Valet Mode! (confirmed by Elon)

Mike_Schlechter · May 11, 2013

I love my Model S! I am continually impressed with how much thought has gone in to every aspect of the car. I also know others are similarly impressed.

This evening the valet at an event I attended were so impressed they went for a joy ride. How do I know? The energy usage. I'm generally driving without massive spikes in energy usage. When the car was returned to me I was complimented on how nice it was. Then I noticed my rated miles were looking lower than I thought they should so I went to the energy view and it was clear they had taken the car on a VERY spirited drive. I suppose they might put down a deposit, but that isn't the point. A valet mode is something I never felt was critical until now. Not only could they have damaged the car (which would suck) they could kill someone or themselves driving like that.

I didn't hold up a line of people to make a scene, but am honestly pissed off. I'm not even a little amused.

As it turns out, this was the first time I've valeted the car. I truly never thought this would happen. More fool I. I'm just so glad no one got hurt and the car was returned intact.

My wife thinks I should call the police. That seems a little far to me, but really, I'm still annoyed and don't think I'll be allowing the car to be valeted any time soon.

neroden · May 11, 2013

You're correct that a valet mode is needed.

I'm not sure how I'd implement it given the way the keys work. Perhaps you should be able to set a valet mode password, and the car should only come out of valet mode only when the password is entered.

Until Tesla implements valet mode, however, I would suggest warning any valet in advance: "I'll know if you drive too fast. The car keeps records."

andrewket · May 11, 2013

I agree. Furthermore, the car already has some of this functionality. Demo cars are limited to 80mph, and based on some of the leaked service screens, I think torque limited as well. We just need a way to adjust these parameters and lock them (password).

Trnsl8r · May 11, 2013

A chat with the valet's manager along with a picture of the energy screen would be in order I think. Not vindictive, but what if they do this routinely with every high-performance car they get? There will (not might) be an accident down the line. (And we've all seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off...)

Doug_G · May 11, 2013

I would definitely have complained to the management and got the guy fired. Seriously. Bad things can happen, such as Quebec valet clocks BMW in at 240 km/h

Here's a tip: Show them the App, how it tracks and controls the car. Tell them you'll know what the car is doing at all times. I did that recently and they didn't touch the car.

steve841 · May 12, 2013

Hindsight......would have been hilarious if you had turned on the mobile app after valeting and shown his boss in real time the car doing 0-60 sprints .....may have meant a firing plus a free meal.

Valet would have run back up and greeted with a "WTF?"

twinklejet · May 12, 2013

Has anybody spoken to anybody at Tesla about any plans for a valet mode?

walla2 · May 12, 2013

They should have a limiter mode for kids and valet service. My kid is only 5 so they have about 11 years for me but all this power needs to be limited for people that don't know that it can be very dangerous.

retinadoc · May 12, 2013

I feel your pain. My wife thinks I am certifiable because I refuse to let any valet touch my car. My solution has been to give the guys five dollars with the understanding that I get to park the car and hold the key. That usually works. A few times it has landed me in the Ferrari spot in the front of the restaurant. I know somewhere someone posted valet instructions on a web page. Maybe a bold letter addition on the page is that the car is monitored so do not take it for a joy ride.

Mike_Schlechter · May 12, 2013

twinklejet said:
Has anybody spoken to anybody at Tesla about any plans for a valet mode?

I sent an email asking for it to be added.

I wish I had said something at the time, but was too flummoxed. Also, it was a fundraiser and I didn't want to distract from the purpose of the event by being the guy who is pissed about a car. Still, I went and looked again at the energy graph. These weren't small bursts.

dhrivnak · May 12, 2013

The Roadster has a valet mode that cuts both power and maximum speed. I am surprised the newer Model S does not have it. It does work well for areas there they have no reason to speed.

defmonk · May 12, 2013

retinadoc said:
I feel your pain. My wife thinks I am certifiable because I refuse to let any valet touch my car. My solution has been to give the guys five dollars with the understanding that I get to park the car and hold the key. That usually works. A few times it has landed me in the Ferrari spot in the front of the restaurant. I know somewhere someone posted valet instructions on a web page. Maybe a bold letter addition on the page is that the car is monitored so do not take it for a joy ride.

This is precisely the solution I've used. It works much better than any technical solution anyway. And, I'm sure it pisses off Ferrari owners :biggrin: (since they're kind of run-of-the-miil in many places these days). Sadly, if my experience yesterday is any indication, we Tesla owners may be run-of-the-mill soon, too. Drove from my kids school event in Brentwood, across Sunset and down PCH. Along the way, there were several Tesla Jams (a variation of the term, "Prius Jam," my wife and I developed as early Prius adopters for the situation when we could see a Prius in at least three directions while stopped at a light). It was kind of surreal.

NigelM · May 12, 2013

Mike_Schlechter said:
I didn't hold up a line of people to make a scene....

You should have done this. The folks in line behind you would probably have been interested to know that the valet was joyriding customer's cars.

+1 on valet mode. My Roadster has it, why not my Model S?

MikeK · May 12, 2013

Yes, call back and report it. It's an enormous liability for the valet company, and you'll be doing both them and all their future clients a service.

kevincwelch · May 12, 2013

I'd like to see a function that alerts the driver via the Android/iPhone app that the car is moving as well as the capability to provide information to the owner about route/speed history. If Tesla can track this, it'd be nice if we could. I'd also like to see a PIN for the settings on the Model S, particularly one required to turn on/off the remote app.

Wouldn't have stopped the joyriding, but you would have known exactly what had taken place...

SCW-Greg · May 12, 2013

Doug_G said:
Here's a tip: Show them the App, how it tracks and controls the car. Tell them you'll know what the car is doing at all times. I did that recently and they didn't touch the car.

This.
And I'd pull up the 5 mile energy chart, and just point out that this tracks how hard they punch the car... so behave!

jomo25 · May 12, 2013

Point them to the Broder response that demonstrates how every detail is tracked. Love to hear the valet guys try to deny it, only to be proven to be lying.

brianman · May 12, 2013

Mike_Schlechter said:
I sent an email asking for it to be added.

I wish I had said something at the time, but was too flummoxed. Also, it was a fundraiser and I didn't want to distract from the purpose of the event by being the guy who is pissed about a car. Still, I went and looked again at the energy graph. These weren't small bursts.

Thanks for contacting them, Mike. Actual stories with drama (rather than general concern/paranoia from people like me) is far more effective. I hope their response is satisfactory.

lolachampcar · May 12, 2013

You have got to be kidding me. Its a standing joke. If you want someone to run the piss out of your car, just hand the keys to the valet. Those guys live for these things.

The only opportunity you have is if they agree to park it up front (and give you back your key). Without that, all bets are off.

That reminds me. The first thing the Dania Beach service center did when they pulled my car around to the back was to TURN OFF remote access. I thought that a bit strange.

JPP · May 12, 2013

Reply to an e-mail I had sent corporate in February:

To set appropriate expectations, Tesla is not actively working on a Valet mode. It's something that we're considering but we're currently focused on other software improvements that we believe will have a greater impact on the overall vehicle experience. That said, we specifically engineered Model S with a "glass cockpit" to allow flexibility to introduce new features like the ones you list below. Once we ramp production and complete homologation for new markets like Europe and Asia, the software teams will have more time to focus on new features. To date, I haven't had a bad valet experience with Model S, but I imagine showing the valet your mobile phone app (with vehicle location and speed) would be a strong deterrent to bad behavior.

Valet Mode! (confirmed by Elon)

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