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Accidental Lock Out Tip

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efusco

Moderator - Model S & X forums
Moderator
My DES, Lee Holycross, came down today for my delivery experience. In the course of things I asked him how to get into the car if the fob battery died. I knew that had been posted, but I'd forgotten that you put the "dead" fob on the windshield near the passenger windshield wiper.

Now, that's all well and good, but your fob is just as dead and you still can't drive. So, my tip is to put a 1032 battery in the envelope with your important paperwork in the glove box. Once you're in the cabin you can pop out the dead battery, install the new one and be on your way! A small eye glass type screw driver might help get the back off and the old battery out if you want to add that to the kit too.

Hope the idea helps someone out of a fix someday.

Evan, Via Tapatalk
 
My DS indicated that you can open the car with a near dead fob by putting it in the area where the trunk and the passenger windshield meet. That's also in the manual. He also said there was a place to set the key near the cup holder I think that would allow you to start the car on a low battery.

The battery in the glove box is a great idea too. Thanks.
 
Random moment of sharing...

For one of my past vehicles, I had a trickle drain (later found out it was the radio :p) on the battery. For a brief period, I had a backup battery in the passenger footwell just in case. Storing a 1032 in the glove box reminds me of that.
 
My DES, Lee Holycross, came down today for my delivery experience. In the course of things I asked him how to get into the car if the fob battery died. I knew that had been posted, but I'd forgotten that you put the "dead" fob on the windshield near the passenger windshield wiper.

Now, that's all well and good, but your fob is just as dead and you still can't drive. So, my tip is to put a 1032 battery in the envelope with your important paperwork in the glove box. Once you're in the cabin you can pop out the dead battery, install the new one and be on your way! A small eye glass type screw driver might help get the back off and the old battery out if you want to add that to the kit too.

Hope the idea helps someone out of a fix someday.

Evan, Via Tapatalk

No need for a backup 1032 battery. If you have a dead key fob, you can leave the dead key fob in the cup holder, and the car will start. There is a sensor in the console that will detect the dead key fob and the car will start. :smile:
 
My service tech told it to me. It'd imagine it's in the owner's manual. However, I, like many others, have not read the owner's manual :smile:
I have. :) But not the latest version after they've patched it however many times.

My DS mentioned it as well.

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No need for a backup 1032 battery. If you have a dead key fob, you can leave the dead key fob in the cup holder, and the car will start. There is a sensor in the console that will detect the dead key fob and the car will start. :smile:

Sooo, does that mean I can swap my car for someone else's P85 when my key fob battery dies :O ;)

Or is there a unique passive chip in each fob that the console detects?
 
Thanx for that!

- - - Updated - - -

I hope the mobile app will help here in the future!? A least with getting the car unlocked...
But what if your smartphone battery is also dead? How will that help? :tongue:
But wait, what if your Model S has no more battery juice left? How will you unlock it then?

So I was writing the above two lines as a joke and then thought to myself, hey, what if your car runs out of battery and you want to open the charge port?
You can't from the touch screen, because that's off. Will the charge port recognize your cable if the car is locked? How about a non-Tesla charge cable? :confused: