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tesla owners locked out of their cars due to a server failure just shows the dangers of relying on the latest tech.
of course it wouldnt have been a problem if the had their keys with them but of course they had to be the flash ones operating the car from their phones lol.
serves em right i say for trying to be flash.
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How is using your phone as a key “flashy”, and not just convenience? I wouldn’t use my phone as a key, but that’s because i don’t know how safe it is. If it was factually as safe as my normal key (intercept attacks), i would leave my car key at home too. I NEED my phone on me as a carer, i could do without carrying a car key.
I’ll be honest, this just sounds a bit like jealousy.
I would never rely on my phone to get in my car. Battery could go flat, signal could be bad. I’ d always want to carry the key. Just goes along with the house key. Hardly a burden, is it?
Must admit even this old guy doesn’t take his bank cards out any more as my phone does any payments.
That said I think I would still have my car keys in my pocket when I’m out, just to risky having to get to a bus stop and my scooter is locked in the car but not so much of a problem if your able folk I suppose.
not jealous at all, i am just not a fan of the push to put everything on an app on your phone.
i am fed up of the bank and everyone else pestering me to “get the app”.
i dont want it i dont need it. i use my phone for making phone calls and occaisionaly i reply to texts.
i have an old blackberry passport as it has a proper keyboard. and no apps.
on payg and its cost me £20 over the last 12 months and ive not been locked out once.
The problem with a lot of new technology is that it can (and does) go wrong. In general it’s irritating, but in cars it’s dangerous. The trend towards touchscreens, touch sensitive buttons and digital dashboards in cars look flashy but can be more distracting to use than a button or knob, as you have to take your eyes off the road for longer. I had a Mercedes GLB on hire for a week recently. The digital dashboard failed to work on three occasions and I had to guess what speed I was driving at. Style over substance.
i like my touch to lock/unlock. its great and handy etc, but having the key in the fob is a good backup. ive had a battery fail on me when out. i got in with key at least to keep warm until i got the spare brought to me. i do keep them in those shielded pouches when at home at night usually. spare always.
wouldnt bother me using an app as long as there was a backup, but as i’d need the backup with me?? whats point
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistBMW’s ‘MyBMW’ app has so far worked wonderfully for the last 2 1/2 years, only failing on three different occasions to ventilate the car remotely. On occasion, I’ve used to it lock and unlock the car with ease. However, it can take upto 30 seconds to complete this action whilst it “connects to servers”.
Motability cars:
2015 RR Evoque AWD 2.0 TD4 SE Tech - written off
2017 Toyota CH-R 1.2T Dynamic CVT AWD - written off
2019 BMW X2 2.0L Sport
2023 Nissan Qashqai e-Power N-ConnectaThis is a misleading article. It’s true that software is an issue at times but software is in all modern cars, not just EV’s. Tesla owners can still get into their car and drive it without their phone. In fact the connection with your phone and car relies more on bluetooth and not on an internet connection. Tesla owners also have a key card to gain access, in fact many EV’s have an actual emergency key that you can use. Apps are a problem and our whole society in the industrialised, advanced nations, not just EV’s, is now totally dependent upon software as are many businesses that do not even have a manual backup of any kind to continue doing business if the computers go down.
There is nothing wrong with a well designed touch screen, the problem is with the bad design.
I dread the day when car makers make it essential that you must have a mobile to be able to use their products. This is already the case with at least one supermarket – can’t get an ASDA barcode reader without a mobile. I do not have a mobile and do not want one. I do not need to be contacted 24/7 about irrelevant rubbish. I dread the kids/grandkids coming over – can’t speak to them; they twiddle with tw@phones all the time. I consider these appliances to be engines of the devil.
What’s more, I object very strongly to be made to pay for a device and service which charges me money to pay money to someone else, like refuelling “apps”. Have just received new scheme car, the last of the pre-update T-ROCs. This ancient-tech machine uses a physical key to go into an ignition lock to start engine. Can also be used to unlock door in same way, so I’m told. Still too much touch-screen diabolical digital dross inside but at least I can get in and out and start the thing.
good rant… my mate in wales would totally agree. alas i like phones and have just acquired a new one.. sorry
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistThanks, struth. Only here can we get away with differing enormously on our likes and dislikes and still get on. Unlike other “social” media where trolls would be falling out of the ether. Needless to say, WMC is the only social meeja platform I use.
Tesla boss Elon Musk has been forced to apologise after hundreds of motorists were locked out of their electric cars when the firm’s smartphone app crashed over the weekend.
The app suffered a server outage on Friday leaving a number of drivers unable to get in or out of their cars.
Users who tried to access the app were instead greeted by a ‘500 server error’ message.
Musk, who recently sold three per cent of his Tesla shares only to buy £2.1m of them back again, has now said sorry for the fault.
Writing on Twitter, the multi billionaire entrepreneur pledged to make sure a repeat incident never occurred.
He said: ‘Looks like we may have accidentally increased verbosity of network traffic.
‘Apologies, we will take measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again.’
Around 500 users reported facing the error message at about 9.40pm on Friday evening.
There then a further 60 reports over the next five hours, according to the outage tracking site DownDetector
The app can be used by Tesla owners to unlock and start their vehicles – although there are a number of secondary measures to start vehicles in the case of faults.
EV experts say most would have been able to continue using their cars, although many would have been left stranded.
Stuart Masson, editor of The Car Expert website, told the BBC: ‘There will be a secondary mechanism to get in or out of the car beyond the app, the difficulty will come for drivers if they are not carrying it.
‘Technology makes things convenient, but relies on a server working 100 per cent of the time.‘It’s the same as leaving the house without my credit cards, expecting to pay for things with my smartphone.
‘If we are reliant on one mechanism all the time, we can be caught out.’
Professor David Bailey, an automotive expert from the Birmingham Business School, added: ‘To some extent, Tesla is a bit of a victim of its own success.
‘It encourages its customers to use the cutting edge technology it creates and sometimes that will go wrong.
‘Although of course you can use a key to open the car too, the natural instinct of many Tesla drivers, who are buying one of the most high tech models in the market, is to rely on the technology.’The only person who got all his work done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe.
Anything i post over three lines long please assume it is an article lol.
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