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Comment by snvdnse | Hacker News Reader

> no key needed (just walk up to the car and it knows you are you because of your phone, or use a credit card style key)

This feature, while I am sure loved by most people and is evident from the sales, is not something that I like and hence would never own a Tesla. I simply don't like the idea of my car and car's app beaming my data to HQ all the time.

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The phone/key lock works through Bluetooth and does not require live connectivity.

Teslas do phone home a lot for other stuff, but for better or worse, so do most other modern-day cars. And the Tesla UI is pretty zealous about asking for your permission for all the things.

I am not sure if other auto manufacturers are doing similar data collection, but based on [0], they sure seem to collect a lot. I hope, as you say, they let you pick what data you permit them to collect and also let you use features of _your_ car if you deny some permissions.

[0] https://www.tesla.com/legal/privacy#information-we-may-colle...

How's the user experience using the car if you hit No to all of them?

> Teslas do phone home a lot for other stuff, but for better or worse, so do most other modern-day cars. And the Tesla UI is pretty zealous about asking for your permission for all the things.

How many other cars send your private videos to HQ to be shared among employees on internal meme pages?

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-workers-shared-sens...

I really love having a slot to put my key in, in a normal car.

Teslas don't have keys/key holes for back up?

They do not. Primary means of entry/starting the car is your cell phone. You also get a set of RFID cards which you can put in your wallet to use as a backup.

You can optionally buy a key fob if you want something more traditional, but it's still electronic and wireless.

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/models/en_us/GUID-E004FAB...

https://shop.tesla.com/product/model-s-key-fob

Functionally, the "backup" key (which looks like a credit card in Tesla's) is identical to the backup mechanism to a traditional keyless entry fob. If you've ever had a keyless entry fob go dead because the battery runs out, you start the car by holding the key fob over a special location (usually either the start button or on the steering column where a key would be). Same concept, but the backup key for a Tesla doesn't have the integrated key for normal keyless functionality. That's what the cellphone all is for.

I thought all keyless fobs had secret keys inside of them.

There's one inside the one for my Lexus (and you have to pop the cover off the door handle), and on Mercedes the start/stop button is removable to reveal a slot where the fob actually clicks in.

Few modern traditional cars have a slot to put their key in either. My wife's Audi as example, if the fob is dead; you place the dead fob cupholder. ~almost the exact same place I'd use the Card to start my model 3.

This will soon be a standard feature and can be implemented with UWB so you can use it without beaming to HQ or requiring cell signals.

Already supported on a couple cars actually. Genesis GV60 is one of them: https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/17/genesis-gv60-car-key-ul...

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