Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Where is the most reliable spot for the toll transponder on new MS with AP2?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Anywhere should work, they seem to have changed their glass or tint from the older models. My tolltag reads from anywhere in the cabin with line of sight to the transponder, for the toll roads as well as my parking garage at work. People at work with the older S models had serious trouble with the parking garage and were always unreadable by the toll sensors.
 
When I first got my car I removed the transponder from an old car and didn't have the velcro to attach it to the windshield in the Tesla. I kept it in the tray beneath the screen and placed it on the dash when I needed to use it. Forgot to do this on my second commute day and discovered it was working fine will sitting in that tray. I've left it there ever since and it has worked with commuter lanes and bridges without fail.
 
I have mine mounted to the right of the rear view mirror on my December 2016 90D. In Massachusetts the old toll booth equipment has been replaced by gantries that span the highway, and read the transponder at full highway speed. Out of about 50 trips in the last few months there have been two missed readings.

When there is a miss, the gantry recognizes my license plate and bills my regular EZ-Pass account anyway.
 
My March build (2017) seems to work anywhere on the windscreen. I have a work provided passive parking transponder as well that absolutely did not work in an AP1 loaner until I rolled the window down and stuck the hang tag outside. With my car, I can have the tag anywhere on the windshield. Stops working about a foot inside the windshield.

If you have on the of big license plate mounted transponders (Houston EZ-TAG) it works upright at/inside the front of the glove box as I seem to be missing my front license plate bracket;).
 
  • Informative
Reactions: SailorDave
wait a second you can mount an ez pass to the windshield now and it works on AP2 cars? the service center told me i needed a front license one lol lying jerks.

It's not AP related and maybe not even HW2 related. Tesla changes things continually, and I don't know when they changed the windshield glass. My S was delivered in December.

Note, though, that it,may be working for me only because MA has gone to the high speed readers noted above.
 
wait a second you can mount an ez pass to the windshield now and it works on AP2 cars? the service center told me i needed a front license one lol lying jerks.
The manual shows the spot to the right of the inside mirror where there is a space for ez-pass, etc with no interference. If there is any coating on the S windshield any longer, at least it's not there. I'd post the section but on mobile. :)
 
I live in Mass and drive regularly to NY and NH. Like another poster above, I was velcro-less picking up the car, and I just tossed the EZ Pass transponder into the center bin with various other clutter. I do not pick it up when going through a toll, and I have not missed a reading. My thought is that unlike the original booth-based readers, the new above the road readers are more than strong enough to reach all the way inside the car.
 
It's not AP related and maybe not even HW2 related. Tesla changes things continually, and I don't know when they changed the windshield glass. My S was delivered in December.

Note, though, that it,may be working for me only because MA has gone to the high speed readers noted above.

I thought it was AP2 related because of the camera enclosure which made it different. Previous AP1 cars had a darkened special section they could put the transponder but the AP2 cars dont have that.

THat being said since everyone here has said their transponders work maybe the windshield is different now and i dont have to worry about using an ezpass (i drive up north a lot).
 
I'm in Mass with my March 2017 75D. I initially had a brand-new MA EZ-Pass tag on the windshield to the right of the AP2 housing (there is no longer a special place for the tag there, as apparently there was in older cars). The tag worked without a problem on the MassPike with the new overhead toll gantries.

However, on a trip across the NYS Thruway, several of toll booths failed to detect the EZ-Pass. It worked in those around Albany, but failed (sometimes) in those around Rochester. Each time it failed to be read, NYS ended up charging me as if I driven the entire length of the Thruway; I had several tolls of $.30 turn into $20. Since I'd seen the "Call EZ Pass" message, I was on the lookout for tool mistakes and disputed them; they were all eventually corrected.

Given the hassle (and they I travel to NY often), I've since switched to a front-plate mounted EZ Pass tag.
 
@jlv1 It's interesting that your experience is so different from mine and others, given that we're both using Mass EZ-pass devices on HW2 vehicles. I've driven the Thruway with no problem.

Tesla cars are changing continuously. The model year is just a bookkeeping entry. My 2016 90D with HW2 was delivered in December, and is nominally the same as your 2017 75D delivered in March, except for the battery. But it's not really true. For example, I understand that the premium seats now have movable headrests; mine are fixed.

It's possible that the windshield specs have changed yet again, or something else in your car is shielding the signal from the transponder. It could be the roof. Mine is Pano; maybe yours is the other glass option, or metal (though I think that's been discontinued). It's also possible that your new transponder was putting out a marginal signal due to a defective battery or internal antenna, leading to the inability of some but not all toll-booth equipment to read it.
 
No need to apply the sticky mounting strips on your windshield. We bought a suction mount transponder holder from Amazon for under $10, which makes it very easy to not only just change the windshield location but also makes it easy to move from car to car.
Here is the link:
Amazon.com: JL Safety EZ Flex-Port, Clear Holder for EZPass Flex and standard EZ Pass / I Pass NEW and OLD. Holder only. Fits boxes shown in pictures. Patent Pending & Lifetime Warranty. Made in USA.: Automotive

Hope it helps.
 
I've a pano roof (and my headrests are adjustable).

Just to be clear: it worked on most of the NYS Thruway toll booths I went through. There were just 2 or 3 where it wasn't read. Looking back at the EZ Pass report, it was the tolls to the Buffalo SC and the Buffalo/290 end of the thruway that failed to be read.

I'd love to switch back to the interior tag; I actually have both NY *and* MA EZ-Pass tags. I'd like to use the NY one when traveling downstate because they are starting to offer discounts on the bridge tolls, similar to how MA tag gives discounts on the MassPike. But the hassle of applying for toll corrections makes it not worth it (and I've now got a $60 balance!)
 
Last edited: