Stefan Mileschin

It is a doddle if you don't want to charge your car ever again

The security of the Tesla Model 3 has been called into question after one was stolen from a Mall of America in Minnesota using just a mobile app and a smartphone.

A 21-year-old tea leaf was arrested for allegedly driving away with a Tesla Model 3 without needing a key. He didn't get very far as he was nicked at a charging station by police 1,000 miles (1609 km) away after the owner tracked it down.

Although the thief had disabled the car’s GPS, he didn't know about some other evil tracking gear the Tesla uses. Tesla Supercharger stations log the car's location on the owner's online billing system. He promptly provided the information to local law enforcement who quickly located it and arrested the thief at the scene.

After a spate of car thefts in Europe of late with thieves cloning the RFID signature of cars' remote key fobs. Tesla tried to stop this by implementing an optional PIN code on the Model S, 3 and X that owners can get before driving their cars. If activated, once the car detects the fob and boots-up, a keypad appears on the centre touchscreen. The drivers can either enter their pin to drive away or use their Tesla account credentials.

https://fudzilla.com/news/automotive...g-a-smartphone