Why does vehicle turn off with passenger & key fob in car?

[carteriii]

There are a number of situations in which I'm puzzled and/or frustrated by when the vehicle turn off despite having a key fob and person in the vehicle. Allow me to give a few use cases:

• My wife & I are both in our MX, both with our keys, and I'm driving. I get out of car for a few minutes, leaving my wife in the passenger seat with her key fob. The MX shuts off, turning off the displays, radio, A/C, etc..
• Our MX is locked when I walk up to the passenger door. The MX unlocks and I get inside with my key fob, sitting in the passenger seat. The MX shuts off, turning off the displays, radio, A/C, etc.

Why does this happen? In both of these scenarios, a key fob and passenger is in the car. The common theme seems to be that no one is physically in the driver seat. If the MX couldn't sense another passenger in the car, this might make sense, but the MX *does* know when someone is in any of the other seats, including the back seats. I know this because the dash alerts me when a passenger isn't wearing a seat belt.

Shouldn't the vehicle stay on if a passenger is in the car? Is there some setting that I haven't yet found, or accidentally set?

 

[Yoonoo]

I find this behavior very annoying to say the least. The car tends to shut-down as soon as the driver steps out of the car, would love for it to stay on if there are any passengers on board or delay shut-down until driver walks away from the car (when there are no passengers)

If I step out for a few seconds to pickup the mail I have to restart the car.

The car already switches to park when the driver door opens, which should be enough to cover safety concerns.

 

[Freedom101]

+1 I also find this annoying.

 

[Jason S]

Unsure about Model X, but the S will stay on if the passenger pokes the center screen. Also in the case of getting the mail, you can just leave the door open a bit and the AC, etc., stays on.

 

[frangus6]

Unsure about Model X, but the S will stay on if the passenger pokes the center screen. Also in the case of getting the mail, you can just leave the door open a bit and the AC, etc., stays on.

I also leave the door a bit open when in this kind of situation, however it's not ideal as sometimes you really don't want to leave your door ajar.

If the X/S can sense passengers in the seat, then no reason we cannot change this behavior.

 

[Sambas]

Unsure about Model X, but the S will stay on if the passenger pokes the center screen. Also in the case of getting the mail, you can just leave the door open a bit and the AC, etc., stays on.

Model X does the same, I always ask whoever is in the car to touch the screen after I leave the car. It is not that easy if someone is sitting in the back seat though.

 

[pilotSteve]

Unsure about Model X, but the S will stay on if the passenger pokes the center screen. Also in the case of getting the mail, you can just leave the door open a bit and the AC, etc., stays on.

I have used this trick (leave the drive door ajar) when I'm leaving my wife in the car and I want the A/C to stay on etc. However she has noted a change in the past 2 months or so (I don't exactly know what firmware version that would have been) that she used to be able to roll down her passenger window but that stopped working. Clearly something changed that Tesla thought was an "improvement", but without detailed release notes we are left guessing and discovering.

 

[MP3Mike]

My wife & I are both in our MX, both with our keys, and I'm driving. I get out of car for a few minutes, leaving my wife in the passenger seat with her key fob. The MX shuts off, turning off the displays, radio, A/C, etc..

In this case does your wife still have her seat belt on? I thought that if the passenger front seat belt was buckled that the displays/AC/etc. would stay on even after the driver exited.

 

[strider]

I have used this trick (leave the drive door ajar) when I'm leaving my wife in the car and I want the A/C to stay on etc. However she has noted a change in the past 2 months or so (I don't exactly know what firmware version that would have been) that she used to be able to roll down her passenger window but that stopped working. Clearly something changed that Tesla thought was an "improvement", but without detailed release notes we are left guessing and discovering.

I haven't been able to roll down the windows without the key fob IN the car for quite awhile now.

As for AC, yeah, just have the passenger touch the center screen and everything comes right back on.

 

[kev1n]

if the X is like the S, there is a sensor in the driver seat that is the reason the car turns off, etc. it only only cares about the driver to say the least. its more likely just a design flaw. maybe they will change it in the future.

 

[verygreen]

I have used this trick (leave the drive door ajar) when I'm leaving my wife in the car and I want the A/C to stay on etc. However she has noted a change in the past 2 months or so (I don't exactly know what firmware version that would have been) that she used to be able to roll down her passenger window but that stopped working. Clearly something changed that Tesla thought was an "improvement", but without detailed release notes we are left guessing and discovering.

the way to overcome this (esp. for passengers in the back seats that cannot easily reach the cid is to just enable parking more in the settings.
the car remains in neutral indefinitely. The only downside is it beeps if you open any doors.

 

[carteriii]

In this case does your wife still have her seat belt on? I thought that if the passenger front seat belt was buckled that the displays/AC/etc. would stay on even after the driver exited.

I haven't paid attention, but we're good about wearing our seat belts all the time so I would think so. Is your suspicion about the front seat belt based on your experience or having read something else about it? If there's another thread with info I'd love to read that.

 

[MP3Mike]

I haven't paid attention, but we're good about wearing our seat belts all the time so I would think so. Is your suspicion about the front seat belt based on your experience or having read something else about it? If there's another thread with info I'd love to read that.

I know some people that are good about wearing their seat belt while the car is in motion but the instant the cars is parked their seat belt comes off even if they are staying in the car. (Which is why I wanted to check.)

It was from reading another thread about back when Tesla added the feature that kept things active. (I think for up to 30 minutes.) I don't have time to find it right now but someone who used a seat belt extender in the front passenger seat, and left it buckled on the receiver side all the time, reported that the display and A/C was staying on after parking and exiting the vehicle. Once he removed the extender things started working normally again.

 

[boaterva]

I had a conversation with a friend of mine about his car (non-Tesla) and the same issue. You'd think the seat sensors (for occupancy and seat belt alarms) would do the trick in both these cases to tell the car there is someone there, fob or no fob. Now, especially with the fob in the car!

I have heard also seen many times the answer is to wake the car up (or tell the car there is a 'presence') by tapping the MCU. That may be the best answer until the car can be told to follow the seat occupancy sensors (if possible).

 

[outie]

Are you guys letting Tesla know you want this issue addressed? I might even suggest that you escalate the issue. The Model X has been out for more than a year and this behavior never improved. Why would we expect them to change it if we don't tell them about it?

I also want them to just keep the car unlocked inside my garage. I don't know how hard that is. I suggested it last year, and I escalated it last month. Nothing still.

 

[tllt]

+1

 

[cvonken]

+1

 

[golfbern]

Such a pain in the ass. I know you can turn camper mode on but really why have seat detection if it isn't used for this.

Add a notification via the app if its left on for 10 minutes in case you don't want it on. This helps prevent someone accidentally draining their battery while their car thinks someone is still in it.