According to the Tesla owner’s manual, “Vehicle functions, including some safety systems and opening or closing the doors or windows, may be limited or disabled when installation is in progress and you could damage the vehicle.” Janel chose to heed Tesla’s warning and did not attempt to open her doors or windows during the installation process for fear of damaging her vehicle, but this seems like a very dangerous oversight on Tesla’s part that she was able to be stuck inside at all.
The door mechanisms on the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y are electrically operated, and under normal circumstances are opened from the inside using a simple button to unlatch the door. Should the vehicle have no power, these models do have auxiliary manual cable release levers also found on the door panel, but Tesla warns against using the manual mechanism, citing that it should only be used when the car has no power. Janel said she was aware of this option but didn’t want to risk damaging her car, and she felt confident that she could stick out the heat.
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The Tesla owners manual states that the car will not initiate a software update if Keep Climate mode, Dog Mode, Sentry Mode or Camp Mode are engaged, but it fails to require vehicle occupants to exit the vehicle before the debilitating installation process begins. Tesla also recommends owners install software updates as soon as possible, which could cause some owners to feel obligated to initiate an update in a compromised environment.
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Janel said her car estimated the install would only take 24 minutes, but it actually took 40 minutes, which was long enough for her car’s interior to reach 115 degrees. In a follow-up video, her caption states that she was afraid to mess up her car by getting out during the installation.
So maybe she was not doing the smartest thing by choosing not to damage her car even when it was getting dangerously hot, but considering how expensive Teslas are and how easy it is to violate their EULA, I can’t really fault her as much as I fault Tesla.
Stop making the future stupid.
Bring back “dumb” devices that just do what we bought them for.
It’s not even a smart device problem, it’s a poorly/incompetently designed smart device problem.
There’s probably a hundred different ways they could have designed the update mechanism/door mechanism so that one could open/close doors (at a bare minimum) as they please during the install process.
But they probably chose the laziest cheapest route.
Fwiw, i own a m3 and the doors open just fine as regular manual doors, the door handle is very obvious and it works anytime, including software updates (I’ve tried it), it also doesn’t break anything.
Fwiw i also hate Musk and am embarrassed to be associated with a company he is ceo of. But this is a story about a very very stupid person, not a car design issue.
I’m not saying she’s the smartest person in the world, but when the manufacturer is telling people “ONLY use this when you have NO power or you might break your 40k car” eventually you’ll get an article like this
If Teslas actually do have a decent chance of breaking something or causing the update to fail and bricking the car just because the manual mechanism is used then that absolutely is a car design issue
If not, then it’s a messaging issue and Tesla is still primarily responsible
It’s the same thing as “don’t call me an ambulance it’s too expensive”
Some may have bought Teslas during good times, fall on bad times, and now if they fuck up their car could end up jobless and homeless. I dont blame them.
I’d be fine if ‘smart’ devices actually worked. If a car like a Tesla actually could self-drive wherever you wanted safely and without using any fossil fuels, that would be great. But Tesla only does one of those things.
It took a decade between the first “smart” lightbulb and a “dumb-but-dimmable” lamp. I’m not holding out much hope for cars.
Edit: I mean I can control it via cellphone, without it being online, requiring a hub or closed-source app, and it also works via the actual light switch.
Nor am I. I think it will take a long time before cars understand enough to self-drive in enough situations to make it generally safe for drivers and pedestrians.
And definitely not without LIDAR, but Musk refuses to use it.
At best right now, we have robotaxis that can work within very limited areas and they fuck up constantly.
i think it would be fine if they didnt make the software controlling these appliances so absurd and proprietary.
They and others are moving closer to that goal. I probably won’t live to see it (I have about 20 years left) but I’m glad you youngsters will be able to hop in your car after work and sleep while the car drives you several hundred miles.