Replacing 5 month old Key Fob battery has improved my Tesla

[joninmelbourne]

Just replaced my key fob battery after only 5 months after some errors happening with Summon and occasionally not having door handle extend immediately.

The battery replacement has made Summon more reliable with less error messages and the doors now open as soon as I walk up to the doors. Maybe the once a year recommendation to change key fob batteries is too long on the Tesla as the fob communicates with the car a lot creating a big drain on a tiny watch battery. I bought a pack of five for $4 off eBay so will change every 6 months from now on I reckon. Anybody have similar experiences? Cheers

 

[raynewman]

Just replaced my key fob battery after only 5 months after some errors happening with Summon and occasionally not having door handle extend immediately.

The battery replacement has made Summon more reliable with less error messages and the doors now open as soon as I walk up to the doors. Maybe the once a year recommendation to change key fob batteries is too long on the Tesla as the fob communicates with the car a lot creating a big drain on a tiny watch battery. I bought a pack of five for $4 off eBay so will change every 6 months from now on I reckon. Anybody have similar experiences? Cheers

Same with me - I only use one fob. Might be OK for a year if the fobs are alternated.

 

[Mark E]

You just reminded me that since my spare fob lives in my wife's bag and is never with me when the car has been serviced, its on the original battery! 2 years old now.

 

[eclectricdave]

I got a message to replace mine too. I measured the cell voltage which was close to original so maybe it checks when the device is under load.

 

[Bullet1]

I recently got the replace battery message at 6mths point. Swapped to spare fob. Thought there was something wrong but sounds like it common.

 

[NikeWings]

With no warning, mine went dead at ~7 months while I was away from home.
While the phone app is handy, I prefer the fob and now keep spare batteries in the car.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I was thinking about this. I work with low power devices that do occasional transmission on schedule (pacemakers). To save battery these devices keep the radio off until the scheduled transmission time.

These fobs are essentially always running 24h, because they never know when you're going to be approaching your car. Must use battery quickly.

I'm going to replace mine. Hopefully will make boot unlock when approaching from behind.

 

[Akikiki]

Shucks, I am going to buy a ten pack and change mine every three months. My Model S will be twice as good as yours.