This wasn’t on my futuristic car technology bingo card. You may always have the option to buy a car with a physical key. But like the full-size spare tire or manual transmission, this once-common feature may cost you extra.

The Tesla key card may be going away

Tesla long since did away with the traditional metal key. Instead, Tesla drivers have two options. The first is a credit-card-sized key. Two of them come with every Tesla.

The second option is the Tesla app, which transforms your cellphone into a key. It’s an elegant solution. And with the vast majority of stolen Teslas recovered, it doesn’t appear to make the vehicles any less secure.

But an eagle-eyed Tesla fan noticed the company quietly deleted the line, “Tesla provides you with two Model 3/Y key cards, designed to fit in your wallet,” from the digital owner’s manual for its Model 3 and Model Y. This is right before it introduced lower-cost standard trims for both models. Tesla doesn’t have a PR department to announce such changes, so we’re left guessing. But if I had to guess, I’d say the physical Tesla keys are going “bye bye.”

Currently, Tesla will sell you a “replacement” key card for $40. And the day a new Tesla owner with no physical key tries to drop their car with a valet attendant—and must leave their phone too—they may order a “replacement” key card. Tesla sold 1,789,226 cars in 2024. If everyone had also shelled out $40 for a key, the automaker would have made an extra $71 million. This isn’t so much “the way of the future” as it is another automaker cash grab.