Don't drop your Fob or always have a spare one

It could have been started and driven with the mobile app. Drivers need to know how to fully use their cars

Obsoletion said:

It could have been started and driven with the mobile app. Drivers need to know how to fully use their cars

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Yep. Such a beautiful feature of the mobile app.

Hearing about incidents like this makes me wonder about the much wider customer base that will be buying Model III. I think we will be hearing a lot more stories like these, stories about people stranded due to poor planning, etc.

I had to use the mobile app once to drive when I had valet parked in a parking garage (to allow them to move the car to charge it) and by the time I returned there was another shift on duty. Since I didn't have any way to prove the car was mine (evidently I was supposed to get a ticket stub or something), I simply drove it from the charger to the exit and showed them I could use the app to access the car. They didn't know what else to do so they gave me my keys and let me go.

GoBlue88 said:

Yep. Such a beautiful feature of the mobile app.

Hearing about incidents like this makes me wonder about the much wider customer base that will be buying Model III. I think we will be hearing a lot more stories like these, stories about people stranded due to poor planning, etc.

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Agree. Most early adopters tend to learn as much about their cars as they can both before and after purchase, search for more knowledge in the forums and keep up to date with tech developments and changes. These characteristics may be in short supply once market penetration takes off. At that point, Teslas may be just another car for transportation or a status symbol and a lot of buyers may be seduced by the simplicity of "get in and drive".

People will adapt and learn about the Model III when the time comes.

It sounds like such a comedy of errors, you could easily have had a similar story with any gas car. Guy goes to hand valet his ICE car key, drops it and it falls down a storm drain, can't get it out, can't move ICE car, etc.

At least if the guy knew he could start it with the app, he could have still driven it away! Face palm moment for sure. Getting a spare fob is still less awkward than arranging for a tow truck though. I assume the model S is too heavy to put the car into neutral and push it out of the way?

Perhaps the stuck car had remote access disabled by an owner who doesn't trust the security of the internet.

You can't put the car into neutral / tow mode unless you are sitting in it with the fob.

Oh yeah, duh! I wonder if he tried the fob after it got run over? Like the dead battery method where you put it near the windshield wiper and then in the cup holder? The RFID may still have worked.

Couldn't you have simply shown them your driver's license and demonstrated that the name on the license matched the name shown on the vehicle registration or proof of insurance that you keep in the car?

santana338 said:

I had to use the mobile app once to drive when I had valet parked in a parking garage (to allow them to move the car to charge it) and by the time I returned there was another shift on duty. Since I didn't have any way to prove the car was mine (evidently I was supposed to get a ticket stub or something), I simply drove it from the charger to the exit and showed them I could use the app to access the car. They didn't know what else to do so they gave me my keys and let me go.

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Seems like this exact same problem would happen with any high-end car with a destroyed fob. I know our Range Rover and Mercedes would not start if the fob was destroyed. The Model S is really the only car I can think of that potentially has a backup way to start.

ecarfan said:

Couldn't you have simply shown them your driver's license and demonstrated that the name on the license matched the name shown on the vehicle registration or proof of insurance that you keep in the car?

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Yeah...common sense.

Doesn't even have to be a high end car. A normal car key could easily be mangled beyond usability by being run over.

ecarfan said:

Couldn't you have simply shown them your driver's license and demonstrated that the name on the license matched the name shown on the vehicle registration or proof of insurance that you keep in the car?

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Probably, but it was more fun to use the app and just bring the car up to the booth. :wink: I had never used it to allow keyless driving before.

Drove off one day without my FOB. "Mobile App to the rescue"

bollar said:

Seems like this exact same problem would happen with any high-end car with a destroyed fob. I know our Range Rover and Mercedes would not start if the fob was destroyed. The Model S is really the only car I can think of that potentially has a backup way to start.

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Chevy Volt fob has a hard key that closes into the fob. There is a hard key insert in the cubby on the dash in the event your fob runs out of battery or is damaged.

However, this is a kind of hidden feature that most oblivious drivers wouldn't think to try should the occasion arise.

dayhu99 said:

My complete misunderstanding
I have used the app many times to turn on ac ,open doors etc Have had car for 2 years but did not appreciate you could also drive car just using app but without key fob

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The start feature was new in 6.0. It did not exist when I washed my fob with my pants when we were at 5.9.

Remote start saved me when I parked under a radio tower and the RF interference kept the car from "seeing" the fob.