A hacked Tesla? Return to this rather strange news item

This story told on The Telegram then taken up by TF1 seems strange: the owner of a Tesla found herself limited to 40 km/h on the motorway, with the heating turned up to full blast, before losing access to the application. Finally, an individual who apparently managed to change the name of the registration document stole his car. That’s a lot, right?

The story: a Breton woman loses control of her car on the highway, then loses ownership

Let’s go back point by point.

Let’s start with 40 km/h. There is only one situation in which this occurs: when you are driving with a completely empty battery. At no time does remote control allow the speed to be reduced to 40 km/h, whether in limited mode or valet mode. However, it is possible to limit the speed to 80 km/h, which still makes for quite a delta if you are traveling at 130 km/h or more.

On the other hand, it is entirely possible to control the heating remotely. But again, you can regain control in the vehicle.

Next comes virtual key sharing. This system exists with other manufacturers (Hyundai and Ford, for example). It consists of sending a link which, using the appropriate application, allows the designated and authorized person to drive the car. Obviously, the owner carried out this manipulation to give access to a loved one.

As for recovering the application administration, it is possible, but not simple. To do this, you must register in the place of the previous owner. If you leave your smartphone, your access to the application (your usernames and passwords) and a link to drive the vehicle with a loved one, they can become the vehicle administrator.

The victim said he had to break a window of his car to gain entry. As a reminder, Teslas come with two cards which act as keys. Even by activating control by telephone, it is possible to access the vehicle with the key (and therefore open it). It’s simple: just position it on the side pillar on the driver’s side, under the left camera. The car opens and better, it is possible to withdraw all authorizations from the vehicle.

The victim said he could no longer recharge; it is not possible to prevent the hatch from opening, including from the application. On the other hand, the thief was able to get hold of the RIB recorded in the application (or the credit card); in this case, indeed, it is no longer possible to recharge, but only to Superchargers.

Finally, the theft of the registration document is complex, because you must have at least one photo of the original, and above all, the car must not be leased. Because in this case, you have to buy it back completely, which is not really in the spirit of theft.

Is this a hack?

The definition of a hack is: “break into (a system, a network) for malicious purposes (copying, modifying or destroying data).“

In the event that the person has usurped information, moreover by breach of trust, this is indeed hacking. The victim was obviously manipulated. In the panic, she also didn’t think about how her Tesla worked outside of the app. Because yes, a Tesla can be used without an application.

However, it is important to consider new automotive applications as potential vulnerabilities, due to the human factor. It is not uncommon for us to only use part of a product, without trying to understand all of the possibilities it offers. For someone who is not accustomed to new technologies, the software and technical subtleties can be complex to assimilate. From there to imagining training for motor vehicles, there is only one step.

We hope that this lady thought about changing the access to her Tesla account and, above all, took the time to read the instructions. Because very often, everything is written in black and white. Moreover, Tesla provides online access to a lot of information, including repair processes in the event of an accident.