Your Tesla has various options when it comes to locking and securing your vehicle
Not a Tesla App
In today's world, the security of your vehicle is more important than ever. Tesla, a pioneer in electric vehicles, has implemented advanced security features and locking mechanisms to help protect your investment. This guide will delve into the various ways to lock a Tesla, auto-locking options, and the process of locking doors from inside and outside, providing you with the knowledge to secure your car confidently.
Introduction to Tesla Locking Mechanisms
Tesla offers multiple methods to secure your vehicle, including auto-locking options, manual locking from the inside, and locking from the outside using the Tesla app or key card. Each option provides different levels of convenience and security to meet your individual preferences and needs.
Auto Locking Options
Auto-locking mechanisms on Tesla vehicles add a layer of security and convenience to your driving experience. Here are some key features:
Walk-Away Door Lock
Tesla's walk-away door lock feature automatically locks your car, whether you're using a phone key or key fob, as you move away from it. This ensures that your vehicle is secure when you're not around. As you walk back towards the car, it will automatically unlock, allowing for a seamless entry. If you keep your phone close to where your vehicle is parked, such as a bedroom above an open garage, your vehicle may unlock because your phone key is nearby. If you use the Tesla app, you can disable passive authentication on your Tesla app to prevent the vehicle from unlocking when your phone is nearby.
Exclude Home
Tesla allows you to exclude your home location from the auto-lock feature. This means your car will not auto-lock when parked at home, providing added convenience. You can input your home address in the vehicle's navigation system to set up this feature.
It's important to note that Tesla will recognize a location as being your home if it's within approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) of your saved address. This means that if you leave your car in a nearby parking spot or outside of your garage, the vehicle will not lock if you have auto-lock turned off for your home location.
How Walk-Away Door Lock Works
The walk-away door lock feature utilizes your phone's or key fob's proximity to the car. The doors lock automatically when you move a certain distance away (approximately 10 feet). This distance can vary depending on your phone's signal strength or key fob battery life.
Camp Mode and Walk-Away Door Lock
When Camp Mode is activated, the walk-away door lock feature is disabled. This is to ensure that the car remains unlocked and accessible during camping or extended stays in the car. Camp Mode lets you maintain climate control, interior lighting, and USB power while parked.
Driver Door Unlock Option
You can choose to have only the driver's door unlocked when you approach the vehicle. This adds an extra layer of security by limiting access to the car. To enable this option, navigate to the "Locks" menu in your vehicle's settings.
Lock Confirmation Sound
Tesla allows you to enable or disable the lock confirmation sound, a helpful audible cue to know your vehicle is secure. This feature can be toggled on or off in the car's settings. If you decide to turn off the confirmation sound, you can check if the vehicle is locked by looking to see if the mirrors are folded.
Unlock Notifications
You can receive notifications if your car is left unlocked or if any doors are left open. This keeps you informed about the security status of your vehicle. To enable notifications, navigate to the "Safety & Security" menu in the car's settings and select the desired options.
Locking Doors from Inside
To lock a Tesla from the inside, follow these steps:
Tap the lock icon at the top of the screen. In a Model 3 or Model Y, there's also a lock icon on top of the vehicle visualization if the vehicle is parked. The doors will automatically lock, and the icon will change to indicate the locked status.
Locking Doors from Outside
You can lock your Tesla from outside using the Tesla app, key card, or touchscreen:
Locking Using the Tesla App
Open the app and look for the quick action icons. If the icon is white and unlocked, tap it to lock the car. If the icon is gray and locked, the car is already locked. Remember, quick actions are customizable, so if the lock icon is missing, you can add it back by customizing your quick actions. To customize quick actions, you can long press on any of the icons and drag the desired icons to the quick action bar.
Lock Using the Key Card
To lock your Tesla with a key card, simply tap the card on the designated area of the driver's side door pillar. The card uses RFID technology to communicate with the car, allowing for keyless entry and locking. Keep your key card safe, as it is an essential backup for accessing and starting your vehicle if your phone or key fob is unavailable.
Lock Using the Screen
Open the door, press the lock button on the center touchscreen, and then close the door. This method ensures that the car is locked even if you don't have your phone or key fob with you. As you close the door, the vehicle will recognize that the command came from inside and lock the doors accordingly.
Additional Tips for Securing Your Tesla
In addition to locking your vehicle, consider these tips to ensure your Tesla remains safe and secure:
Update Your Tesla App and Vehicle Software
Keep your vehicle's software and the Tesla app up to date to benefit from the latest security enhancements and features. You can check for updates in the car's settings under "Software."
PIN to Drive
To add an extra layer of security, enable the PIN to Drive feature, which requires entering a unique PIN before the car can be driven. This prevents unauthorized use of your vehicle, even if someone gains access to your key card or phone. You can enable PIN to Drive in the "Safety & Security" menu.
Activate Sentry Mode
Sentry Mode is a security feature that monitors the environment around your car when parked. If a potential threat is detected, the car will activate cameras and alarms to deter malicious activity. Sentry Mode cameras can also be viewed remotely in many regions.
Use a Strong Password
It is connected to your vehicle and its features. Make sure to use a strong, unique password and enable two-factor authentication to protect your account from unauthorized access.
Be Cautious With Car Access
While many third-party accessories and services are available for Tesla vehicles, be cautious when choosing products that may compromise the car's security, void its warranty or give access to your vehicle. Stick to reputable services and vendors and read reviews before making a purchase.
Tesla offers several options for locking and securing your vehicle, providing security and convenience. Familiarize yourself with these features and follow the additional tips mentioned above to ensure your Tesla remains safe and secure at all times. By taking advantage of these advanced security features, you can enjoy peace of mind while driving and parking your Tesla.
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As Tesla pushes the boundaries of autonomous driving with each iterative FSD update, the hardware that powers every vehicle also needs to continue evolving. With FSD V13 already pushing the capabilities of today’s AI4 hardware, Tesla is actively looking to update its FSD hardware.
Korean news outlet MK (Korean) has provided what seems to be a credible glimpse into Tesla’s next hardware iteration, AI5, and what it could be capable of. MK’s report claims that Tesla is preparing for the production of its new AI5 FSD computer with a performance target of 2,000 to 2,500 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second). According to the report, Tesla is considering using Samsung and TSMC to manufacture the hardware.
Putting the Compute Power into Perspective
To grasp what exactly that 2,500 TOPS number means, let’s compare it to Nvidia’s recently released gaming GPUs, the RTX 5080 and the RTX 5090 (about $1,500 and $3,000 GPUs, respectively). The 5080 clocks in at 1,800 TOPS, while the 5090 pushes a powerful 3,400 TOPS. Those also come alongside power draws of 360 and 575 watts, respectively.
For a dedicated automotive AI chip to be able to place itself squarely in the middle of those performance numbers is quite a feat, especially given Tesla’s previous hardware. HW3 clocked in at a measly 144 TOPS, while HW4/AI4, the current generation, pulls in at around 500 TOPS, a solid 3- 5x leap over HW3.
During a past earnings call, Elon claimed AI5 could be as much as 10 times more capable than HW4, which would imply an astronomical 5,000 TOPS. The 2,000 to 2,500 TOPS figure from this new report, however, represents a 4- to 5-fold generational jump, which feels more grounded and aligned with recent performance improvements elsewhere.
What is a “TOPS”?
TOPS is essentially a raw measure of processing power for a specific type of math, one related to the math used by neural networks. For an AI like FSD, it's the single most important metric. Think of it like the AI’s IQ - more TOPS means the computer can think faster and process more information, letting it better understand the environment around the vehicle and make smarter decisions.
True Performance or Skewed?
The key to understanding Elon’s claims about the TOPS figures lies in specialization. Tesla’s FSD computer is what is known as an ASIC - an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit. Unlike a general-purpose GPU in a gaming PC, Tesla’s AI hardware is designed from the ground up for one singular purpose: running the specific types of neural networks that FSD relies on.
This focus allows for incredible efficiency and performance in its designated tasks, and Tesla likely measures performance internally against AI inference benchmarks built around FSD.
The rumor that Tesla is tapping both Samsung and TSMC is pretty significant here as well. Tesla has previously sourced its chips from Samsung but likely requires additional capacity from TSMC, the world’s largest chip fabricator. A multi-source structure like this means Tesla is already putting the pieces together to mitigate supply chain risks.
AI Powerhouse
The need for AI5’s immense power isn’t just about running the current version of FSD, but about being able to support future versions of FSD that may require more computing power. Tesla continues to increase the size of thei AI models, which means that they’ll require more memory. One of the challenges in autonomy is that decisions must be made in just fractions of a second so that the vehicle can react accordingly. If output wasn’t required in nearly real-time, the vehicle could analyze video frames for a longer period and come up with better output, but the need for output in a timely fashion makes computing power critical.
Tesla’s executive team has repeatedly mentioned that the path towards fully Unsupervised FSD and Robotaxi lies in massive computational power alongside redundancy. The system will need to run increasingly complex neural networks to handle edge cases with greater reliability and start the march of 9s (improving from 99% to 99.9% to 99.99%, and so on). Layers of redundancy and multiple checks during the decision-making process will also be required for safety, which also requires additional compute.
What About HW3 and AI4?
With all this talk of AI5, the immediate question for every current Tesla owner and short-term buyer is: “What about MY car?”
AI4 is currently Tesla’s gold standard, and what they’re building today’s FSD, including FSD Unsupervised, around. For now, it offers Tesla enough headroom to continue expanding the neural nets and pushing new builds, but eventually, it too will one day need an upgrade.
Tesla has already stated that AI5 and AI6 will progressively improve FSD and become safer, but that doesn’t mean previous vehicles will be upgraded. Vehicles will only be upgraded if they’re not able to run Unsupervised FSD at a rate that’s safer than humans. Newer models will always perform better and at higher safety levels, but that doesn’t mean older hardware won’t be capable of safe driving.
The real story here is HW3. While Tesla’s executives have previously said that Hardware 3 is “Robotaxi Ready,” the practical reality of FSD V12.6 and V13.2 has set in for many. With FSD V13 pushing the envelope today, and Tesla’s intent to upgrade HW3 vehicles if they can’t figure out a solution, it seems the end of the line is coming.
For owners of HW3 vehicles, this likely means Tesla is planning a retrofit based around AI5 - likely a lower-performance version that will fit the current HW3 power and cooling packages. There could be a similar solution in the future for AI4 vehicles if Tesla plans to address the other half of the fleet, but that’s likely years away and only if they’re not able to achieve autonomy on that hardware.
The neural nets required for FSD to drive itself without supervision in complex urban environments will be orders of magnitude more complex than what we see today in just a few years. AI5 isn't just an upgrade; it's the necessary hardware to advance FSD to the next level.
In the race to deploy autonomous vehicles, there have been two schools of thought. One is led by sensor fusion, which means the more sensors and the more types, the better. The other is Tesla’s school of thought — vision.
So far, even Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, has described Tesla as the leader in the autonomy sector.
Google CEO on who is the leader in self-driving space: "I think obviously @Tesla is a leader in the space. It looks to me like Tesla and Waymo are the top two." pic.twitter.com/T0hlSICm8V
A new analysis from Bloomberg (paywall) offers a similar perspective, focusing on the numbers and real-world safety metrics. Tesla’s strategy isn’t just viable - it is far outpacing its competitors.
A Tale of Crash Rates
The most striking numbers from Bloomberg’s analysis are safety-related. According to their comparison, FSD reports approximately 0.15 crashes per million miles driven. In contrast, Waymo reported approximately 1.16 crashes per million miles.
That means that a Tesla using FSD is seven times less likely to be involved in a crash than a Waymo vehicle, even with its bevy of sensors. This is in line with Tesla’s latest vehicle safety report, which notes that a Tesla using FSD is 10 times less likely to be involved in an accident than a driver in any other vehicle.
Crash rates compared
Bloomberg
When it comes down to it, sensor fusion, while it can be fantastic, it simply provides too much data to process and analyze. While LiDAR, radar and cameras all have their unique advantages, cameras end up being the most versatile. Our roads and world were created around vision and audio, so a LiDAR-only vehicle can’t navigate our roadways since it would be unable to see signs or any other object that lacks depth. For LiDAR to be useful, it needs to be coupled with vision.
Vision works well because it applies to all situations, and it’s a system that continues to improve thanks to advancements in image processing and AI. While measurements with vision still lag behind LiDAR, they’ve reached a point where they’d “good enough,” and the millimeter-level accuracy of LiDAR isn’t needed.
When radar and vision disagree, which one do you believe? Vision has much more precision, so better to double down on vision than do sensor fusion.
Besides the difficulty of using sensor fusion, Bloomberg also points out that Tesla’s advantage is in the fundamental cost of the hardware. The Model Y costs just 1/7th of the total cost of a Waymo vehicle.
This enormous cost difference is a direct result of how Tesla and Waymo are approaching autonomy. Waymo’s vehicles are high-end, third-party electric cars, like the now-discontinued Jaguar I-Pace, which are then retrofitted with an expensive, custom-built suite of sensors. This sensor suite includes multiple LIDAR units, radars, and cameras.
Tesla’s ability to scale autonomous driving faster than its rivals gives it an edge in the self-driving race, says Bloomberg Intelligence's Steve Man https://t.co/B1x5Jhx6Lfpic.twitter.com/XYPCblWmXn
Tesla, meanwhile, includes all the hardware for autonomy as standard equipment on each of their vehicles, with a relatively inexpensive suite of cameras and its own in-house designed FSD computer. Using affordable hardware means it’s easy to produce and field more vehicles, resulting in more data.
On top of that, building more vehicles at a lower price creates a larger and larger economic difference as time goes on, as Tesla’s Robotaxis become profitable far quicker than Waymo’s.
3 Billion Miles… and Counting
The biggest advantage that Tesla has over any other entrant into the autonomy ring is simply just data. Tesla’s fleet has gathered over 3 billion miles of driving data globally, whereas Waymo’s fleet is just a minuscule 22 million miles.
Putting that into perspective, for every mile driven by a Waymo vehicle, a Tesla has driven over 135. Tesla’s advantage is also the fact that its data is global. It includes vehicles operating in a range of environments, from deserts to the Arctic, from cities to extremely rural areas, and is capable of achieving generalized autonomy.
Waymo’s data is extremely focused on urban and suburban areas and is effectively unusable for generalized vehicle autonomy. A larger, more capable fleet is the key to providing an effective robotaxi service, after all.
Scaling Manufacturing
Finally, Waymo doesn't produce vehicles. Tesla produces Robotaxis from scratch - every vehicle off the line has the ability to run Unsupervised FSD, and eventually join the Robotaxi fleet. Waymo needs to partner with other companies that have a good platform, and they must adapt their technology to that platform.
Waymo’s fleet is expected to be 2,500 vehicles by the end of 2025, while Bloomberg expects Tesla’s functional fleet to hit 35,000 by the same time. That’s not even counting the millions of AI4-powered vehicles that could also join the fleet by late 2026.
Overall, Tesla is a clear winner in the Robotaxi race - and it isn’t just because of one element. They’re winning through data, cost, and scalability, and the gap will only continue to grow.
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