A California Tesla owner was shocked when his Model 3 screen froze while driving on the freeway. The owner told LA’s ABC 7 that he was traveling at 83 miles per hour and couldn’t use any of the screen-dependent technology in his Tesla.
Javier Rodriguez said he was traveling at about 83 mph on the 10 freeway outside of Palm Springs when the screen froze. Everything from the wipers to the air conditioning to the hazard lights just stopped working. From the report:
I noticed that the car was getting hot and there was a funny smell. I was nervous that if I braked a lot I wouldn’t be able to regain speed to keep up with traffic and avoid cars. I was nervous that someone would hit me.
Even the gas pedal was unresponsive, so he couldn’t accelerate to avoid traffic, nor could he signal to change lanes. Luckily the brakes still worked, a bit surprising for a car where even the glove box opens electronically.
But since the car was stuck at 83 mph, Rodriguez says slowing down didn’t make him feel any better. Somehow, a California Highway Patrol officer was able to help him off the freeway, and the Model 3 was able to restart. Rather than continue driving, he had the car towed to Tesla (like anyone who values their life would) in hopes that he would find out what the heck was wrong with his Model 3.
Tesla claims to have repaired the car, but the reason given to Rodriguez for the car freezing is the same as they wrote in their report: “Diagnosed and found to be poor communication from charge port door leading to it that the power conversion system is shut down to protect onboard components while underway.”
I have contacted both Tesla and CHP and neither have responded as of this post.
Now Rodriguez wants more answers. If their explanation for the freezing is correct, something like this could happen again at any time.
“I need more explanation. I’m on the freeway and this is happening at 83 mph. Everyone’s trying to say, ‘Well, we fixed it. We fixed it,’ but I need an explanation,” he says.