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Coated windshield impacting door openers and EZpass
- Thread starter cinergi
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- Model S User Interface
contaygious
Active Member
I have a related question with a possible different solution to this issue.
I live in the SF Bay area and we have FasTrak but both FasTrak and EZ Pass have an option for in-car windshield mount or external front license units.
I have always thought that those plastic squares were hideously ugly inside the car, and from outside the car you can see the adhesive strips through the glass which is even uglier IMHO. In fact, this bothers me much more than the external stickers that let you drive in the HOV lanes as a single occupant, but that's just my perception.
Anyway, I was surfing the web looking for another solution to this problem as the way I want to mount my front license the transponder wont really work in that location for me. I also don't want to uglify the windshield or deal with the placement issues everyone here has been discussing.
I found a Jeep forum where someone had taken the external unit and mounted it with plastic zip ties to some interior framing under a plastic panel at the front bumper. This made it invisible which is nice because people won't be tempted to steal it if they can't see it.
This got me thinking about the black plastic front bumper piece on the Model S. Does anybody know what is behind it? Is there a place where one could zip tie an external transponder in that location? Seems like it would be the perfect solution to this issue if it worked.
If anyone has any knowledge about this let us all know.
Cheers.
I live in the SF Bay area and we have FasTrak but both FasTrak and EZ Pass have an option for in-car windshield mount or external front license units.
I have always thought that those plastic squares were hideously ugly inside the car, and from outside the car you can see the adhesive strips through the glass which is even uglier IMHO. In fact, this bothers me much more than the external stickers that let you drive in the HOV lanes as a single occupant, but that's just my perception.
Anyway, I was surfing the web looking for another solution to this problem as the way I want to mount my front license the transponder wont really work in that location for me. I also don't want to uglify the windshield or deal with the placement issues everyone here has been discussing.
I found a Jeep forum where someone had taken the external unit and mounted it with plastic zip ties to some interior framing under a plastic panel at the front bumper. This made it invisible which is nice because people won't be tempted to steal it if they can't see it.
This got me thinking about the black plastic front bumper piece on the Model S. Does anybody know what is behind it? Is there a place where one could zip tie an external transponder in that location? Seems like it would be the perfect solution to this issue if it worked.
If anyone has any knowledge about this let us all know.
Cheers.
strider
Active Member
Yes, I did this in my Corvette. I posted in another thread, maybe soflauthor's?. It should work assuming we can get access to the plastic nose cone.
I was told there is a small access panel on the black nose cone. It is to the right of the chrome Tesla T badge. The panel is nicely camouflaged and not easily visible, but it is there. You can pry it out with a flat head screw driver. Maybe this is a good place to mount RFID devices?
Any owners want to confirm?
On the factory tour I took today (as a friend took delivery), I was able to see the back of the complete front fascia, and also saw how to gain access to the area behind the nose cone. Details here:
Found electromagnetic parking sensor system for front bumper - Page 3
Found electromagnetic parking sensor system for front bumper - Page 3
SUN-day Driver
Member
I have a radar detector I mount in my old car just above the dash to the left of the driver. Will the windshield coating prevent it from detecting radar (K, KA and LASER), or receiving GPS (it warns when approaching the coordinates of a red light camera in its database) in the Model S? If anyone has used a radar detector with the Model S I'm very interested to hear if the windshield coating caused any problem. On a related note to the radar detector, I have it hardwired into an internal fuse box in my old car (at the end of the dash, with access facing the driver's side door). Is there an interior fuse box in the Model S? If they published a user manual I'd be able to find out...
There is a 12 volt battery for accessories so you should be able to tap into that for your radar. I have a Valentine V1 and am also concerned about the transmission through the glass as Valentine says certain coatings lessen the warning range. I was thinking I might have to try and fit it where the transponder is and fit the transponder somewhere else. I test drove the Model S performance with my Valentine V1 and it gave a few falses...mostly mounted low on windshield. So some signal certainly is getting through but I don't know if all of it is getting through. As for red light cams.. I do not have that feature but use the app WAZE on my iPhone to warn of visible police and red light cams... But these reports are made by other "WAZERS" like myself and hence don't work well on empty roadways.
SUN-day Driver
Member
Thanks, that thread is helpful.
Is it only the front windshield that has this coating? If so I think the radar detector would still be useful for when the radar source is to the side (even slightly) or behind the car. And if the source is directly in front, some signal would probably get in from bouncing around the surroundings. My Escort seems very sensitive to even the faintest bit of signal.
Could someone post a picture of where exactly they placed their EZpass (or TxTag) on the windshield and if they have confirmed it works? I understand to the right of the rearview mirror in the black coated area is the place (to the right if you are sitting in the driver's seat). Thanks.
I witnessed two different EZPasses in two Model Ss not working in the black area to the right of the mirror. They do work perfectly right below the mirror mount though.
Thanks. I just deactivated the TxTag I have installed in that exact spot with the plans to install the new one I have to the right of the mirror. I'll put the new one in the same place and try it out this weekend.
Charged_Up
Member
Toll Windshield Transponders
Has anyone been able to use a SunPass (FL), Easypass (Northeast) or similar transponder with success? I can't seem to find the right place in the window that allows mine to work. If anyone has had success, can they post a quick picture here of the location? Thanks in advance...Keith
Has anyone been able to use a SunPass (FL), Easypass (Northeast) or similar transponder with success? I can't seem to find the right place in the window that allows mine to work. If anyone has had success, can they post a quick picture here of the location? Thanks in advance...Keith
I tried two different Bay Area FasTrak transponders in two locations - in the black area to the right of the mirror and directly under the mirror mount and it didn't work in either location with either transponder on FasTrak lanes on the Golden Gate Bridge. I consulted Tesla Ownership Experience and was advised that I should consider an external mount (on top of the front license plate). Since I had already gotten the front license plate bracket, I did get an external transponder and it works fine, although it does nothing to increase the attractiveness of the front license plate! I have no idea why the windshield locations seems to work for some cars and not for others....
Mitchell
Mitchell
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