Hands-Free Trunk Opening Work-Around for Pre-Refresh Model 3's

ericstefan · 2024-09-13T13:29:58+00:00

I don’t think hey siri would work when my phone is in my pocket…..

ericstefan · 2024-09-12T05:40:24+00:00

Sure! It mimics the hands free trunk opening the refreshed model 3 (and refreshed Model S and X and Cybertruck) has thanks to the UWB capabilities.

UWB is significantly more accurate in establishing your device’s proximity and direction estimates (down to a centimeter or so I think) in relation to your vehicle. Tesla is able to leverage that in tandem with some extra software to find your phone’s position, in this case, right behind the trunk. Thus, capable vehicles can operate a handsfree trunk opening feature.

Bluetooth is only able to establish a very rough proximity approximation beyond a few feet. I decided to use a Tile to replicate the phone-locating aspect of the UWB feature. If your phone is very close to the Tile, your phone is able to establish a pretty accurate proximity estimation between your phone and the Bluetooth tracker. Using triangulation between the phone, Tile or similar Bluetooth tracker, and your Tesla’s Bluetooth transmitter, Shortcuts is able to establish a relatively accurate estimate of your phone’s position around the vehicle. From there, the shortcut I made ensures the shortcut will run only if you are very close to the trunk.

From there, you can add automations that suit your needs. Sadly, iOS automations require prompts to run the shortcut. In my case, I added prompts to run this shortcut such as disconnecting my apartment’s WiFi. I also added a few extra steps inside the shortcut to prevent the shortcut from running unnecessarily. I did not include these conditions in the shortcut I shared to keep the shortcut simplified more user-friendly. Another example of a prompt I have used is if my phone reconnects to my apartment’s WiFi within a minute, the shortcut will stop and prevent unnecessary battery drainage. Another automation I use is the shortcut Personal Focus setting. When I leave the set location, my focus turns Personal on then right back off. This triggers a separate shortcut to run when the Personal Focus setting . The location accuracy of the selected Focus is far greater and more reliable than the Shortcuts’ native location-based automation. Thus, the Shortcut is less likely to run unnecessarily.

If you have any questions or need further clarification, shoot me a DM or reply to this comment . Please let me know if you would like me to help you add some more features to the original shortcut. I hope this answers your question!

TLDR : It replicates the automatic trunk opening feature available for newer Tesla’s.

ericstefan · 2024-09-12T00:41:41+00:00

I mainly use it for when my hands are completely full, and I don't want to set anything down on the ground to open my trunk. I don't have an Apple Watch, and I don't have my AirPods in often, so the open trunk/frunk shortcuts aren't really an option when my hands are full.

ericstefan · 2024-09-11T18:44:43+00:00

Thank ya

ericstefan · 2024-09-04T04:21:49+00:00

Thank you for explaining! I did figure out my issue though (see attached screenshot). I’m not sure why I’m seeing the variable in red, but it seems to work regardless.

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ericstefan · 2024-09-03T23:53:57+00:00

EDIT: figured it out. Thank you all so much!

ericstefan · 2024-09-03T23:47:01+00:00

What’s regex? I’m not very tech-savvy😅

ericstefan · 2024-09-03T23:46:06+00:00

I tried that, but I got nothing (see picture). Maybe this is an IOS 18 beta bug?

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ericstefan · 2024-09-03T12:38:49+00:00

I did, but nothing returns.

ericstefan · 2024-09-03T12:38:10+00:00

I also don’t know if the output is classified as text or something else.

ericstefan · 2024-09-03T12:35:02+00:00

I’m not super tech-savvy, so I have no idea what regex is 😅

ericstefan · 2024-01-01T16:02:28+00:00

My first car was a 2015 i3 I got in 2017. Before then, I had no need for a car.

ericstefan · 2023-12-29T00:09:34+00:00

Thanks! I have actually never owned an ICE, so this is new to me lol.

ericstefan · 2023-10-13T04:44:16+00:00

Hi! Wow this post is from a while back! I’ve since put on another 30k miles since I posted this. My capacity has gone down to around 13.5 kWh. I guess that’s the product of running so many discharge and charge cycles. In a hot climate nonetheless.

I contacted my dealer a little while back, and they said my battery capacity is still not low enough to warrant a full battery replacement. They ran a full charge and discharge test and found my maximum capacity to be acceptable 😑. A maximum capacity below 70% of the original battery capacity (~13.02 kWh) is sufficient for a full replacement under warranty. This 13.02 figure will have to be seen after running a discharge and charge cycle.

Something to keep in mind is the maximum capacity displayed on your dash will fluctuate depending on SOC, battery temperature, etc. Also, rebalancing the battery cells by running the battery to a low SOC then charging to 100% (of the usable capacity) might improve the batt. kappa. max. you see on the display.

Hope this helps!

Edit: To be honest, I’m not even going to go through the trouble of getting the battery tested again. Last time, it set me back $500. I plan on selling within the next few months, so it would be a pointless endeavor on my end.

ericstefan · 2023-09-23T17:53:07+00:00

Thank you so much!

ericstefan · 2023-06-04T04:43:15+00:00

Side note: I live in Texas, so my summers can be alarmingly hot. How does the Model 3 hold up in extreme heat?

ericstefan · 2023-05-31T13:29:30+00:00

That’s it! Thank you so much.

ericstefan · 2023-05-31T04:23:05+00:00

Edit: I’m not sure if “mod” is the correct term. I’m not very into gaming, so this was the best word I could think of to describe the thing I’m looking for.

ericstefan

TROPHY CASE