How to pair the Commander with your Tesla?
Our Commander unit is an OBD adapter that serves as the communication bridge between your Tesla and our smart accessories. Beyond that, it unlocks advanced automations such as disabling Tesla’s Emergency Lane Departure on legacy Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, muting the Intelligent Speed Assist warning on Highland and Juniper models, and much more.
Previously, some climate-related actions triggered through our products - such as the S3XY Knob - were not visually reflected on the Tesla screen. This changed once Tesla approved our use of their API, but it requires a quick pairing process, which we are going to guide you through in this article.
And if you’re a visual learner, we’ve also prepared a video tutorial you can follow along:
How is the pairing even possible?
As we already mentioned, Tesla approved our use of their API which we implemented into the Commander. The way it works is that it communicates with Tesla’s encrypted protocol via Bluetooth, sending commands straight to the car.
How to pair the Commander with your Tesla?
Before you begin the pairing process, make sure the following prerequisites are in place:
1. Have your phone key and Tesla card ready.
2. Ensure that no more than 18 devices are added as keys to your Tesla. To do so, head over to the Locks page inside your Tesla screen menu.
3. For the pairing process to work, it requires a maximum of 2 active keys - your phone key and your card. Tesla supports a maximum of 3 active keys. However, if they are already present and you try to add a fourth one - such as our Commander - the process will fail and produce an error. All you have to do is switch off the Bluetooth on one of your devices until the pairing is completed.
Once the prerequisites are in place, just follow the steps below:
1. Open the S3XY App and navigate to the Commander’s page.
2. At the top, you will have a “Pair with the Car” tab. Press it and carefully read through the instructions before proceeding.
3. When you are ready, press “Get Started”.
4. The next page will prompt you to tap your Tesla key card on the designated charging pads or, if you own a legacy model, under the armrest.
5. A pop-up will appear on the Tesla screen, notifying that you are trying to pair another device. Press “Confirm”.
6. Inside the S3XY App, press “Next” and the pairing is done.
Note: If the pop-up from step 5 doesn’t appear on the screen, try tapping the card again.
Once the process is complete, the Commander will appear as an Unknown key in your car. Open the Locks page on the Tesla screen and scroll down until you find it. Then, tap the pencil icon to rename it so it’s easy to distinguish from your other devices.
With the Commander paired, you can now add features such as Camp Mode and Dog Mode to our products. Also, every time you tweak your climate settings in the S3XY App or the S3XY Knob, the changes will be visualized on the Tesla’s screen.
