a thread here - http://www.teslamotors.com/forum/fo...nt-unlockrelease-cable-presence-keyfob?page=2

 

[jed-99aggie]

I have noticed this. If I understand your situation. Your car has been sitting/parked for a while (e.g. In your garage.) You do not have auto lock when you "walk away" from you car set and you did lock lock your car.

You come out to your car in the evening to plug it in for overnight charging and the chargeport door does not open when you depress the UMC button.

What I have to do is tap the drivers door handle to get he car to acknowledge in there (no key fob present). Once the handles are out tap the UMC button and you should be all set like normal.

I hope this fixes your situation.

For what it is worth, I have also noticed that the passenger side door handles will not respond to touch in this same situation. I interpret this to be an intended security feature.

 

[apacheguy]

Actually, I have had auto-present handles and walk-away locking enabled for quite some time. The key fob was located in the house about 20 feet away so whether the car sensed it or not I'm not sure - certainly possible though. Additionally, I should mention that a key fob was ALWAYS required to unplug the car in the morning. Honestly, I'm not sure what was causing it. However, as I mentioned the car has corrected this behavior and is now acting normally according to what I've read here so I am no longer concerned. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Ajrdu]

My car has always allowed me to open the charge port with the button on the UMC when it was locked. I have done this many times and tested it after reading this thread. I have autolock and autopresent enabled. I know that my key is out of range and the car is locked. I moved the key as far away from the car as possible in the house and checked to make sure the car had locked on its own and stayed locked when I pressed on the handles. I then went out to the garage and used the UMC to open the charge port door. It takes a second for the lock mechanism to free up and I then could insert the UMC connector. The car then locks it in place and I can't remove it without the fob. It has been that way since I got the car 3+ months ago.

 

[apacheguy]

@ajrdu - my experience was exactly as you describe so I wasn't the only one seeing this behavior.

I actually forgot to take the key out with me last night and low and behold the port opened right up! This time the fob was about 40 feet away so no way the car sensed it. However, the door remained locked and I could not open them by pressing. Oh well, another mystery.

 

[apacheguy]

FWIW, this "feature" continues to present itself in 5.8. I went outside the other night to plug in and forgot my key. The charge port opened right up and accepted the UMC, although the doors remained locked, the car was asleep, and my fob was 50 feet away.

Go figure!