Tesla Owners Couldn’t Use Their Vehicles Due to Software Error

Tesla software error reminded once again that drivers should not rely solely on the mobile application.

Tesla owners around the world were unable to connect to their vehicles from the mobile app on Friday. The mobile app outage, first reported in the US and Canada, quickly spread to other regions in the company’s European and Asian markets. The outage came right after an upgrade to the company’s mobile app.

The Tesla app gives vehicle owners the ability to start their vehicles, access various vehicle controls, schedule maintenance/assistance and manage vehicle charging. When the application cannot be accessed, as can be seen, major problems may arise and vehicle owners may be stuck until the connection is re-established. Tesla owners can also carry the vehicle’s key card or key fob to be able to access the vehicle whenever they want, regardless of the application status.

According to a report by Electrek, connectivity issues began to appear on Friday afternoon. @hohocho, a Twitter user and news reporter from Seoul, South Korea, tweeted about the error message they received when trying to connect Tesla and Musk directly to their car:

Cho received a direct response from Elon Musk, who personally investigated the matter. Tesla CEO immediately responded and said that the company has identified the root cause of the problem, functionality has been restored.

It seems like a good idea for Tesla owners to carry the vehicle’s key fob in case of any situation. Vehicle owners can also enable their phones to be used as keys via Bluetooth connection. On the other hand, this is not the first outage on the Tesla side. In September 2020, the company’s internal and external servers were shut down for several hours and vehicle access was completely blocked.