It's a real shame that Tesla has wedded their beautiful drivetrain engineering to such a creepy, cell-phone-esque system of automatic software updates and GPS tracking and giant touchscreens; I'd like to like their cars, but I want absolutely none of that.
> it’s not clear how the vehicle was stolen in the first place.
> For owners, it’s important to make sure that your Tesla account is secured with a strong password and to keep your key fobs in a secure location at a safe distance from the vehicle when parked.
The insinuation here is that owners had weak passwords and/or kept their keys in an insecure location at an unsafe distance from the vehicle. Another explanation could be that hacker-thieves found a way to access Tesla's without keys and/or passwords.
What is the range of the key fob, and does Tesla warn customers to keep keys far away from the car (not in rooms adjacent to the garage, for example)?
I have a friend who bought a late-model BMW and accidentally discovered that her keyless ignition is also fobless — if unlocked, her car will start even if the key fob is miles away. Not an easily discoverable bug, since she typically has her key with her when she approaches her car.
If they have ways to access Teslas in general without the specific keys/passwords, then wouldn't you expect there to be a wave of stolen Teslas instead of just 2?
I'd bet my life that either they Faraday caged it immediately a-la a Knight Rider-type fully-enclosed, possibly-camouflaged vehicle truck or they knew how to disconnect power to the GPS system quickly. Either way, it was faster than owner or police could do anything about it.
The police working with Tesla would be wise to leave some bait-cars around with extra cameras and nearby arrest teams to gather evidence to prosecute the gang(s) doing this.
I know someone who had their Tesla stolen in Belgium, never to be recovered. The car just vanished from the system, no connection to the network and the last known location was in front of their house.
I always wondered what thieves do with these vehicles though.
Lots of cars are worth more as parts, and not just 20 year old ones sitting in the local salvage yard. Individual parts (airbags, ECUs, on-board entertainment systems, etc) can frequently run hundreds of dollars on the secondary markets. Further, most mechanics don't verify the serial number of a part before installing it in a car they are repairing.
As the cars are stolen, its all easy money for everyone involved as the thief doesn't have to make 100k on it. Even a few grand could make it worth the effort. Then beyond the thief and the chop shop, no one needs know the parts are stolen.
In a way its a good sign for tesla, cars tend to be stolen at rates proportional to their popularity. It also means that there must be a functional market for the parts.
[+] [-] marssaxman|8 years ago|reply
No thank you - oh my god, no thank you very much.
It's a real shame that Tesla has wedded their beautiful drivetrain engineering to such a creepy, cell-phone-esque system of automatic software updates and GPS tracking and giant touchscreens; I'd like to like their cars, but I want absolutely none of that.
[+] [-] politician|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] janwillemb|8 years ago|reply
> For owners, it’s important to make sure that your Tesla account is secured with a strong password and to keep your key fobs in a secure location at a safe distance from the vehicle when parked.
The insinuation here is that owners had weak passwords and/or kept their keys in an insecure location at an unsafe distance from the vehicle. Another explanation could be that hacker-thieves found a way to access Tesla's without keys and/or passwords.
[+] [-] gnicholas|8 years ago|reply
I have a friend who bought a late-model BMW and accidentally discovered that her keyless ignition is also fobless — if unlocked, her car will start even if the key fob is miles away. Not an easily discoverable bug, since she typically has her key with her when she approaches her car.
[+] [-] eridius|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ajflkjasdf777|8 years ago|reply
Perhaps they just loaded them onto a shielded vehicle, moved them, dismantled them, and spread the parts around via regular trucks?
[+] [-] teilo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dreamthtwasrome|8 years ago|reply
The police working with Tesla would be wise to leave some bait-cars around with extra cameras and nearby arrest teams to gather evidence to prosecute the gang(s) doing this.
[+] [-] lawless123|8 years ago|reply
What do they do about software updates though? They would probably have to break the firmware to if they still want any updates.
[+] [-] borne0|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gambiting|8 years ago|reply
I always wondered what thieves do with these vehicles though.
[+] [-] StillBored|8 years ago|reply
As the cars are stolen, its all easy money for everyone involved as the thief doesn't have to make 100k on it. Even a few grand could make it worth the effort. Then beyond the thief and the chop shop, no one needs know the parts are stolen.
In a way its a good sign for tesla, cars tend to be stolen at rates proportional to their popularity. It also means that there must be a functional market for the parts.
[+] [-] jonknee|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jay-saint|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codedokode|8 years ago|reply