Tesla cars come with an app that gives owners the option to access the car without using the key. Since the app was down on November 20, 2021, owners found it hectic to access the car.
One Tesla owner Jaehwan Cho from South Korea brought this to the attention of CEO of Tesla, Inc. Elon Musk, via a Tweet. “I’m experiencing 500 server error to connect my @tesla Model 3 on my iOS app in Seoul, S.Korea. Seems like this is a worldwide issue. @elonmusk”
Nobody expected a reply from Elon Musk anytime soon as he is not someone working as Chief of Customer Support of Tesla, he is the Company! In just three minutes, the world’s richest man replied to him and conveyed that the matter is being looked after.
After five hours, Elon Musk again replied him announcing the matter had been solved “Should be coming back online now. Looks like we may have accidentally increased verbosity of network traffic.”
Elon Musk did not just take matters in hand to fix the problem but apologized for the error, “Apologies, we will take measures to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he replied.
Legend says that a similar incident happened with a car owner several years ago.
“The owner of a Model T-Ford car once found himself by the side of a road with a broken engine. Being an expert with cars, he refused to call for help and tried everything possible to get his engine fixed. But the car just wouldn’t start. Minutes later, a large limousine pulled up and an old man stepped out, stood and watched him quietly. Finally, the old man advised him to adjust a specific engine part. The guy decided he might as well give it a shot though there was no way this old guy knew more about the car than him. Much to his disbelief, the engine cranked to life. Surprised, he asked the old man, ‘How did you know what to do’ The old man said, ‘My name is Henry Ford and I invented this car.’”
Though this remains a popular inspirational story, it is evident that what Elon Musk did will certainly become a legend for posterity. Though often considered a flamboyant personality, Elon’s display of humility, unexpected timely response and resolving the issue in this matter has garnered praises from people everywhere.
Many Twitter users around the world said that Elon has set a high bar for other CEOs to follow. It is true. We live in a world, where most successful people would be afraid to get their hands dirty to clean a mess. Elon’s act deserves applause.