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Comment by rkagerer | Hacker News Reader

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

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.

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.

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