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(Lack of) Auto lock door handles

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The 4.0 update gave us auto present door handles which is a convenience because you don't have to reach into your pocket for the fob when you approach the car. However, upon exiting the car no such convenience exists. Because there is a 60 second delay before it auto locks, I am forced to reach into my pocket for the fob to lock it. If not, the car is sitting not only unlocked but lit up with door handles popped out inviting visitors. Now before anybody accuses me of being too lazy to reach into my pocket... the convenience is that if I have my hands full, I don't need to deal with the fob. This happens quite a bit. I had this convenience on my 7 year old Lexus IS350. Surely it should exist on the model S. There should at least be a setting to auto lock at an adjustable time delay-- I'd set mine to about 10 seconds.
 
The 4.0 update gave us auto present door handles which is a convenience because you don't have to reach into your pocket for the fob when you approach the car. However, upon exiting the car no such convenience exists. Because there is a 60 second delay before it auto locks, I am forced to reach into my pocket for the fob to lock it. If not, the car is sitting not only unlocked but lit up with door handles popped out inviting visitors. Now before anybody accuses me of being too lazy to reach into my pocket... the convenience is that if I have my hands full, I don't need to deal with the fob. This happens quite a bit. I had this convenience on my 7 year old Lexus IS350. Surely it should exist on the model S. There should at least be a setting to auto lock at an adjustable time delay-- I'd set mine to about 10 seconds.

Agreed. Sixty seconds is far too long. I like the square button on the Prius. You don't have to fiddle with keys, walk a certain distance, or wait.
 
The key fob has such a unique shape that I can push the top while the key fob is in my pocket and lock the doors without taking the keys out as well. Having the lock time user selectable makes sense of course and something they can do in software of course. Hopefully in the next update.
 
I don't remember the timing of this in my Corvette but I've never had an issue w/ someone leaping into my car in between the time I leave it and it auto-locks. I used my Corvette in this fashion for 5 years and never had a problem. You must park in some sketchy neighborhoods for this to be a problem. If you do find yourself parking in a sketchy place then push the lock button immediately on exit. Otherwise, just walk away. Even in the worst case that someone did hop into your car they could drive it. And in the future you'll be able to whip out your phone and verify that it's parked and locked.

I'm not saying that Tesla's algorithm couldn't be tweaked - I think it should be based on fob distance and not time. My wife has been driving the car and we just enabled the feature for her last night (this is her first car w/ keyless entry) so we'll see how it goes.
 
This is absolutely more of a problem than with other cars. When you walk away from other cars, they aren't lit up with the door handles extended (and also lit) basically shouting that they're open. I don't think anybody would want to walk away from their Model S in public at night in this state. Often within 60 seconds the owner is well out of sight of the car. I agree the car still can't be stolen but everything in it certainly could be.
 
The lock on walk-away seems to be about 15' distance, but if you linger around 10' it'll stay unlocked for some time.

I don't have the car yet, but she will be parked straight into the garage near the door to the house, and I keep the keys right by the door. The fob would therefore generally be within 10 feet of the car most of the time. Would the car never lock or go to sleep?
 
I don't have the car yet, but she will be parked straight into the garage near the door to the house, and I keep the keys right by the door. The fob would therefore generally be within 10 feet of the car most of the time. Would the car never lock or go to sleep?

You can always wrap your key fob in aluminum foil or make your own Faraday cage/bag to put your key fob in when you get home :wink:
 
I don't have the car yet, but she will be parked straight into the garage near the door to the house, and I keep the keys right by the door. The fob would therefore generally be within 10 feet of the car most of the time. Would the car never lock or go to sleep?

I know this is going to freak a lot of people out but I usually leave the keys in the car at home. Is this a show stopper with the S? Or, can I program around it and make it work? Surely the car wouldn't lock me out if I left the fob in it?

Apart from preventing the car going to sleep, you'll find that the entertainment system and the AC keep running (possibly headlights also?) so unless you turn everything off you're going to run down your battery. Also, and someone may have to correct me here, I think you'll drain the battery in your key fob.
 
Apart from preventing the car going to sleep, you'll find that the entertainment system and the AC keep running (possibly headlights also?) so unless you turn everything off you're going to run down your battery. Also, and someone may have to correct me here, I think you'll drain the battery in your key fob.

Allrighty then; Big Al's gonna learn a NEW habit pattern! Thanks for the info.
 
Ok, I think this was asked before but this thread made me think. How far away does your key need to be from the car. Right now I put my keys in my bedroom, but that is directly over where my Model S will be parked. I also have a key hook right inside the garage door to my house. Is that far enough away?

Or is the big deal having the key inside the car?

I don't really need my car to lock when I am home, but I would prefer to not have the door handles go in and out all the time.
 
I know this is going to freak a lot of people out but I usually leave the keys in the car at home. Is this a show stopper with the S? Or, can I program around it and make it work? Surely the car wouldn't lock me out if I left the fob in it?

My current car will start honking the horn and not lock if I leave my fob in the car (often, the fob is in my jacket, which I sometimes take off and forget when I get out). I like this behavior.

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Agreed. Sixty seconds is far too long. I like the square button on the Prius. You don't have to fiddle with keys, walk a certain distance, or wait.

I have my current car beep the horn when it locks so that as I'm walking away I am assured it is locked. I just timed it, and it is about 15 seconds after getting out and closing the door. It doesn't sound like much, but it is more than enough time. It seems to be time (not distance) based as it will beep and lock even if I am right next to the car.
 
Key, knife, gun, lightsaber, wallet. For me that is. And I agree that the particulars of how the car handles this should, and probably will be(?), programmable by the user in future updates (time and/or distance).