Hacker News Reader

Comment by justrealist | Hacker News Reader

Really think about this claim. Have you ever heard of a Tesla driving through a dead zone and bricking itself on a mountain, or in a desert? Or in a disaster zone when cell service was down?

If that happened, you would hear about it instantly. It's obviously not true.

View on HN

No, but I have certainly heard stories of Teslas in underground parking garages that couldn’t get a cell signal and therefore couldn’t start.

I don’t know what particular conditions cause that. Maybe using phone as a key? And perhaps it was fixed. But it famously happened to Glenn Howerton.

This only affected pre-BLE models when the owner did not have the key. It's no worse than when an ICE vehicle owner loses their key; it's just that typically with a Tesla, you can start it from the app in that situation.

They couldn't use the app on their phone that relies on making API calls which then trigger additional network calls from Tesla to the car

This is different from Phone Keys that rely on Bluetooth or NFC and don't go over the network

I can assure you that Teslas operate and start just fine in areas with no cell coverage.

Yes, I have heard of it, but without any attached circumstances. I'm not sure there are any attached circumstances that would make it appropriate, but I wanted to hear out the Tesla fans.

You only hear about it in circumstances where people rely on network services (using their phone to unlock their car) rather than using the actual keycard or fob, which are entirely local.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com