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Tesla App for Apple Watch Coming This Month [Update: Now Available]

jicon said:
Excitement of fire may depend on the crash.
www.thestar.com

Tesla’s fiery crash leaves four dead, woman seriously injured

A fifth person, a woman, was pulled from the burning EV by a driver passing by after a fatal crash overnight in downtown Toronto.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
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There are a few stories of people who've died in Tesla fires, but the danger is overblown.

Ten seconds of research tells me:

In 2021, there were 174,000 highway vehicle fires reported in the United States which caused [B]650 civilian deaths[/B].

The danger of dying in an ICE vehicle fire are real, but like EV fires they aren't common enough that most people worry.

Once solid-state EV batteries become commercially viable, hopefully battery fires will become a thing of the past.
 
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ChrisA said:
Have you ever seen a Lithium battery fire? It is not as exciting as you think. They burn slowly. You would have time to grab your bag and look around to see what else you need and then leave. Then you would walk away and call 911 and watch

But on the other hand, have you ever seen a gasoline fire? They look kind of like a mushroom cloud. You don't have time to blink. and no one would slowly walk away from a gas fire.

Then there are the statistics. In the US there are about 25 fires for every 100,000 EVs sold, compared to about 1,530 fires for every 100,000 gas-powered vehicles sold. High-speed crashes are the cause of most EV fires. But simpler things can set off gasoline

When you think about it, it should not surprise anyone that gasoline is an 80 times greater fire hazard than a battery. What common substance is more flammable than gasoline?

Finally, you do not need a phone to open a Tesla door from the inside. The door handle is one of the very few physical controls in the car.
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Lithium battery fires may not be as prevalent as many make it out to be but there does need to be more public awareness. This press release from Oct 2024 from the Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis really does a good job of laying out the facts. Of course golf carts, electric scooters, etc. all are encompassed in the press release: https://myfloridacfo.com/news/newsl...ers-to-take-steps-to-protect-lives-for-milton

I'm a "car person" and I am into classic cars myself. I know people that are 100% not car people. They have no clue about cars other than their phone can start their car. Those are often the people that need to be told... hey... its not good to drive a gas car (internal combustion) through water... but oh by the way... an EV.... yeah no. People in Florida (I witnessed it) were driving their EVs down roads with HIGH water. I'm not sure if people are just clueless or if they were wanting to get out of high car payment but to me... its not worth it.

Here are more tips for both electric and gasoline-powered vehicles: https://myfloridacfo.com/division/sfm/bfst/ev-fire-safety
 
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AustinIllini said:
Build quality is trash but they're pretty nice.
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Agree. I've been a loyal Porsche customer but bought the 24 M3P as my first Tesla. Build quality is a significant downgrade but the software and platform is light years ahead of every other manufacturer out there. Other companies can't even get digital keys to work properly. Toyota / Lexus is using a client server architecture, with subscription, that requires connectivity. Great for collecting money each month but not so great in remote areas with no access.
 
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jole said:
What is the status of Tesla app reliability on iPhone:
  • How often (if ever) has it failed to open the doors?
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Never
jole said:
  • Does it use UWB to reliably open the doors when you approach and close when you leave? Or do you sometimes need to take the phone out of your pocket to unlock?
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Everytime
jole said:
  • Does it always choose the right driver profile if you have two drivers with their cell phones in the car? How does it work? UWB detects which phone entered through driver door?
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Yes. One is set to primary.
jole said:
  • Does it work with your phone if the phone if you are out of battery? (like Apple Car Key does)
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No.
jole said:
Should we expect all the same with Watch App (when leaving your phone at home)?
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Yes
jole said:
Are there still some benefits for Apple Car Key over Tesla's implementation?
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I do not know.
 
960design said:
The Apple Music app is implemented very nicely.
Do you just prefer CarPlay maps to Tesla Maps and navigation?
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Not OP and it's been a year since I sold my Tesla. But back then, if you had any connectivity issues while starting the car, the app forced you to just log in again. About 50% of the time, I had to relogin. IIRC there was also no way to cache music or playlists so if you had any connectivity issues while driving, it would just skip to the next track until it connected again. There was also no Podcast or News app support.

None of those are issues on my phone, Apple figured that stuff out a decade ago. Plus anytime a new service comes out, it's almost guaranteed that CarPlay will get support soon after, compared to the years I was waiting for Tesla to add Apple Music or Audible.

And that's just media stuff. I like being able to pop into Waze if it happens to have better directions. Also like being able to plan out an itinerary on my phone before I get in the car.
 
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icwhatudidthere said:
Not OP and it's been a year since I sold my Tesla. But back then, if you had any connectivity issues while starting the car, the app forced you to just log in again. About 50% of the time, I had to relogin. IIRC there was also no way to cache music or playlists so if you had any connectivity issues while driving, it would just skip to the next track until it connected again. There was also no Podcast or News app support.

None of those are issues on my phone, Apple figured that stuff out a decade ago. Plus anytime a new service comes out, it's almost guaranteed that CarPlay will get support soon after, compared to the years I was waiting for Tesla to add Apple Music or Audible.

And that's just media stuff. I like being able to pop into Waze if it happens to have better directions. Also like being able to plan out an itinerary on my phone before I get in the car.
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Never had login issue, but you are correct it doesn't cache music. Most of the time should not be an issue.

CarPlay has been updated in how long? It's almost exactly the same as when it first came out a decade ago, while other infotainment, Tesla included, implemented countless new features. But CP still stuck on app based accessing that's completely separate from car internal system.

Yes Waze is still missing on Tesla, the only app that really matters.
 
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doelcm82 said:
There are a few stories of people who've died in Tesla fires, but the danger is overblown.

Ten seconds of research tells me:

In 2021, there were 174,000 highway vehicle fires reported in the United States which caused [B]650 civilian deaths[/B].

The danger of dying in an ICE vehicle fire are real, but like EV fires they aren't common enough that most people worry.

Once solid-state EV batteries become commercially viable, hopefully battery fires will become a thing of the past.
Click to expand...
www.usatoday.com

Tesla named 'The Deadliest Car Brand in America', NHTSA data shows

Will you be surprised? Here’s a hint: It’s an American automaker.
www.usatoday.com
 
pugxiwawa said:
CarPlay has been updated in how long? It's almost exactly the same as when it first came out a decade ago, while other infotainment, Tesla included, implemented countless new features. But CP still stuck on app based accessing that's completely separate from car internal system.
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This actually depends on the manufacturer's implementation. With my Mercedes, CarPlay can integrate with the HUD or the instrument panel and it shows media information or navigation instructions on both. While CarPlay is active, the Mercedes UI for HVAC is still active and available. And Mercedes' controls for prev/next track work on CarPlay media playback. You can even navigate the CarPlay interface with the trackpad control on the steering wheel (if you're into pain like that).

On my sister's Ford Mach-E I think it even integrates charge information from the car so CarPlay maps can navigate you to a station if needed.
 
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ChrisA said:
There is no "start" in a Tesla. The concept of "starting" does not apply to electric cars. The better term is "unlock". It moves when you are present in the car and locks itself when you walk away. Currently, it knows if you are there using Bluetooth on your phone. So now they do the same with a watch.
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There is literally a "start" button in the app 🤦‍♂️
 
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Mazda 3s said:
kruithne-tombstone.gif




Never. Honestly, the interface is so good, and the feature set is so great that I don't miss CarPlay on the Audi and Subaru that our two Teslas replaced. YMMV
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I added CarPlay with a front display infant of the of the steering wheel I couldn't live with out it
 

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brownj218 said:
Tesla confirmed the Apple Watch app will act as a digital key, so I think it's safe to assume it will act the same as the iPhone app. Assuming that's the case, I can answer some of your questions based on my own experience:


  • How often (if ever) has it failed to open the doors?
My car doesn't have UWB and relies only on Bluetooth, which isn't perfect. At least once a week it doesn't unlock the door immediately when I pull on the handle. Usually the delay is < 1 sec, where I yank the handle and it does nothing for a second and then unlocks. Not a huge deal, but not great either. I'm assuming this is why they added UWB support on newer vehicles.

  • Does it use UWB to reliably open the doors when you approach and close when you leave? Or do you sometimes need to take the phone out of your pocket to unlock?
I haven't experienced UWB myself, but from what I've read it seems to be pretty reliable. I haven't come across any reports of UWB failing to unlock. Worth noting too...even with Bluetooth I never have to take the phone out to unlock when it fails. Just need to wait an extra second.

  • Does it always choose the right driver profile if you have two drivers with their cell phones in the car? How does it work? UWB detects which phone entered through driver door?
This is a great question, I've never considered how it works when 2 phones are present. I did a quick search and it seems that for cars with Bluetooth, the chosen profile seems to correspond to the first phone the car connected to. This article mentions that the addition of UWB was expected to improve the driver profile selection by detecting which phone is closer to the driver's side...but I haven't come across any feedback that confirms if this is actually the case. If anyone reading has experience with this, please share!

  • Does it work with your phone if the phone if you are out of battery? (like Apple Car Key does)
I don't think so. AFAIK, this functionality is only available for apps utilizing Apple's CarKey framework, as you mentioned. The Nearby Interaction framework that leverages UWB doesn't provide any functionality that works when the phone's battery is dead.

  • Should we expect all the same with Watch App (when leaving your phone at home)?
Yes I think so. Based on Tesla's announcement, I think it's safe to assume the Watch app will function more or less identically to the phone app. If you leave your phone at home, the watch will be able to communicate with the car over Bluetooth/UWB when you're in proximity to the vehicle. If you're not in proximity to the vehicle and your watch has a cellular plan or is connected to wifi, the watch app will be able to send commands through the cloud like the phone app does today.

  • Are there still some benefits for Apple Car Key over Tesla's implementation?
In my opinion, absolutely. I think the main benefit is being able to use the key when the phone is dead, I've had a few cases where my phone died and I needed to start the car. Luckily I had the key card on me in all those cases, but had I not it would've been extremely frustrating. CarKey has some other nice to have features like the ability to share the key, or automatic deactivation of the key if you use Find My to put the phone in lost mode.


As much as I'd love to see Tesla implement CarKey, I'm definitely not holding my breath for it. Similar to CarPlay, as much as I'd like to have these features, I do understand why they refuse to implement them. Hopefully this changes in the future.

Just my 2¢! I'm a huge Apple+Tesla geek, and seeing my worlds collide in this article made me feel compelled to share... but I'm just a guy on the internet so take it all with a grain of salt.
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Mostly because the watch is kind of a small iPhone so pretty much expect the same performance. The biggest thing in the app for me is if it is getting time to leave work and say we've gotten whaled on snow-wise is kick on the clear snow, or since I will be in those seats in scrubs, kicking on the heater before walking out. If i get out at my official end of shift, the schedule will have done that, but the day I get to leave on time, I am totally buying a lottery ticket!
 
Mazda 3s said:
I already use Tessie to do everything mentioned in this article,
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You might not be doing that for much longer. Tesla has changed the pricing of their API access. Tessie has already changed their pricing for new customers, but if they can’t come to some agreement, it’s not going to work.

Either way your phone is supposed to unlock it every time you get near the vehicle and try to open the door but that’s not 100% for me.

Tesla is in my opinion the best vehicle out there. It’s not for everyone of course.
 
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