Disobey Tesla at your own risk: Woman tries to update vehicle while inside as temp hits 115

Tesla tries to give its drivers all sorts of cues and clues about how to use the technology in the futuristic vehicles, but humans are often inclined to ignore instructions and see what happens. The divide between Tesla's users guides and how drivers use Teslas is so notable, federal investigators cited it as a 'critical safety gap' when launching a recent probe into a Tesla recall.

Which brings us to a California woman who said she found herself stuck inside her Tesla at a Chick-Fil-A parking lot while installing a vehicle update. 

The TikToker, who is named Brianna Janel on her page, said she installed software update 2024.3.10 which was estimated to take 24 minutes but ended up taking around 40. Afraid to damage the car, she decided not to use the manual exit and wait out the process. 

"Inside my car it's 103 degrees, so I'm slightly freaking out. I hope I don't run out of air," Janel said in the initial video posted last month. "I can't open up the doors or the windows otherwise I could potentially damage my car, so I'm just stuck in here roasting like a frickin chicken dripping sweat."

A message displayed on the screen of the car said that driving and charging were disabled until the update was complete.

She advised viewers to not make the same mistake she did. 

"My Chick-fil-A order has been done for 30 minutes. I'm literally sitting outside," she said. 

TikToker regained control of car, turned on AC

In a follow-up video, she notified her followers that safely regained access to her vehicle and turned on air conditioning.

The interior temperature had reached 115 degrees, she added.

"I literally made it out of my car. Look I'm sweating," Janel said. "The A.C. has never felt so good and I’ve never felt better. I feel like I just took a bath."

In the caption of the video, she said that users commented that she could have exited the vehicle sooner but she was "afraid to mess up my car."

Tesla among many with electronic interior door release

Tesla isn't the only car maker that features electronic interior door release. Other vehicles include the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Chevrolet Corvette, Audi E-Tron, Lexus NX and the Lucid Air, according to Consumer Reports.

In fact, according to Consumer Reports, the driver of a 2006 Cadillac XLR was trapped in his car for 14 hours after the battery died. Even though the electronic door was inoperable without power, he could have freed himself if he had known how to use the manual door release.

Tesla's manual release is seamlessly integrated into the front arm of the car -- if you don't know it's there, you could completely miss it.

It's important to note that many cars that use electronic door releases -- which are more like a button to push than a door handle to pull -- don't actually have manual releases in the back seats. Tesla notes that some Model Ys do not.

Driver did not feel in danger

A Tesla vehicle owner for six years, Janel said she has never tried updating her car while she was inside.

Janel tried turning on air conditioning through the mobile app but said no cool air was released. She read somewhere online that doing so while the power is off could damage the car. Had she really felt in danger she would have exited safely, she said. 

Despite the experience, she clarified that she holds no hard feelings toward her ride. 

"I will continue to have it for years and years," she said. "Do not update it when you're sitting in the car. Stick to updating it at 2 a.m. like I used to do it."

Tesla recommends pulling up the manual door release found in front of the window switches “in the unlikely situation when Model Y has no power.”

Normal operation of the door lowers the window slightly every time the door is opened – and raises it when closed – to avoid damage from the door frame. The manual release, while opening the car, does not lower the window. It's unclear whether the car windows would lower in this particular circumstance, while the car technically has power and is engaged in a software update.

USA TODAY has reached out to Tesla for comment on claims that opening the vehicle without power could cause damage.