Tesla ‘dog mode’ failure exposes pooches to extreme heat

Tech giants have developed endless systems that give us the convenience of doing things that we probably shouldn’t. Tesla’s ‘Dog Mode’ promises to keep man’s best friend cool on hot days, but a fatal flaw has been exposed.

The CEO of the online gambling firm Unikrn, Rahul Sood, issued a stark warning to all Tesla drivers about Dog Mode on Wednesday after his own dog nearly sweltered to death when the system failed.

Dog Mode promises to regulate the vehicle’s temperature and also inform concerned passersby that the animal is safe through a message on the center touchscreen. However when Sood, fortunately, logged into his Tesla app to check on his vehicle he noticed that the temperature had climbed up to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 Celsius), leaving his dog Enzo in danger of dying from heatstroke.

“It’s hot as all hell in Seattle. Today I used dog mode and luckily I kept the app open, to my horror the car was 85 degrees and climbing!” he wrote on Twitter.

“Dog mode only works if in auto, if you manually set the fan and leave the AC turns off,” he added.

The message clearly raised alarm bells at Tesla headquarters, as the company’s CEO Elon Musk personally responded to Sood with a brief message that simply read: “Fixing...”

Perhaps the lesson for Tesla drivers is simply not to leave their canines cooped up in a car on scorching hot days.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!