A UK-based Tesla owner said his car ordered him to pull over before it suddenly shut down and trapped him inside.
Tom Exton, a YouTuber and car collector, told Insider that he was traveling to London on December 8 when the Model Y began “shutting down” within minutes of leaving his house.
“Safe to say [the] horror stories of Tesla cars being appalling seem true,” Exton tweeted.
Fortunately, the five-day-old Tesla warned him to “pull over safely.” In a photo taken by Exton, the infotainment screen showed that the “Electrical system is unable to support all features.” Switching off features to conserve energy.
Exton reported that he had just been riding for 15 minutes when the crossover began to shut down. According to the photo, the crossover should have had an almost full charge, with 216 miles (348 km).
Tragically, losing power meant more than the end of his journey. According to Exton, “all power to the vehicle was gone,” so the door did not open as it usually would. Nevertheless, he felt stranded and pulled the manual override latch to open the door.
However, utilizing the emergency door release “somehow broke the driver [sic] window,” according to Exton on Twitter.
Exton, who couldn’t do much, arranged for a tow, which left him stranded on the side of the road for six hours in the freezing weather. He expressed relief that his partner and pets were not there.
Although he found Tesla customer service to be helpful, he offered some advice for those planning to buy an EV:
“There’s a reason they punted so many out the door on cheap lease deals. Purchase a Polestar for yourself. Or anything else than a Tesla.”