The Tesla Key Card is the company’s answer to the pain of the traditional car key. The pocket-sized card is designed to be a backup method to your Phone Key or key fob, which are the preferred method to lock and unlock your car.
The cards are durable, waterproof, require no batteries, cheap to replace (only $35 for two, where a normal key may cost upwards of $300 to replace and reprogram), and make it easy to revoke access in the event a keycard is lost or stolen. The same goes for Tesla key fobs, which are an optional extra for Model 3 or Model Y, but come standard with Model S or Model X.
The Tesla Key Card is compatible with all Model 3 and Y vehicles, and the refreshed 2021+ Model S and X.
Use Android Phone as Key Card
You can use your phone as a key card via NFC! The feature is enabled by default when you add your device as a phone key, so make sure NFC is on, and try it out! Tap your phone on the b-pillar to unlock/lock the car. If this doesn’t work, go to the contactless payment settings on your device and make sure “Tesla” is enabled as a contactless payment method.
You can use an Android phone as a Key Card to open your Tesla
How to use the Tesla Key Card
Remove the key card from your pocket, wallet, etc. The key card may not be recognized while inside a wallet, due to interference from other contactless cards.
Place the card flat against the b-pillar (between the front and rear doors), just a few inches below the camera hidden behind the glass.
You’ll hear a single chirp from the vehicle to indicate it’s unlocked (if you have the feature enabled, otherwise the lights will flash to indicate it’s unlocked). Remove the key from the car, enter the vehicle, and you’re good to go!
If more than approx. 30 seconds passes between unlocking the car and placing your foot on the brake, a message will pop up on the screen to indicate you need to tap the key again to be able to drive. The screen will show a graphic demonstrating how and where to place the card - this varies between different vehicle models, so follow the on-screen instructions for your specific vehicle.
How to Add a New Key Card
Note: You will need an existing key to add a new card. Enter your vehicle and open the Car menu on the screen. Navigate to the Locks section, and press the button to add a new keycard.
Follow the on-screen instructions to set up the new card - these instructions vary between vehicle models.
How to Remove a Key Card If Lost or Stolen
If you have lost a key card or wish to prevent a key card from accessing your vehicle, you can revoke access. To do so, enter your vehicle and open the Car menu on the screen. Navigate to the Locks section, and press the trash can icon next to the key card you wish to remove.
Follow the on-screen instructions. If you’re unsure which key card is the right one, this trick might be able to help - any time you tap a key card against the center console (3/Y) or wireless charging pad (2021 S/X), it will identify itself from the list on screen.
When the 2024 Tesla Holiday Update originally launched, they introduced awesome new features, but unfortunately, one of the most exciting, the weather radar, was only available for vehicles with the AMD Ryzen processor (MCU 3).
Intel-based vehicles didn’t receive the precipitation maps at all and instead only had access to the Weather at Destination feature. However, we’re excited to report that Tesla has now released a version of the weather radar overlay that’s compatible with Model 3 and Model Y Intel vehicles.
Intel Precipitation Maps
It sounds like Tesla needed to optimize the precipitation map for Intel vehicles, which feature a slower CPU. We received this news from a follower who reached out after finding his Intel-based Model 3 in Norway had the ability to see the new weather map with update 2024.44.25.3.
This update began rolling out just recently and was originally seen as a bugfix update. In the release notes for the update, Tesla lists all of the Holiday features again, making it easy to miss the new ‘Precipitation Map and Weather at Destination’ feature.
While we thought the radar overlay feature may be reduced in some fashion for Intel cars, this isn’t the case. This update brings the maps in their full capacity to Intel, with no reduction in features. The animated overlay, showcasing the last three hours of precipitation, is available in the same way as AMD vehicles.
The precipitation icon shows up at the far right side of the screen, right next to the Superchargers icon.
You’re also able to zoom out or swipe to view the radar anywhere you like or zoom in to be more precise. You can also use it while driving. However, the overlay is pretty distracting, so it can make it confusing if you’re trying to figure out where to go.
The last two key points for the new precipitation maps are that if you have Points of Interest (POIs) enabled, the precipitation overlay will hide them - except for Charging POIs. You’ll also need Premium Connectivity to take advantage of this feature - even if you’re connected to Wi-Fi via a hotspot.
We’re excited to see this feature drop for Intel-based vehicles, as Tesla is still committed to supporting them and finding new ways to optimize features on the older hardware. We’re hoping some of the other features arrive on Intel as well, including the new Parked screen and updated full-screen Autopilot visualizations outside of North America.
With FSD V13.2.1 finally rolling out to HW4/AI4 vehicle owners this week, we’ve been super excited to see all the new features, including Park, Unpark, and Reverse in action for the first time.
However, that’s not everything - more is coming soon. We previously reported that Tesla is collecting audio input to build neural networks for audio, and now we’re learning that that capability will arrive in FSD V13.4.
Better Audio Handling
Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of AI, mentioned that better handling of audio inputs is coming as part of FSD V13.4. That’ll be an interesting change, as the current handling of emergency vehicles on V13.2.1 is already pretty good.
However, we’re sure that being able to recognize emergency vehicles audibly will improve detection speed and reliability. Similarly to vision, FSD will start analyzing all the sounds it hears, and look for signs of emergency vehicles.
FSD will be able to make a reasonable determination on whether the sound of the siren is approaching or just echoing off of nearby terrain or buildings using the Doppler effect. It’s a simple mathematical principle where the frequency of a sound wave increases as the source moves towards the observer and decreases as it moves away.
Interestingly, Tesla will be using the internal microphone for this task - as there are no external microphones on any Teslas… yet. This microphone is sufficient for one simple reason - sirens are made loud enough for humans to hear them inside a moving car.
Better Than a Human
Some users have wondered how the vehicle will be able to distinguish between sirens on the radio and in real life. While I’m sure we’re not the only ones to have ever been fooled by a siren on the radio, Teslas won’t be as easily fooled.
Tesla could actually take the audio going out to the radio and remove it from the sounds captured by the microphone, effectively removing sirens from the captured audio. In addition to being able to measure the intensity and direction of the sound, your vehicle should be able to accurately recognize emergency vehicles, even before a human can.
Opt-In Audio Sharing
Tesla is now allowing FSD users to opt-in to sharing audio data. The prompt for sharing audio data is on FSD V12.5.6.4, V13.2 and V13.2.1. It’s also expected to be in the upcoming Hardware 3 version of FSD 12.6.
However, it’s worth noting that Tesla’s release notes between V13.2 and V13.2.1 changed slightly for audio sharing. Tesla initially mentioned that the vehicle would capture 10-second audio clips when a siren is heard.
In FSD V13.2.1, Tesla updated the data sharing feature, letting users know that audio recordings are now said to be captured when the vehicle detects an emergency vehicle instead of detecting a siren. The audio clip is also not limited to 10 seconds anymore.
Opting into audio sharing will share microphone recordings alongside all the other data that Tesla regularly collects as part of its FSD training. Of course, if you're uncomfortable with that, you’ll be able to opt out of just the audio portion. Tesla’s privacy policy also discloses that they anonymize and sanitize the data during collection and processing.
While vision plays a much larger role, expect Tesla to deal with the capturing and analyzing of audio data in a very similar manner.
We’ve already seen improved handling for school buses on V13.2, so we’re excited to see what else Tesla does in the next few months. Perhaps handling school zones would be the next big item to tackle.
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