If only there was another way to start a car

[DrFfybes]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59357306

"I'm stuck an hour away from home because I normally use my phone to start car," one owner tweeted.

[pje16]

sounds like over reliance on your mobile
a surprisingly dumb move by Tesla ?

[richfool]

Don't you just miss the days when you pushed it downhill and let the clutch out in second gear, (assuming of course you could get into it, and it wasn't an automatic)!

[pje16]

I remember those days, and had cars like that
especially on a hill when the car went a bit faster then you had anticipated and then struggled to keep up with it

[jfgw]

The first car I remember my father owning was a Hillman (I don't remember the model). If the battery was a bit flat, he would retrieve the starting handle from the boot.


Julian F. G. W.

[Mike4]

I'm puzzled why an electric car needs "starting" in the first place.

[bungeejumper]

The first car I remember my father owning was a Hillman (I don't remember the model). If the battery was a bit flat, he would retrieve the starting handle from the boot.

Likewise my dad's 1938 Morris 12. Then you pushed it through the hole in the front bumper, and said your prayers, and then felt for TDC and went for it. And then you checked your thumbs afterwards for broken bones if your prayers hadn't worked.

But tell that to kids today, and some of them will ask why you didn't just push a button on your mobile..........

BJ

[AF62]

sounds like over reliance on your mobile
a surprisingly dumb move by Tesla ?

Not over-reliance on your mobile, just a dumb implementation by Tesla.

The Car Connectivity Consortium implementation of digital keys, which includes Apple, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, LG, NXP, Panasonic, Samsung, and Volkswagen, uses a system that doesn't need internet access for either the car or your mobile to open and start the car. And the implementation of the digital key into Apple phones means that it continues to work even if the phone battery runs out.

Tesla using a system that requires the car to communicate with a remote server before it will operate is just plain stupid as there are multiple potential failure points, even if Tesla's servers are actually working.

[Hallucigenia]

sounds like over reliance on your mobile
a surprisingly dumb move by Tesla ?

Except you don't need your mobile, they provide you with two keycards (which are needed to authorise your phone in the first place) and recommend that you always have the keycard with you as well as your phone. The problem here is that the driver ignored that instruction.

https://electrek.co/2017/09/22/tesla-mo ... try-works/

[pje16]

Guess the BBC journalist (see OP) like me, doesn't own a Tesla

[jfgw]

There are plenty of places near me where I would have to walk a mile or more to unlock my car if it relied upon a mobile 'phone signal, and I certainly don't live in the least populated area of the country. Hopefully, I wouldn't be daft enough not to carry a "key".


Julian F. G. W.

[88V8]

The Car Connectivity Consortium implementation of digital keys....

Complexification! Pah

My 34 Lanchester had both the dipswitch and the starter button on the floor.
A modicum of concentration was advisable.

That car was started with the handle for a few weeks while the dynamo was being rebuilt and one dare not use the starter. The only indication that the battery was about to go flat was the dimming lights. I remember once driving towards the house, the engine died and momentum just got us to the door, and the battery charger.

V8

[AF62]

Hopefully, I wouldn't be daft enough not to carry a "key".


Julian F. G. W.

I would, as personally I would find phone unlocking quite handy as it means one less thing to carry around (with Apple Pay I rarely carry a wallet these days).

I can also see that it might on rare occasions see that it might be quite handy to be able to email your car key to someone (or being able to revoke the key to someone you have sent it to).

[bungeejumper]

Hopefully, I wouldn't be daft enough not to carry a "key".

Key? How quaint. Me, I'm putting my money on the next generation of advanced facial recognition. I'm getting a QR code tattooed on my neck. Foolproof.

BJ

[AF62]

Key? How quaint. Me, I'm putting my money on the next generation of advanced facial recognition.

BJ

Too late, already exists - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211234 "What you need to add a car key to the Wallet app ... so that you can authenticate using Face ID"

[redsturgeon]

My first car, a 1959 Morris Minor came with starting handle and I used it more than once on a cold morning when the battery did not have enough juice to turn the engine over.

It also had trafficators and a dip switch on the floor, together with a rubber squeezy thing for the windscreen washers.

John

[BobbyD]

Tesla using a system that requires the car to communicate with a remote server before it will operate is just plain stupid as there are multiple potential failure points, even if Tesla's servers are actually working.

Ironic bearing in mind that we keep being told that Tesla's insane valuation is down to the fact it is a software company not than a car company...

Except you don't need your mobile, they provide you with two keycards (which are needed to authorise your phone in the first place) and recommend that you always have the keycard with you as well as your phone. The problem here is that the driver ignored that instruction.

Which completely undoes the benefit of the app, unlike the far more sensible implementation adapted across the industry, but of course it's the customers fault! Hell, they still have a video on their site of Elon claiming that the Tesla he is driving only has a steering wheel for legal reasons. Great at selling functionality, less good at delivering it.

[jfgw]

Hopefully, I wouldn't be daft enough not to carry a "key".


Julian F. G. W.

I would, as personally I would find phone unlocking quite handy as it means one less thing to carry around (with Apple Pay I rarely carry a wallet these days).

I can also see that it might on rare occasions see that it might be quite handy to be able to email your car key to someone (or being able to revoke the key to someone you have sent it to).

If you drove a Tesla, I can think of a few places near me where you would not be able to start it due to a lack of signal.


Julian F. G. W.

[AF62]

Hopefully, I wouldn't be daft enough not to carry a "key".


Julian F. G. W.

I would, as personally I would find phone unlocking quite handy as it means one less thing to carry around (with Apple Pay I rarely carry a wallet these days).

I can also see that it might on rare occasions see that it might be quite handy to be able to email your car key to someone (or being able to revoke the key to someone you have sent it to).

If you drove a Tesla, I can think of a few places near me where you would not be able to start it due to a lack of signal.


Julian F. G. W.

As before, which is why Tesla’s implementation of using a mobile phone as a key is exceedingly poorly thought out, with the rest of the industry developing systems that are not relying on the need for a mobile signal. The same as my phone or watch doesn’t need a mobile signal to make a contactless payment.

[quelquod]

My first car, a 1959 Morris Minor came with starting handle and I used it more than once on a cold morning when the battery did not have enough juice to turn the engine over.

It also had trafficators and a dip switch on the floor, together with a rubber squeezy thing for the windscreen washers.

John

While I was at university (luckily sponsored there ) my car was a 1955 Rover 90. The battery was useless the whole time I had it but handily my student flat was on a hill and at other times I used the starting handle. A heavy engine to turn but it always started on the first compression. (Dad taught me to always yank the handle upwards into the compression with my thumb on the same side as my fingers but it never kicked!) The starting handle did second duty to give the fuel pump a tap on the frequent occasions that it stuck. Great old car and it did many miles to country pubs around Edinburgh with a load of 7 or 8 of us - the more the merrier for push starting on the homeward leg!