Tesla drivers say they are after a break from their car blocked to fulfill demand car maker. Dozens of owners have posted on social media that they saw an error message on the mobile app preventing them from connecting to their vehicle.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk personally responded to a complaint from a driver in South Korea and said on Twitter: “Check.” Musk later said the app was back online. Motorists use the Tesla app as a key to unlock and start their car.
Owners have posted many complaints on the internet that they cannot use their vehicles. “I sat away from home for an hour because I usually use my phone to start [my] car,” one owner tweeted. About 500 users reported the bug in the app around 4:40 p.m. ET (9:40 GMT) Friday, according to interrupt tracking site DownDetector.
Five hours later, there were more than 60 error messages.
“Sorry, we’re taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Musk tweeted. However, the told that apps shouldn’t be the only way to access cars, Stuart Mason, editor of The Car Expert.
“There will be a secondary mechanism for getting in or out of the car outside of the app. Problems will come for drivers who don’t use it,” he said. “Technology makes things convenient but relies on servers that are 100% working. It’s like leaving home without my credit card and hoping to use my smartphone to pay. If we keep leaving the mechanism behind, we could get caught.”