Australian Model 3 Highland experiences, tips, tricks

[Vostok]

They get a token via the Tesla API which you can revoke whenever if you are concerned about a security issue. None have direct access to your Tesla account

While this is true the token they store is perpetually refreshed (they last for 8 hours) in order to provide ongoing access to your vehicle or Powerwall. Which is obviously required by the App in order to keep on doing its stuff.

Now you could argue why would any App developer want to collect all these refresh tokens to have ongoing access to your vehicle outside of the App they developed? The risk might be low but it is there. I’m sure every App developer would deny they sniff and collect them, but they would say that, wouldn’t they. And let’s face it, some people do weird and improper stuff just because they can.

It could, for example, allow the App developer to locate your car, unlock it, and start it - allowing a third person to drive it away.

Tesla recently improved their security so that a refresh token can be used only once to generate a new refresh token. That used to not be the case which was a fairly significant security hole. But the App could simply pass on refreshed tokens to the App developer every time so that they have a current token.

As Hairyman notes, the token doesn’t provide any access to your Tesla account so it is secure from that perspective, and all tokens out in the wild are immediately revoked once you change the password to your Tesla account. So there is a way to kill them all off if you ever had a concern.

Caveat emptor.

 

[e-enthusiast30]

A little story on my Highland journey today.

Short summary: Complete MCU failure mid-drive

Long Summary: I took my vehicle on a trip from Canberra to Newcastle, stopping once to supercharge on the way up. Brilliant highway car, although I am now more inclined to purchase EAP as I absolutely hate how AP dis-engages when you change lanes. Such a simple thing my old Golf could even do. I also had the joyous experience of an autopilot ban on the way up (don't ask).

On the way back, I had to stop at Central Coast and Exeter to get the electrons I needed for the journey. It was pouring rain by the time I got to Exeter.. Not a worry, I headed into the servo, got a drink, fired up Netflix for a bit and charged away. When I finished, I stopped charging/unlocked the charge port and got back in and as I was about to pull out, the MCU (touchscreen) went black, a chime sounded and the 'PRND' lights illuminated. I did the 2 button scroll wheel reset, which after 30 secs brought up the 'T' logo, but it was stuck in a constant cycle, rebooting at least 5 times by itself, showing the 'T' logo and flickering a bit before the screen came back to normal. A little confused, thinking my car just had a bug it needed to get rid of with 5 reboots, I proceeded on my way. About 5 minutes later heading down the Hume in the 110km zone, the same thing happened again. Black screen, chime sounded, 'PRND' lights lit up. It cycled through another 5 reboots and finally came good again (total maybe 10 mins without a screen) after I was anxiously driving with no screen and autopilot still on. This happened at least another 4 times on my way home.

Things I noticed when your MCU has a meltdown:
Works:
Autopilot stays on, brakes as normal but doesn't provide auditory feedback.
You can wind the windows down

Doesnt Work:
Indicators don't illuminate or make a noise when pressed
Air con doesn't work/turns itself off
Windscreen wipers are manual only operation
And the most worrying point, you don't know what speed you're going.

I've gone into the service menu but it doesn't explicitly point out what triggered it. The only alerts that occurred during my drive/today are in the below pics. I've scheduled a visit to the service centre next week to hopefully work out what's going on.

Side note: when I crossed the border, it appeared to stop.. my car's clearly not a blues supporter.

 

[Vostok]

Short summary: Complete MCU failure mid-drive

Side note: when I crossed the border, it appeared to stop.. my car's clearly not a blues supporter.

If/when this happens, the short summary is: don’t panic.

Last year I went on a short drive, but shortly after pulling out of my garage, my screen went completely black.

I just kept on driving and experienced much of what you list. Lights still worked (it was night), blinkers worked (but no auditory feedback) etc. Not seeing the speed wasn’t a big deal - experienced drivers should be able to visually estimate their speed within 10 km/h anyway.

I didn’t stop or pull over. I didn’t reboot the car. After driving for about 5 minutes, the screen came back on all by itself, and this hasn’t happened again since

 

[e-enthusiast30]

If/when this happens, the short summary is: don’t panic.

Last year I went on a short drive, but shortly after pulling out of my garage, my screen went completely black.

I just kept on driving and experienced much of what you list. Lights still worked (it was night), blinkers worked (but no auditory feedback) etc. Not seeing the speed wasn’t a big deal - experienced drivers should be able to visually estimate their speed within 10 km/h anyway.

I didn’t stop or pull over. I didn’t reboot the car. After driving for about 5 minutes, the screen came back on all by itself, and this hasn’t happened again since

Interesting, I hope mine is just a one-off also.. but the way it continually happened on my way home was kinda unnerving..

I'll admit, I mustn't be an experienced driver.. when my screen came back on eventually I was doing about 20km under the speed limit.

 

[dronus]

Interesting, I hope mine is just a one-off also.. but the way it continually happened on my way home was kinda unnerving..

I'll admit, I mustn't be an experienced driver.. when my screen came back on eventually I was doing about 20km under the speed limit.

Personally, and it’s just me, I probably would have just pulled over until it all settled down.
Good to hear that you don’t have too, another thing learnt.

 

[richardnau]

A little story on my Highland journey today.

Short summary: Complete MCU failure mid-drive

Long Summary: I took my vehicle on a trip from Canberra to Newcastle, stopping once to supercharge on the way up. Brilliant highway car, although I am now more inclined to purchase EAP as I absolutely hate how AP dis-engages when you change lanes. Such a simple thing my old Golf could even do. I also had the joyous experience of an autopilot ban on the way up (don't ask).

On the way back, I had to stop at Central Coast and Exeter to get the electrons I needed for the journey. It was pouring rain by the time I got to Exeter.. Not a worry, I headed into the servo, got a drink, fired up Netflix for a bit and charged away. When I finished, I stopped charging/unlocked the charge port and got back in and as I was about to pull out, the MCU (touchscreen) went black, a chime sounded and the 'PRND' lights illuminated. I did the 2 button scroll wheel reset, which after 30 secs brought up the 'T' logo, but it was stuck in a constant cycle, rebooting at least 5 times by itself, showing the 'T' logo and flickering a bit before the screen came back to normal. A little confused, thinking my car just had a bug it needed to get rid of with 5 reboots, I proceeded on my way. About 5 minutes later heading down the Hume in the 110km zone, the same thing happened again. Black screen, chime sounded, 'PRND' lights lit up. It cycled through another 5 reboots and finally came good again (total maybe 10 mins without a screen) after I was anxiously driving with no screen and autopilot still on. This happened at least another 4 times on my way home.

Things I noticed when your MCU has a meltdown:
Works:
Autopilot stays on, brakes as normal but doesn't provide auditory feedback.
You can wind the windows down

Doesnt Work:
Indicators don't illuminate or make a noise when pressed
Air con doesn't work/turns itself off
Windscreen wipers are manual only operation
And the most worrying point, you don't know what speed you're going.

I've gone into the service menu but it doesn't explicitly point out what triggered it. The only alerts that occurred during my drive/today are in the below pics. I've scheduled a visit to the service centre next week to hopefully work out what's going on.

View attachment 1036913View attachment 1036912

Side note: when I crossed the border, it appeared to stop.. my car's clearly not a blues supporter.

If the disabling of auto-steer when you change lanes bugs you, take a look at the EnhAuto Commander. (It's the brain behind the S3XY Buttons and S3XY Knob. But you can just install the Commander by itself if you like.)

One of the functions is Continuous AutoPilot. I installed the Commander and one button today (more to come). Have not yet tried this function out, but the description is promising.

 

[paulp]

Interesting, I hope mine is just a one-off also.. but the way it continually happened on my way home was kinda unnerving..

I'll admit, I mustn't be an experienced driver.. when my screen came back on eventually I was doing about 20km under the speed limit.

Like vostok I’ve had it happen as a single event maybe twice. Having multiple events like you have experienced is not normal and should absolutely be checked

 

[paulp]

If the disabling of auto-steer when you change lanes bugs you, take a look at the EnhAuto Commander. (It's the brain behind the S3XY Buttons and S3XY Knob. But you can just install the Commander by itself if you like.)

One of the functions is Continuous AutoPilot. I installed the Commander and one button today (more to come). Have not yet tried this function out, but the description is promising.

What bugs me is the way it drops out when you steer around anything. It wasnt until I tried another brand that I realised competant lane keeping is available that allows you to take over steering when required and puts itself back in order when you are done, unless you brake.

 

[Max Spaghetti]

If the disabling of auto-steer when you change lanes bugs you, take a look at the EnhAuto Commander. (It's the brain behind the S3XY Buttons and S3XY Knob. But you can just install the Commander by itself if you like.)

One of the functions is Continuous AutoPilot. I installed the Commander and one button today (more to come). Have not yet tried this function out, but the description is promising.

Yes, I recently received my S3XY knob and it does have that function. I haven’t tried it however because I have the EAP lane change.

It can also prevent wipers reverting to Auto every time Autopilot is engaged. I have that turned ON.

It can also do the same with auto high beam, although I haven’t found the need for that.

So far I have only used the actual knob for wiper control, and with recent rains it has been great. But as richardnau said, I think all the above is part of the Commander not the knob, so getting the Commander could be an inexpensive lane change assistant.

The Commander also allows you to monitor certain things, either through its own app or it can connect to the ScanMyT3sla app. So far I found it interesting monitoring battery temperature on a recent road trip to see what was really happening with the battery temp when navigating to a Supercharger, during charging, and afterwards.

 

[edy80y]

A little story on my Highland journey today.

Short summary: Complete MCU failure mid-drive

Long Summary: I took my vehicle on a trip from Canberra to Newcastle, stopping once to supercharge on the way up. Brilliant highway car, although I am now more inclined to purchase EAP as I absolutely hate how AP dis-engages when you change lanes. Such a simple thing my old Golf could even do. I also had the joyous experience of an autopilot ban on the way up (don't ask).

On the way back, I had to stop at Central Coast and Exeter to get the electrons I needed for the journey. It was pouring rain by the time I got to Exeter.. Not a worry, I headed into the servo, got a drink, fired up Netflix for a bit and charged away. When I finished, I stopped charging/unlocked the charge port and got back in and as I was about to pull out, the MCU (touchscreen) went black, a chime sounded and the 'PRND' lights illuminated. I did the 2 button scroll wheel reset, which after 30 secs brought up the 'T' logo, but it was stuck in a constant cycle, rebooting at least 5 times by itself, showing the 'T' logo and flickering a bit before the screen came back to normal. A little confused, thinking my car just had a bug it needed to get rid of with 5 reboots, I proceeded on my way. About 5 minutes later heading down the Hume in the 110km zone, the same thing happened again. Black screen, chime sounded, 'PRND' lights lit up. It cycled through another 5 reboots and finally came good again (total maybe 10 mins without a screen) after I was anxiously driving with no screen and autopilot still on. This happened at least another 4 times on my way home.

Things I noticed when your MCU has a meltdown:
Works:
Autopilot stays on, brakes as normal but doesn't provide auditory feedback.
You can wind the windows down

Doesnt Work:
Indicators don't illuminate or make a noise when pressed
Air con doesn't work/turns itself off
Windscreen wipers are manual only operation
And the most worrying point, you don't know what speed you're going.

I've gone into the service menu but it doesn't explicitly point out what triggered it. The only alerts that occurred during my drive/today are in the below pics. I've scheduled a visit to the service centre next week to hopefully work out what's going on.

View attachment 1036913View attachment 1036912

Side note: when I crossed the border, it appeared to stop.. my car's clearly not a blues supporter.

Enable Autosteer AND double tap for AP.

Double tap to begin AP with steer
Indicate to change lanes will down grade to AP only so you maintain speed
After lane change double tap to get auto steer again

Only figured this out last week and I love it. Very smooth and no deceleration during land change.

 

[e-enthusiast30]

ICE owners meet-up today, Costco Majura Park. I felt left out.

 

[e-enthusiast30]

Enable Autosteer AND double tap for AP.

Double tap to begin AP with steer
Indicate to change lanes will down grade to AP only so you maintain speed
After lane change double tap to get auto steer again

Only figured this out last week and I love it. Very smooth and no deceleration during land change.

Interesting, I'll give that a crack. I always single-tap for AP (as that's what I have set it up as).

 

[Jules22]

ICE owners meet-up today, Costco Majura Park. I felt left out.

View attachment 1037213

Haha, I took the same picture the other week. But it only takes 2 mins for ICE drivers to refuel apparently, lol

 

[Wagits]

I just thought of something. If I use my phone to unlock and drive car. If someone steals my phone does that mean they can access and drive away in my Tesla? I cant test it cos my car is still in bits and pieces on the factory floor.

 

[e-enthusiast30]

Haha, I took the same picture the other week. But it only takes 2 mins for ICE drivers to refuel apparently, lol

To be fair, I guess this is the equivalent of me spending 1.5 hours at Coles using the free charging after my 30 min shop is done.

 

[Jules22]

I just thought of something. If I use my phone to unlock and drive car. If someone steals my phone does that mean they can access and drive away in my Tesla? I cant test it cos my car is still in bits and pieces on the factory floor.

No different to someone stealing your keys yes. The only difference is if you have another phone you can track the Tesla or disable the stolen phone or have Tesla do it for you.

Only a complete moron would try to steal a Tesla (I know there have been a few who have tried)

 

[Wagits]

No different to someone stealing your keys yes. The only difference is if you have another phone you can track the Tesla or disable the stolen phone or have Tesla do it for you.

Only a complete moron would try to steal a Tesla (I know there have been a few who have tried)

I have a lot of stupid friends that like playing pranks. Can I set it so it access car only after I unlock the phone

 

[Jules22]

I have a lot of stupid friends that like playing pranks. Can I set it so it access car only after I unlock the phone

You'd have to turn your phone blutooth off and then you'd have to turn it on again every time you want to use it. Or you could not pair a phone and just use a card, but again they can just as easily steal that.

If you are only worried about them driving it, you can set PIN to drive.

 

[Wagits]

You'd have to turn your phone blutooth off and then you'd have to turn it on again every time you want to use it. Or you could not pair a phone and just use a card, but again they can just as easily steal that.

If you are only worried about them driving it, you can set PIN to drive.

Ok, at least I do have options, thanks Jules

 

[Jules22]

Ok, at least I do have options, thanks Jules

Just had a thought, there may be some way to automate it on your phone so that Blutooth is only active when your phone is unlocked, I know there is software for Android that you can set to do whatever you want triggered by just about anything, no idea if IOS has anything similar.