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Why do owners of Tesla cars need an App to use their car? What is the advantage of needing a central infrastructure + app just to start your car?

j7ake 5y ago
Seems very fragile considering how sensitive a phone can be to water, drops, shocks, and battery failure.
- john37386 5y ago
  I agree and I don't understand the point. There might be something that you and I don't see. Anyone has a clue on why it's important to have such a huge infrastructure just to start a Tesla car?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - beardyw 5y ago
    Be glad - you are seeing into the future.
  - maximus-decimus 5y ago
    you don't? unless they changed something, they also give you cards you can use to unlock your car.
- carlmr 5y ago
  Tesla's don't score very highly on reliability https://insideevs.com/news/549130/consumerreports-tesla-reliability-poor-2021/ https://insideevs.com/news/549130/consumerreports-tesla-reli...
kalleboo 5y ago
They don't, the cars come with (RFID?) key cards that work without a server. These people had left their key cards at home and relied on their phones probably just so they could have thinner wallets. Which is pretty stupid, it means you can't even unlock your car in a basement parking garage with no signal to the car...
- sschueller 5y ago
  Non-tech people don't know that a phone might not work to unlock a car in and underground garage. Tech people would assume Tesla built this thing to work without network availability. Maybe via Bluetooth with some key exchanges? This assumption by coder and companies that services are always available is a nightmare. How many sites completely stopped working last time Facebook login went down? I am not saying build for every possible situation but don't assume the service you are relying on is always available.
- IshKebab 5y ago
  It's not stupid. The app could easily unlock the car using Bluetooth. Why does it need a server?

j7ake 5y ago

Seems very fragile considering how sensitive a phone can be to water, drops, shocks, and battery failure.

john37386 5y ago
I agree and I don't understand the point. There might be something that you and I don't see. Anyone has a clue on why it's important to have such a huge infrastructure just to start a Tesla car?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- beardyw 5y ago
  Be glad - you are seeing into the future.
- maximus-decimus 5y ago
  you don't? unless they changed something, they also give you cards you can use to unlock your car.
carlmr 5y ago
Tesla's don't score very highly on reliability https://insideevs.com/news/549130/consumerreports-tesla-reliability-poor-2021/ https://insideevs.com/news/549130/consumerreports-tesla-reli...

kalleboo 5y ago

They don't, the cars come with (RFID?) key cards that work without a server. These people had left their key cards at home and relied on their phones probably just so they could have thinner wallets. Which is pretty stupid, it means you can't even unlock your car in a basement parking garage with no signal to the car...

sschueller 5y ago
Non-tech people don't know that a phone might not work to unlock a car in and underground garage. Tech people would assume Tesla built this thing to work without network availability. Maybe via Bluetooth with some key exchanges? This assumption by coder and companies that services are always available is a nightmare. How many sites completely stopped working last time Facebook login went down? I am not saying build for every possible situation but don't assume the service you are relying on is always available.
IshKebab 5y ago
It's not stupid. The app could easily unlock the car using Bluetooth. Why does it need a server?