A Tesla driver was stranded in Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas after the car's keyless control app suddenly stopped working.

Interested in testing a feature that lets Tesla owners unlock and power their car using their smartphone, Ryan Negri decided to leave his keys at home when he went for a drive around the canyon yesterday.

The keyless smartphone feature, which is available through Tesla's iPhone and Android apps, lets users remotely monitor and control their Tesla Model S without their key. One of the main features of the app is the ability to "unlock and drive Model S without your key".

Negri was able to do just this - but only to begin with. After getting out of the vehicle to adjust something when he was six miles from home he found himself locked out of the car unable to get back in let alone start it.

"Six miles down the road we decided to turn back, but before that, had to adjust Mozy & Millie's car bed, so I exited the vehicle...bad idea," Negri said on Instagram. "Need to restart the car now, but, with no cell service, my phone can't connect to the car to unlock it."