Summer is here, and while Tesla's Dog Mode is a heaven-sent feature for owners who want to leave their pets inside the car for a short while, it appears that the automaker's recent firmware update has caused a bug that renders the feature useless at the worst possible time of the year. In a Reddit post, a Tesla Model Y owner shared that his EV's Dog Mode malfunctioned in the middle of the day.
According to the owner, he left his dog inside the car with Dog Mode on, with the cabin's temperature at 66 degrees Fahrenheit. It was hot outside at 86°F. After 10 minutes, he received a notification that said “Problem with Dog Mode,” which prompted the owner to return to his car, only to find out that the cabin's temperature had already reached 84°F.
Firmware Issues
The owner further shared that his air conditioning was also having issues. He reported the issue to Tesla, hoping to get some answers about his faulty HVAC. He got a response that “our remote test did confirm a firmware issue with dog mode at this time, still under investigation […] please refrain from using dog mode for the time being.”
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The firmware version in question was 2024.20.1, part of the major software update 2024.20 that rolled out earlier this month. This version was said to have gained improvements to headlights, HVAC, and gaming systems, but this recent Dog Mode issue sounds like a downgrade rather than an upgrade.
Not Everyone's Affected
Not everyone's affected by the said Dog Mode bug, with some owners reporting on social media groups that theirs have been working just fine even after the recent over-the-air update. Still, it sounds serious enough for Tesla to advise owners not to use the feature. If you're a dog parent, we advise refraining from using the feature for now, too – at least until the next firmware update, which hopefully has already fixed the issue.
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