Wouldn't it be a hoot to quantify how much it "costs" to open the door? As you say, it may well be a mile of range on average. I would definitely encourage a "dumb" mode where it isn't sitting there chomping at the bit, instantly ready to keep me at the perfect temperature. More often than not when I open the door, I am going nowhere. I'm sure I'm an edge case, but still... I have needs too!
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Why doesn't the charging port unlock?
- Thread starter iwannam3
- Start date
That happens to me all the time. Drives me nuts. I’m always putting stuff in the car or taking stuff out. Clunk Clunk Fan/Pump starts every time I access the car.
Recent I even tried turning off walk away locking but it didn’t help. I don’t want it to fire up unless I’m in the drivers seat.
I think rear corner of the car is too far away from the door for the car to realize it needs to wake up and unlock itself, hence the port is locked as well. I have the same problem, however, if I unlock the car remotely or start the climate controls before going out the charge port is always unlocked. I think the car just won't wake up unless you're close to the door.
Makes no difference. To reach my charge port I walk across the nose of the car and down the driver side.
Additionally, if I stand at the charge port that will not open, I can reach over to the back door or the trunk and open either one of those. Just not the charge port
Yes. And that works as long as I’m willing to wait for the app to connect to the car. It is quicker to open a door. And if I have to fish the phone out, find and open the app, wait for the connection, then choose unlock… It would sure be easier to have a traditional key or fob.
The connection speed has increased dramatically with the last firmware update the car and the newest version of the app. You might check and see if you have the lastest of both. I always turn on the climate control about 5 - 30 mins before I leave, so my car is fully awake when I go out to it.
I doubt this will make you feel any better, but I when I got the car last summer, even getting it to unlock ANYTHING with the phone was problematic. Not just the charging port, but the actually driver's door! I have to use my key card about 50% of the time. Tesla has made huge strides with the phone as key since then. I'm sure this will be resolved eventually.
I doubt this will make you feel any better, but I when I got the car last summer, even getting it to unlock ANYTHING with the phone was problematic. Not just the charging port, but the actually driver's door! I have to use my key card about 50% of the time. Tesla has made huge strides with the phone as key since then. I'm sure this will be resolved eventually.
Which version do you call the "latest?" I'm on 19.5. I certainly have the latest app. I agree that connection speed has improved, yet it is still too long to be as convenient as a fob or even physical key.... and that's pretty much the point and promise of the phone-as-key. Well, and having to open the app to unlock is really only a work-around for the phone-as-key not working correctly to open things as I walk up.
Same here. My car was also delivered last summer. It is definitely better... except the charge port thing hasn't improved even a tiny bit in all this time.
That's a great point that I noticed before, yet often forget while I'm reading the big "waiting to connect" message. And now it makes me wonder why *some* operations are "connected" earlier than others. And wouldn't it be great to have a mini, instant "unlock connect?"
I understand the concern. Fortunately, it is not something you need to worry about. It's already solved.
1. Unlocking the charge port and terminating the charge do not need to be associated
2. At least half the time I want the charge port unlocked is so I can BEGIN charging without having to first open a door or fumble for my phone.
3. When it is already charging, the unlock button works just fine. It is when it is done charging, and just sitting there the next morning that the unlock doesn't work.
4. And even if none of that comforts you.... this "disconnect under load" issue was solved 30+ years ago. There's a mechanical failsafe on all conductive EV connections. The communication pins are shorter than the power pins. When the wand is pulled, the comm pins cut the power before the power pins separate. I've done this thousands of times on other cars that had no lock on the nozzle. The Tesla wand functions the same way. Otherwise, this would be a terribly dangerous situation if that lock failed while charging... which it has.
So: Valid concern that's already been dealt with.
HyperionMark
Member
I was just assured by support that the latest update would fix this issue. Have yet to verify.
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
Now that they have introduced a geo-fence for folding the mirrors I am hoping that a geo-fence that leaves the car unlocked is also coming.
In general it would be a very bad idea to have the charger unlocked while the car is actively charging as disconnecting during charging could cause bad things to happen.
However it should be pretty easy to have the car geo-fenced to a location and know that it can unlock the charge port when the charging has completed... that would eliminate the annoyances around trying to remove the charger from a sleeping car.
My routine for when I charge at home (which isn't a lot) is to open the trunk to put my lunch/laptop/etc in that and then by the time I approach the charging handle it's awake.... most of the time anyway.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
While this is true in theory, in practice it's a bit different. Admittedly, this discussion is about the Tesla connector, which may be superior to the J-1772 connector. But it is very possible to disconnect the J-1772 while current is flowing. Just pull it out quickly enough and you'll be able to draw an electrical arc out of the charge port. And this will result in a red Tesla "T" logo, and a locked J-1772 adapter (which has to be manually released). I've done it on a couple of occasions (the last time it happened, I saw the arc, which is when I finally figured out why I was getting the red Tesla "T"). (Fix is to push down the lever on the J-1772 for a second to generate the terminate charge signal, until the charge stops.)
Again, this is an aside since it's specifically something that happens with J-1772 used with the Tesla, and unrelated to the overall discussion here - just want to clarify that it is quite possible to maintain a flow of current briefly even with modern EV connections.
Whether this arc would be dangerous to life, I'm not so sure - all depends on the available current (current kills!)/whether the relays are closed or open when the arc is present. But I wouldn't chance it.
I add my hope to yours.
Not as much as folks seem to think. This is the first EV I've driven (out of say... 20?) that has locked the connector to the port. And in my 350,000+ miles and uncountable charge events, I've yet to have had a problem
I can't find a single logical reason to keep the port locked after charging. Hell, I can barely come up with one DURING charging.
I can't speak for the adapter situation. Interesting to hear that you've made it arc. That's terrible design, and I don't understand how it could happen, but there it is.
Regardless, this whole idea of "locking" and "stopping charging" do not need to be tied together. And for certain it can be made "failsafe." And regardless of even that.... why ever lock the thing when charging is NOT happening? Or BEFORE it happens?
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