No Tech...was told I could just press handle?

hingisfan · Jan 30, 2015

Just got my car, bought a loaner dated September 28, 2014. It does not have tech pkg, and I was told that I could walk up to the locked car with the fob in my pocked and just press the handle and it would extend. So far this has not been the case. Help?

Gizmotoy · Jan 30, 2015

You can push the handle if the car is unlocked. The walk up/away proximity unlocking/locking functionality is reserved for the tech package.

Edit: Actually, according to the manual the above is wrong. It says "A light press on a door handle extends it,provided Model S detects a valid key nearby.If Model S is equipped with the optional techpackage, you can set the door handles toextend automatically whenever you approachthe driver’s side carrying the key"

So it would appear maybe there's something wrong with yours?

hingisfan · Jan 30, 2015

Gizmotoy said:
You can push the handle if the car is unlocked. The walk up/away proximity unlocking/locking functionality is reserved for the tech package.

Edit: Actually, according to the manual the above is wrong. It says "A light press on a door handle extends it,provided Model S detects a valid key nearby.If Model S is equipped with the optional techpackage, you can set the door handles toextend automatically whenever you approachthe driver’s side carrying the key"

So it would appear maybe there's something wrong with yours?

The manual book or on screen?

Anyone else non-tech can help out?

Gizmotoy · Jan 30, 2015

hingisfan said:
The manual book or on screen?
Anyone else non-tech can help out?

The December 2014 user manual PDF from the MyTesla page on teslamotors.com. Presumably it is identical to the manual on the center display.

tmyl21 · Jan 30, 2015

Did you try waving the fob around in the air to maybe help the car catch it's signal. Try over the windshield passenger side. It may be the fob has a spent or just weak battery.

hingisfan · Jan 30, 2015

tmyl21 said:
Did you try waving the fob around in the air to maybe help the car catch it's signal. Try over the windshield passenger side. It may be the fob has a spent or just weak battery.

I'll try that tomorrow but I do have two fobs and have seen the same with both.

tmyl21 · Jan 30, 2015

Otherwise....take it in to the SC for a fix or clarification. As Tesla owners we are fortunate to have first class centers and service at our time of need and they will be more than happy to keep you happy.

Cheers!

CanuckS#69 · Jan 30, 2015

Don't carry your fob near your phone, either. That can reduce pickup range.

DavidB · Jan 30, 2015

Have you tried going to Controls > Controls > Displays > Energy Saving = Off ?

It could be that the computer has gone into "sleep mode" to conserve energy and the presence of the Fob is not waking your car.

golfski · Jan 30, 2015

Nothing is wrong with your car - that is just how it works. I have non-tech, was told the same thing by the Tesla sales people, but that is not the case of the car without tech package. You have to use the fob buttons to unlock the car. For the first 10,000 cars or so, they built passive entry into the car regardless, it just wouldn't auto present.

I was working with the Service Center to get this enabled and they thought they could activate it for $250 by installing an additional antennae and do a firmware update. However, the non-tech doesn't have the proper wiring harness and it because thousands (enough to not even quote me) to re-wire for it. I am 42XXX VIN, if you find a way to get it enabled easily I would definitely be interested to know how!

Niclas · Jan 31, 2015

I think Tesla screwed this up by not presenting actual info on how car without Tech are equipped. It says both on the website and in the manual that pressing the (locked) handles should present themselves on cars without tech.
The antenna for key fob is located on the drivers side side panel, left to the dash. Non tech cars do not have the antenna, but the wiring is there as I have checked. I am pretty sure that it would work just to add the antenna to the existing wiring and a software update. But Tesla seems to be very unresponsive to these kind of enquiries.

Chas F · Jan 31, 2015

golfski said:
Nothing is wrong with your car - that is just how it works. I have non-tech, was told the same thing by the Tesla sales people, but that is not the case of the car without tech package. You have to use the fob buttons to unlock the car. For the first 10,000 cars or so, they built passive entry into the car regardless, it just wouldn't auto present.

I was working with the Service Center to get this enabled and they thought they could activate it for $250 by installing an additional antennae and do a firmware update. However, the non-tech doesn't have the proper wiring harness and it because thousands (enough to not even quote me) to re-wire for it. I am 42XXX VIN, if you find a way to get it enabled easily I would definitely be interested to know how!

I can attest that you are 100% correct! I have a non-tech (VIN 93XX), delivered in May 2013, and my handles present-on-touch whether the car is locked or not. Around the same time as my delivery (may have been the same day), I saw a guy take delivery of a red 40kWh while I was waiting. He tried to open his while locked and it wouldn't work for him. He was told it was normal. I remember thinking "whew, I just made the cut-off".

Truthfully, I never bought the whole "missing wiring harness/antenna" explanation. All the requisite HW seems to be there - handle extender mechanism, key fob detector (antenna). While it's possible this could an omission from more recent non-techs (albeit trivial from a production line perspective IMHO), the lack of auto-present in my car feels like a software switch turned off for the sake of marketing. I've got a few other goodies that are artifacts of pre-refinement of the early feature sets so I'm not complaining.

tmyl21 · Jan 31, 2015

@ Chas F Interesting!!! And a few other goodies? Care to share....

Brass Guy · Jan 31, 2015

I read that in the manual too. It has never worked for me either, and I've tried many times when I thought I'd left it unlocked. Sept 2013 delivery. It must have been a change that never made it to the documentation.

tmyl21 · Jan 31, 2015

Does this mean you need to press the top of the fob in order for the handles to retract to open the doors?

Correction : What I mean is for the handles to present, not retract in order to open the doors.

hingisfan · Jan 31, 2015

DavidB said:
Have you tried going to Controls > Controls > Displays > Energy Saving = Off ?

It could be that the computer has gone into "sleep mode" to conserve energy and the presence of the Fob is not waking your car.

Yes I have energy savings off.

- - - Updated - - -

golfski said:
Nothing is wrong with your car - that is just how it works. I have non-tech, was told the same thing by the Tesla sales people, but that is not the case of the car without tech package. You have to use the fob buttons to unlock the car. For the first 10,000 cars or so, they built passive entry into the car regardless, it just wouldn't auto present.

I was working with the Service Center to get this enabled and they thought they could activate it for $250 by installing an additional antennae and do a firmware update. However, the non-tech doesn't have the proper wiring harness and it because thousands (enough to not even quote me) to re-wire for it. I am 42XXX VIN, if you find a way to get it enabled easily I would definitely be interested to know how!

Weird how they don't know this or it's not properly communicated.

- - - Updated - - -

tmyl21 said:
Does this mean you need to press the top of the fob in order for the handles to retract to open the doors?

Correction : What I mean is for the handles to present, not retract in order to open the doors.

If car is LOCKED....double tap to unlock/present....if unlocked, press handle to extend, but wouldn't need fob present as car is unlocked.

hingisfan · Jan 31, 2015

Hmmm....if this is true it kinda sucks. I specifically asked this twice about non-tech and was told the only time I needed to touch the fob was to lock.

tmyl21 · Jan 31, 2015

My understanding and logic says that the fob needs to be present for the car to be unlocked, tech package or non-tech package. I have tech package. If I go out to my MS now with the fob on my person the handles with auto-present. If I walk away and go back into the house or such with the fob then the vehicle will lock itself. I've tested this by going back out to the MS w/o the fob to make sure it locks for my piece of mind.

So is it possible that your MS is locking the doors after a period of time after you unlock and you may or may not have the fob on your person at this time?

AMPUP · Jan 31, 2015

If you don't have the antenna located at the side of the drivers dash (pull the cap on the side of the dash and you will see the antenna and cable) then you have to use the fob. If the car is already unlocked then touching the handles will extend them. I'm not sure why it can't auto lock when leaving the car, every car does that now and the vehicle knows when the fob is inside the car or not.

Niclas · Jan 31, 2015

AMPUP said:
If you don't have the antenna located at the side of the drivers dash (pull the cap on the side of the dash and you will see the antenna and cable) then you have to use the fob. If the car is already unlocked then touching the handles will extend them. I'm not sure why it can't auto lock when leaving the car, every car does that now and the vehicle knows when the fob is inside the car or not.

do you mean every car as in every model s or just about every random car? Auto lock is not a feature on non-tech model s.

No Tech...was told I could just press handle?

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