Unknown key and walk away

[Mtagt56]

Hello took delivery of new mode 3 yesterday

I have both key cards linked to car but they both come up unknown

I’ve tried everything to get them to register as key card and other as iPhone .

additionally the walk away option is disabled or greyed out.
Any ideas before I schedule a service

my app is set up and car will lock and unlock if I press the button on app. They greyed out walk away suggests pair a phone but I already have this

 

[Durzel]

Do both key cards lock and unlock the car when you put them on the A-pillar (below the camera)?

If so, you could probably just rename both key cards in the car from “Unknown” to whatever you want.

Walk away lock only works with Bluetooth devices, like a phone key or Tesla key fob. The key cards are just RFID cards, so the car can’t “see” them at all unless they are placed in specific places.

Incidentally - a phone key is different to having a phone with the app on. If you have not explicitly added your phone as a key to the car, then it won’t act as a passive key.

 

[MrBadger]

I have both key cards linked to car but they both come up unknown

I’ve tried everything to get them to register as key card and other as iPhone .

Its might be this issue M3 won't remember a name given to a Key card - seems to be a bug in the system. Have you tried to rename them? They still may be listed as unknown though.

additionally the walk away option is disabled or greyed out.
Any ideas before I schedule a service

No suggestion about walk away unlock being greyed out. But if you have any feature that seems to misbehave, or after doing a software update, a reboot often fixes and/or prevents problems. In park, foot on brake (for security in case the reboot does something odd) then press and hold both scroll wheels on steering wheel until screen goes blank the the Tesla T reappears - ours takes about 45 seconds.

 

[M3noob]

Do both key cards lock and unlock the car when you put them on the A-pillar (below the camera)?

If so, you could probably just rename both key cards in the car from “Unknown” to whatever you want.

Walk away lock only works with Bluetooth devices, like a phone key or Tesla key fob. The key cards are just RFID cards, so the car can’t “see” them at all unless they are placed in specific places.

Incidentally - a phone key is different to having a phone with the app on. If you have not explicitly added your phone as a key to the car, then it won’t act as a passive key.

You have the patience of a saint, sir.

I'd have just said RTFM

 

[Cnixon]

The app can take more than a day to start working properly.

 

[GRiLLA]

As per Durzel, after installing the Tesla app on your phone and logging in, there's an option at the top of the menu to make it a key. You need to do this in the car and you'll need one of your keycards to authorise it.

Once that's done your car will unlock automatically if your phone is near and bluetooth enabled, and will lock when you walk away.

The keycards are fully manual, you need to tap them on the door pillar to unlock, center console to start, and door pillar again to lock.

 

[fireshipjohn]

Also check the little 'Pen' symbol by the 'unknown' key and you can change the name to whatever you want.

 

[Irata]

The car setting the default key name to "unknown" isn't that intuitive, to be fair, it looks a bit techie and so an error. I can understand why it confuses people. Something like keycard1, keycard2, etc. might avoid that.

I'm struggling to think of any paired devices for anything that defaults it's name to unknown.

 

[thinktwice]

I’ve got the same issue and tried everything. Tesla Support has no clue. Took delivery a couple days ago. The issue isn’t that the name of the key is “Unknown key” as it can easily be renamed via the pencil icon. It’s that the key type is labeled “Unknown key” and as result the Walk Away option is grayed out, which it shouldn’t be for a smartphone or key fob. Since the key type isn’t properly recognized it doesn’t know to allow the option.

 

[Alistairuk]

Hello took delivery of new mode 3 yesterday

I have both key cards linked to car but they both come up unknown

I’ve tried everything to get them to register as key card and other as iPhone .

additionally the walk away option is disabled or greyed out.
Any ideas before I schedule a service

my app is set up and car will lock and unlock if I press the button on app. They greyed out walk away suggests pair a phone but I already have this

I think you may have not actually added the phone as a key…

When you take delivery of the car you should have two “unknown keys” - these are the two key cards that you get with the car - walk away door lock will not work with these keys.

You need to add your phone as a phone key specifically from this screen - the biggest mistake people seem to make is they add their phone to the entertainment system and not as a phone key - these are different. I’m not going to go through the steps as it’s all explained in the manual under setting up a phone key.

As durzel already said above. Adding your account to the Tesla app on your phone does not make your phone a key - it just allows you to control the car from the app (yes you can use the app to lock/unlock and start the car but that’s just standard app functions your not actually a key)

Once you add your phone it usually shows up as whatever your phone is called, eg. “Alistair’s iPhone”.

 

[Nickeeeee]

I’ve got the same issue and tried everything. Tesla Support has no clue. Took delivery a couple days ago. The issue isn’t that the name of the key is “Unknown key” as it can easily be renamed via the pencil icon. It’s that the key type is labeled “Unknown key” and as result the Walk Away option is grayed out, which it shouldn’t be for a smartphone or key fob. Since the key type isn’t properly recognized it doesn’t know to allow the option.

Same issue, tried everything! Any solution yet?

 

[init6]

I’ve got the same issue and tried everything. Tesla Support has no clue. Took delivery a couple days ago. The issue isn’t that the name of the key is “Unknown key” as it can easily be renamed via the pencil icon. It’s that the key type is labeled “Unknown key” and as result the Walk Away option is grayed out, which it shouldn’t be for a smartphone or key fob. Since the key type isn’t properly recognized it doesn’t know to allow the option.

One of those instances where a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Nickeeeee]

Hello took delivery of new mode 3 yesterday

I have both key cards linked to car but they both come up unknown

I’ve tried everything to get them to register as key card and other as iPhone .

additionally the walk away option is disabled or greyed out.
Any ideas before I schedule a service

my app is set up and car will lock and unlock if I press the button on app. They greyed out walk away suggests pair a phone but I already have this

Did you find a solution?

 

[Nickeeeee]

One of those instances where a picture is worth a thousand words.

One of those instances where a picture is worth a thousand words.

Found this picture for you. Above: as it should look when you pair an IPhone as key. Below: how it looks when I pair my IPhone as key. “Unknown key”.

 

[init6]

thanks for the pic. So, one iPhone works ok, but the key card doesn't? Or is the second entry also an iPhone?

 

[thinktwice]

Same issue, tried everything! Any solution yet?

Only solution I've found is to add my iPhone 12 as a key. Once I do that the phone is properly recognized as "Apple iPhone 12" and enables the Walk Away option. With my Key fob also with me as at the same time the iPhone is present, both keys are displayed as Active. If I then turn on the Walk Away option, it will also apply to my Key fob even though the option is present only because my iPhone key is detected. I can at that point then delete my iPhone as a key, and the Key fob still keeps the Walk Away option turned on. Only thing is if I happen to turn it off, I'd then need to add my iPhone as a key again to get it turned back on for my Key fob.

 

[Nickeeeee]

thanks for the pic. So, one iPhone works ok, but the key card doesn't? Or is the second entry also an iPhone?

Yes, both are iPhone entries….Strange. Must be something with the phone, since my wives phone obviously manage to communicate properly with the car. Gonna trouble shoot the phone - Thanks!

 

[Nickeeeee]

Only solution I've found is to add my iPhone 12 as a key. Once I do that the phone is properly recognized as "Apple iPhone 12" and enables the Walk Away option. With my Key fob also with me as at the same time the iPhone is present, both keys are displayed as Active. If I then turn on the Walk Away option, it will also apply to my Key fob even though the option is present only because my iPhone key is detected. I can at that point then delete my iPhone as a key, and the Key fob still keeps the Walk Away option turned on. Only thing is if I happen to turn it off, I'd then need to add my iPhone as a key again to get it turned back on for my Key fob.

Ok! Thanks for your reply. I think my problem is that the car don’t actually understand that the phone is a phone…Must be my iPhone 11 that’s not communicating properly

 

[init6]

Ok! Thanks for your reply. I think my problem is that the car don’t actually understand that the phone is a phone…Must be my iPhone 11 that’s not communicating properly

Try a reboot of the phone (I know ) I'm pretty sure I've seen issues like this before being sorted by rebooting the phone. YMMV.

 

[thinktwice]

Ok! Thanks for your reply. I think my problem is that the car don’t actually understand that the phone is a phone…Must be my iPhone 11 that’s not communicating properly

FWIW my issue seems to have resolved itself overnight. Didn't seem like the software version changed, but I can't remember the exact build it was. My Key fob is now correctly displayed as a "Key fob" with a key fob icon instead of a skeleton key and gives me the ability to turn Walk Away on/off as needed. So perhaps leaving it for a while it will eventually be resolved via software update.