TeslaTechnology is so advanced that you can now unlock your car by simply using an app on your smartphone.
But Tesla owners found themselves in a bit of a pickle while their Tesla app was down… they were logged out and weren’t able to use it to unlock their cars.
Some drivers took to Twitter to ask questions from Elon Musk’s car company, desperately looking for answers about when the app would be back.
@Tesla @elonmusk i am locked out of my car and been on hold now for 12 minutes. Why is it so difficult to talk to a Tesla trained human for support?
— briango (@briango) September 3, 2019
@elonmusk @Tesla locked out. Phone app doesn’t respond. Signed out and signed back in but it says no cars in the account.
— BuffalloWarrior (@_karthik1107) September 3, 2019
@Tesla what’s the status of the network? I’m stuck at a supercharger, plugged in. Trying to get home with a dead key fob, was using the app to run the car. Now the system’s down for 3 hours. Help!
— Kristian Kicinski (@kkicinski) September 3, 2019
While Tesla’s app helps you unlock the car, there are options to use a key fob or key card without having to connect to the internet. However if you don’t have the key card and are logged out of the app, it looks like you’re going to be stuck.
Lots of Tesla owners rely on the app to get into and operate their vehicle, therefore they don’t keep their card on them, according to NBC Bay Area.
According to Downdetector.com, the outage lasted for about four hours and started in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Tesla reportedly started having issues since 7:38pm EDT.
87% of the reported problems have been due to log-in issues. This explains why users are unable to even get into the Tesla app.
DowndetectorThere’s no response from Tesla about what actually caused the app to go down, but this isn’t the first time.
In 2018, users were unable to access their car while their app was down.
We’re aware the Tesla app is down for some customers and we’re working to restore functionality ASAP
— Tesla (@Tesla) April 21, 2018
While it’s possible the downtime was due to normal maintenance work, Tesla should have warned owners the work was going to take place. Owners could have then been prepared and taken key fobs or key cards out with them.
The app issues further show how we are getting too dependent on our smartphones.
In the future it’s probably best if you’re a Tesla owner that you always have a way to access your vehicle without needing to use the internet.
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Matt Weston is a lover of electric cars, artificial intelligence and space. From Cornwall, he’s a UCLan graduate that still dreams of being a Formula One driver in the very near future. Previously work includes reporting for regional newspapers and freelance video for the International Business Times.