Tesla driver stuck in car during software update. Warns others to avoid in-car updates and highlights the importance of knowing manual release features.
Tesla offers manual door releases for situations with depleted power, but Janel opted to wait, fearing potential damage to her car. "Inside my car, it's 103 degrees, so I'm slightly freaking out. I hope I don't run out of air,"
"I can't open up the doors or the windows otherwise I could potentially damage my car, so I'm just stuck in here roasting like a frickin chicken dripping sweat,"
I hope that I don't die of suffocation and heat, but I can't afford my car breaking if I OPEN THE DOOR in the middle of an update.
She’s a moron. Normally when you open the door, the windows will slide down a half inch so they can clear the weather stripping as the door opens.
The emergency release just opens the door so the window will kind of drag through the weather stripping. I guess if you do this enough, it could damage the rubber seal. The car will warn you about it if you open the door that way, but by no means is it worth sweating to death in a car to avoid.
The one time I rode in a tesla, the car showed an angry message on the center screen because I opened the door with the door handle and that was wrong somehow. Apparently there's a secret second door handle that doesn't damage the weatherstripping.
Most car manufacturers have this figured out, they quite cleverly make the normal door handle and the manual release be the same handle.
What she did was stupid, but its really easy for people to push themselves thinking they are fine until they suddenly aren't. I'm sure she was thinking she could just open the door when it got too bad.
So instead of opening the door when it got too hot, she made a 40min Tik Tok that has been watched by more than 30mil viewers, documenting her fear for suffocating or having a heat stroke
Seriously. Reminds me of radio recordings of aspyxiated pilots. If it gets too bad, then it's already over. Pilots who unknowingly run out of oxygen just sit there zoned out not realizing that is happening and they are trained professionals!
According to the article she did update the car before. She just used to have it done at night, and this is the first time she was in the car during an update.
40 minutes is a hell of a long time for a software update though.
She's 100% an idiot. When a Tesla needs updating it gives you the option between scheduling it later (by default 2am) or doing it now. When you select do it now it specifically warns you some features may NOT be available and list both the HVAC and doors.
Have you ever run a software upgrade to another brand of car? I was once present when a BMW was updated and it took 40 minutes to scan the CAN for all of the control network members, after which the update could start.
Yep, my ford took 25 minutes to do the update that added Android Auto, after 2 minutes of downloading it to a USB stick. The car only has USB 2.0, so that could be a factor though
Is it me or does this seem staged? Or do I just automatically assume that when something gets 30 million views and the person looks like they brought in a stylist first.
Engineering aside, Tesla cars simply have terrible build quality. They're like the Stellantis of the EV market now. Why anyone still buys them new it seems I will never understand.
Normally, when you want to open the door, you push the door button, the door window drops and opens an inch or so, clearing to door seals. The emergency door releases force the windows through the door seals without the window drop. If you do that too much, you'll damage the door seals. If you do it rarely, it doesn't matter.
You don't remember Musk talking about biohazard mode? If you aren't a nerdy user that tries to understand all the details, it might be easy to confuse.
Oh, you are right. The fact that air-conditioning (which is the basis for the biohazard mode) was disabled due to the software update was absolutely not mentioned neither in the article, nor the video.
She wasn't in danger for sure, but she also didn't want to risk harming the trim of her already quickly depreciating car. Remember that Tesla, in their infinite design wisdom, decided the window trim should overlap the glass and be fixed. If you use the manual release the door opens without opening the windows, thus bending and risking destroying the window trim.
That's bullshit though. Anybody with a Tesla can tell you that 2 in every 3 people who sit in it WILL pull the manual release to exit. It's not good for the trim and I do correct people, but this is some princess bullshit.
It's also fucking stupid to update the car while you're in it. The app literally tells you that the car will be unavailable.
What if I only read the headline, but I clicked through to the comments to see the fun and varied ways lemmings explained the obvious problem with the headline. Re: The manual door releases
Lol what a load of shit. This chick is dumb at least 3 ways:
The app and the car warn you that the thing will be unavailable when you select update. GET OUT of the car. Has she never seen the warnings of how fast a car heats up? Like why you can't leave your dog or a kid in the car to run into a store "really quick"?
Literally 2 in every 3 people who ride in your car pull the manual release. It is not a big deal if you don't use it every time. It's as though she's never had a passenger in 6 years. I just don't buy it.
Most importantly, THIS IS WHAT THE MANUAL LATCH IS DESIGNED FOR.
There are many, MANY design features of a Tesla that suck (as anyone who has one will tell you), but article is clickbait from user stupidity. She needs to wear her helmet at all times for not using the feature designed to let her get out at any moment. Even IF she bent the weather stripping, it would cost less than her chicken sandwiches to fix.
It really wouldn't be that hard to make a system that can update in the background. I feel like for something like a car you should be trying at least that hard.
Tesla offers manual door releases for situations with depleted power, but Janel opted to wait, fearing potential damage to her car. "Inside my car, it's 103 degrees, so I'm slightly freaking out. I hope I don't run out of air," Janel said.
Apparently since the Tesla doors don't have a top frame that swings out with the door glass, the window needs to roll down like an inch when you open the door so the glass won't catch on the trim, and the manual release tries to do it but might not if the power is out which might damage the trim.
This is true, but there are also plenty of cars without a top frame on the door that are fine without this. My NC Miata among them. The windows do go down an inch for putting the top up/down, but not for opening the doors.
What exactly about the manual release damages the car? When my friend got his Model 3 he told me his friends would constantly use the manual release because the normal electronic one was less obvious. His car and doors didn’t break in any of those cases.
On the Model 3, opening too quickly with the manual release can apparently damage the vehicle trim at the top of the window. The manual doesn't give that level of detail, so all many people know is that using the manual release can damage the car.
The Tesla door doesn't have a frame around the window.
So to insulate better the car rolls the window up into the seals. When you use the electronic door opener the window rolls down a bit to get out of the seals.
Just another one of life’s cruel reminders that no amount of money can save you in some situations. Maybe the fire department, if they bring the jaws of life. Let’s hope your phone isn’t doing a reboot, too, when it happens!
Here is my question: If you have enough money to afford a Tesla, why don’t you just stay home? Where do you think you need to go? Honestly?