Report: Tesla Model 3 Display Froze at 83 Miles Per Hour

The driver was able to get off the road safely

Teslas
Tesla cars recharge at a Tesla Supercharger station.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

What’s the opposite of traveling in time when you reach 88 miles per hour? One Tesla driver reportedly learned the answer to this question in a nerve-wracking manner. Here’s a hint: it involved his car’s display simply ceasing to function when his speed came to 83 miles per hour. You know, exactly what you’d like to have happen when you’re making your way down the highway at a high speed.

An ABC report has more information on the incident, which befell Javier Rodriguez as he was traveling through Riverside County, California. As he drove, he told ABC, he realized that the car’s switches and buttons were no longer working, and the car’s display had frozen. He also perceived what he referred to as “a weird scent” and an increase in the interior temperature.

“I was nervous that if I were to brake a whole lot that I wouldn’t be able to gain the speed again to keep up with traffic and get around cars,” Rodriguez told ABC. “I was nervous somebody was going to slam into me.”

As Jalopnik notes, Rodriguez eventually got his car off the road safely. Eventually, it rebooted and seemed to resume its normal functions. Rodriguez was not taking any chances, however, and had the car towed. Tesla repaired it, but didn’t provide much detail on what had gone wrong.

According to what Rodriguez told ABC, the automaker’s report stated that they had “[d]iagnosed and found poor communication from charge port door causing power conversion system to shut off in order to protect on board components during drive.” Whether this was a unique event or evidence of something more alarming remains to be seen.

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