When are auto extending door handles coming (or not)?

[dsm363]

It is a cool feature. It only seems to work well if you approach the front of the car though. If I approach from the back of the car, I have to walk up almost to the driver's door.

 

[MikeK]

I've had the car for 24 hours now, and I am really pleased with how this feature works. I agree that it would be nice if they extended just a few moments sooner when approaching from the back (so that you could, for example, drop your bags in the back seat before getting into the driver's seat), but for just getting in and driving away, they work great.

 

[100thMonkey]

good to hear! I wouldn't be all that surprised if changing the timing is a possibility for a future software update.

I've had the car for 24 hours now, and I am really pleased with how this feature works. I agree that it would be nice if they extended just a few moments sooner when approaching from the back (so that you could, for example, drop your bags in the back seat before getting into the driver's seat), but for just getting in and driving away, they work great.

 

[sublimaze1]

If a car was, say, sitting on a trailer in, say, Childress Texas (on its way to me) and, say, Tesla decided to push a software update, containing the auto extend - would Trudi ... er, the car accept and implement it?

 

[NigelM]

It is a cool feature. It only seems to work well if you approach the front of the car though. If I approach from the back of the car, I have to walk up almost to the driver's door.

We still have >80F and I've been putting the key in my shirt breast pocket instead of my pants pocket. I coincidentally noticed the doors open faster when I do that.

i.e. Could be that the key is higher up and the signal's not blocked by the bulk of the doors?.

 

[brianman]

If a car was, say, sitting on a trailer in, say, Childress Texas (on its way to me) and, say, Tesla decided to push a software update, containing the auto extend - would Trudi ... er, the car accept and implement it?

I presume not. I've presumed wrong before though.

 

[MitchL]

So, I finally got my first software update... from the original "1.x" to 4.2. It's pretty cool so far.

But: My door handles are pouting. When I approach the car, I was hoping to see the happy "let's go!" handle extension, but no... my car says "do we *have* to?" and I need to click the fob. Walk-away locking still works, so I guess the proximity sensing is still there.

The option is definitely enabled in the settings. I've tried rebooting the center console. I've tried the other key (which we seldom use). Haven't tried new batteries yet.

I'll poke Tesla about it eventually, after I batch up some other software-related nits, but I'm hoping I have just missed something somewhere.

/Mitch.

 

[ChadS]

We just got our 4.2 upgrade a couple of days ago, and the door handles have always popped out when I walk up to the car in the garage (where I approach from the front).

Last night my wife said it works sometimes for her, but not always. I asked more about when it didn't work, and it was when she walked up from the back of the car. Somebody else has noted that the sensors are in the front and the range seems really short (perhaps TOO short). I'm not sure if that's what you're seeing, but it's worth checking out.

 

[kvietor]

We just got our 4.2 upgrade a couple of days ago, and the door handles have always popped out when I walk up to the car in the garage (where I approach from the front).

Last night my wife said it works sometimes for her, but not always. I asked more about when it didn't work, and it was when she walked up from the back of the car. Somebody else has noted that the sensors are in the front and the range seems really short (perhaps TOO short). I'm not sure if that's what you're seeing, but it's worth checking out.

Correct about the sensor location. I have also noted that as I approach the car and pass around the nose the handles extend immediately. If I need to unplug first and approach the drivers side from behind, the handles don't extend until I'm nearly at the door.

 

[dtich]

Correct about the sensor location. I have also noted that as I approach the car and pass around the nose the handles extend immediately. If I need to unplug first and approach the drivers side from behind, the handles don't extend until I'm nearly at the door.

this is exactly my experience too. i'm good with it personally, if i need things extended earlier i can press a button. for handsfree walk-up behavior i rather like that it is contained and not from miles away. also, keep in mind, i assume that if the walk-up sensitivity threshold changes this also changes the walk-away lock distance behavior, and likewise with that, i like that i can stand a few feet behind the rear and have the car lock automatically. i get much piece of mind this way. i think it's a pretty good balance of convenience and safety.

it hasn't been more inconvenient for me than having to step a step toward the front door to have the handles extend so i can put what's in my arms in the back seat. perfectly fine for me. as for the rear hatch, frankly to have it auto-unlock so i can reach out and hit the open button is not really as easy as slipping that same free hand into pocket and double-clicking the fob to open the hatch. so that's how i've been doing that.

 

[MitchL]

My observations are getting even weirder. This morning my son just tapped the passenger door and it opened before I could reach for the fob.

So: the car definitely can sense the presence of the key (without touching it).

When I walk up to the car, I can open the trunk by pressing the trunk latch button (on the car). I can get the handles to extend by pressing the *passenger* handle. If I open the trunk, the door handles all extend.

... and that's it. I can press and tap the other three doors all I want and nothing happens. And, of course, at no time have the handles ever presented on their own, unless I open the trunk.

Locking works; I can put the key far away and go back to try to open, and it's locked. So, it's partially working, kinda sorta.


/Mitch.

 

[strider]

My observations are getting even weirder. This morning my son just tapped the passenger door and it opened before I could reach for the fob.

So: the car definitely can sense the presence of the key (without touching it).

When I walk up to the car, I can open the trunk by pressing the trunk latch button (on the car). I can get the handles to extend by pressing the *passenger* handle. If I open the trunk, the door handles all extend.

... and that's it. I can press and tap the other three doors all I want and nothing happens. And, of course, at no time have the handles ever presented on their own, unless I open the trunk.

Locking works; I can put the key far away and go back to try to open, and it's locked. So, it's partially working, kinda sorta.

/Mitch.

So I'm going to ask the dumb question but here goes.... The behavior you cite above is what the car does if the auto-present handle setting is turned off (it will unlock when the fob is near but you have to touch the handle to extend it). Did you go in and enable the auto-present handles?

 

[MitchL]

So I'm going to ask the dumb question but here goes.... The behavior you cite above is what the car does if the auto-present handle setting is turned off (it will unlock when the fob is near but you have to touch the handle to extend it). Did you go in and enable the auto-present handles?

There are no dumb questions. This one is truly a puzzle to me.

Definitely enabled, and remember I can't get the driver's door to present when I tap it.

I _can_ tap to present (or could) in the past when the door was unlocked.

I tried cycling through all combinations of door settings (present, walk away lock, etc.). I even tried a screen reset after each change, verified the new setting stuck across the screen reset, etc.

Bizarre.

/Mitch.

 

[wycolo]

> I can't get the driver's door to present when I tap it. [MitchL]

I have to press hard using thumb against handle to get it to PRESENT, ie squeezing against rubber cushion mount or spring. Definitely not a 'tap'. NO tech pkg therefore no AUTO-PRESENT function on my car. Civilian wandering by not likely to press with sufficient intent to trigger this IMO.
--

 

[MitchL]

I spoke to service in Menlo about this recently and there's definitely some sort of hardware issue going on with my car.

I'm going to do some experiments shortly and have them pull the logs to prove it, but the suspicion is that one of the keyfob antennae is either not hooked up or is otherwise not functional.

If my car is unlocked, a gentle tap is all that is needed to get it to come out.

Auto unlock works for the trunk (I just walk up to the car and press the lid switch), and works on the passenger side (you need to tap, no auto present on that side). If the trunk is already open and I walk away, then walk back to the trunk, the handles all present.

So I've got lots of evidence that the car knows the key is nearby, just not on the driver's side.

If they need to dig deep inside to figure this out, I'll be S-less for a couple of days. I'll find out more after I do the experiment and they pull the logs.

/Mitch.