Turning car Systems on with passenger present, no driver

Damiano said:

It happens to me quite often that I get out of the car to run a short errand and my wife stays in the car. I leave her the key, but unless she opens a door slightly, she has no way of turning on the center console to listen to music or adjust the air. Are we missing something? Is there a way for a passenger to use the car's systems when the driver isn't present? I don't think this is an unusual situation to accommodate in the software, if any v6.2 programmers are present....

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Tap the main screen.

Raven is correct. Touch the main screen as soon as you leave the car and it will keep everything on. It only lasts something like 10 minutes (someone correct me if that's wrong). Tap again to get another 10. The other option is to use the phone app to turn on the climate system. This way it lasts 30 minutes.

But remember that after you walk away with the key, the car will lock itself and the touching of the screen will not turn vehicle systems back on. Then if she were to open the door, the car alarm will go off. Also, if she wants to exit the vehicle, she has to unlock the car from the touch screen or the car alarm will go off (she can't just pull at the handle). The alternative is to leave the keys in the car and the vehicle will not lock in the first place.

Are you sure about this? I have left my family in the car many times and walked away with the key but they were able to keep the A/C running by touching the screen. Maybe touching the screen delays locking the car?

I'd like to see an explicit "family in the car" mode that locks the doors but keeps climate control on... something that can be triggered by the driver as he/she exits.

Another way to keep the systems running is to put the car in park using the centre console (in the emergency brake area).
Then the driver can exit the car and everything will stay running.
I use this all the time when I hop out for a quick errand.

mibaro2 said:

Another way to keep the systems running is to put the car in park using the centre console (in the emergency brake area).
Then the driver can exit the car and everything will stay running.
I use this all the time when I hop out for a quick errand.

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Interesting - does the car lock when you walk away?

@patn : I'll have to check. I haven't used it yet when walking away with the key.
Normally I leave the key with my wife since she is in the car and she wants either a/c on or music. (She can lock it from the control panel if I leave her the key and she wants it locked).

mibaro2 said:

Another way to keep the systems running is to put the car in park using the centre console (in the emergency brake area).
Then the driver can exit the car and everything will stay running.
I use this all the time when I hop out for a quick errand.

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I remember reading in another thread that this was the method to use. I thought though, that we are supposed to put the car into Neutral first. Is that correct?

4SUPER9 said:

I remember reading in another thread that this was the method to use. I thought though, that we are supposed to put the car into Neutral first. Is that correct?

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Yes, you are correct. You put the car in Neutral, then touch Park on the console screen.

patn said:

Are you sure about this? I have left my family in the car many times and walked away with the key but they were able to keep the A/C running by touching the screen. Maybe touching the screen delays locking the car?

I'd like to see an explicit "family in the car" mode that locks the doors but keeps climate control on... something that can be triggered by the driver as he/she exits.

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What I meant was that if they don't touch the screen before the car locks, they won't be able to start up the vehicle systems. Once it locks after you walk away with the key, touching the screen will do nothing

The confusion on the process and the relative complexity just cries out for an accessories mode...and cracking the door is not the same :tongue:

The passenger can press on the driver's seat as the door is closed. It only takes a little pressure. My son used to do this when I first got the car.

Damiano said:

Thanks all for the pointers. The "touch the screen" method didn't work, but I have a feeling she hasn't tried it for several firmware iterations, so we'll need to try it again on v6.1.

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Why didn't this work? If you left the key with her as you exit and close the driver door, the screen will turn off. She then only needs to touch the screen to wake it back up. This has always worked since the general release of the car back in 2012.

Another method is to "unlock" the car with the phone app. Then you don't even have to leave the key behind.

This seems to be to be another example of a UI design issue Tesla should fix. The case we just ran into was stopping on a trip and I got back to the car before my wife, who was driving at the time. I had to keep the door ajar to access the front screen. Touching the screen had no effect, the door had to be ajar.

What is the point to this? If the car is occupied at all, why not keep the screen on to control A/C, media, do trip planning, surf the web, etc., and what does keeping the door open have to do with anything?

I know not a solution, but my method... if you get out of the car and then stick your foot back in and press the brake lightly, the car will stay on and you can fully close the drivers door and lock the car with all systems still running. It will time out and shut off after 30 minutes I think.

RDoc said:

This seems to be to be another example of a UI design issue Tesla should fix.

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In the good old days when there was still a way to communicate from owner -> ownership -> engineering, the ownership team checked for me and engineering was busy working on a mode called the "Keep the doggies alive" mode that they were about to release. This would allow you to set up A/C settings etc. with timeouts & restrictions before you leave the car.

That was 2 years and 4 months ago, so any day now...

patn said:

Interesting - does the car lock when you walk away?

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Agree, this is what Tesla told me to do in the scenario. Engage the park break in the console and driver can leave, car stays on fully for passenger, and doesn't complain about the key leaving.
-T

deonb said:

In the good old days when there was still a way to communicate from owner -> ownership -> engineering, the ownership team checked for me and engineering was busy working on a mode called the "Keep the doggies alive" mode that they were about to release. This would allow you to set up A/C settings etc. with timeouts & restrictions before you leave the car.

That was 2 years and 4 months ago, so any day now...

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Can you follow-up won this with your contact? Maybe a little nudging will help.