Drove off in the wrong Tesla

[John K]

The story:

5:55a ET 3/14/2023 - Benzinga
Tesla Mix-Up: Vancouver Man Accidentally Unlocks Wrong Model 3 Using App And Drives Off In It

Mentioned:

TSLA

A Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 owner from Vancouver, British Columbia, reportedly drove off in a Tesla car that did not belong to him after accidentally unlocking it.
What Happened: Tesla Model 3 owner Rajesh Randev, in a hurry to pick up his children from school, unlocked someone else's car of the same color and make as his own using the Tesla app on his phone and drove off in it, reported Global News.
See Also: Best Electric Vehicle Stocks
Randev realized something was wrong when he saw a crack in the windshield and noticed that the charger was not where he usually kept it. He then received a message from the actual owner asking, 'Rajesh, are you driving Tesla?"
Randev reportedly picked up his children and returned the car to its rightful owner.
"We were both laughing and I called the police as well. The police said they have my statement but they cannot give me a file number because nothing happened, but if something does happen to let them know and they will investigate," said Randev, as quoted by the report.
Randev also contacted Tesla and submitted a video of the experience but the Elon Musk-owned EV maker has not responded yet, the report added.
Why It's Important: Tesla employs a feature called the sentry mode to protect against break-ins and theft, which monitors the environment around a car when left unattended.
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
Read Next: New Tesla Owner Lashes Out At Elon Musk Over Broken Steering Wheel: â??Am I Responsible For Manufacturing Defect?'
© 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

 

[John K]

The claim: used app to unlock somebody else’s car

Probility: The owner of the other car left their phone in the car and thus car could be driven away

 

[CyberGus]

What Happened: Tesla Model 3 owner Rajesh Randev, in a hurry to pick up his children from school, unlocked someone else's car of the same color and make as his own using the Tesla app on his phone and drove off in it, reported Global News.

ok boomer

 

[Dzeeg]

This whole thing sounds like stories I’ve heard in the past about car companies only having so many key cuts for a particular model, so they repeat them with the assumption that say with 10,000 different keys the likelihood of 2 cars with the same key winding up next to each other is extremely unlikely, but does in fact very rarely occur. Then out of those rare occurrences the less likely chance that someone doesn’t properly identify their own car?

one would hope Tesla would have individual coding for each car but maybe not?

 

[John K]

This whole thing sounds like stories I’ve heard in the past about car companies only having so many key cuts for a particular model, so they repeat them with the assumption that say with 10,000 different keys the likelihood of 2 cars with the same key winding up next to each other is extremely unlikely, but does in fact very rarely occur. Then out of those rare occurrences the less likely chance that someone doesn’t properly identify their own car?

one would hope Tesla would have individual coding for each car but maybe not?

Way, way back, mother purchased a new Honda civic. While grocery shopping, unlocked same model and specs with her key. We all got our seatbelts on with groceries put in the back, and then she noticed a steering wheel wrap. We quickly left and found the non- steering wheel wrap car

 

[TruckDaddy]

This is another reason you can and should set a "pin to drive" on the Tesla screen.

 

[Sirfun]

He then received a message from the actual owner asking, 'Rajesh, are you driving Tesla?"

So, the owner of the vehicle knew him by first name, and was able to text him? Therefore, the owner didn't leave their phone in the car. But, they knew each other. HMMMM

 

[John K]

So, the owner of the vehicle knew him by first name, and was able to text him? Therefore, the owner didn't leave their phone in the car. But, they knew each other. HMMMM

I question all the facts listed in the story.

what I find hard to believe is his phone activated the car in question if they did not pair beforehand

 

[CyberGus]

In other news...

 

[Dzeeg]

Way, way back, mother purchased a new Honda civic. While grocery shopping, unlocked same model and specs with her key. We all got our seatbelts on with groceries put in the back, and then she noticed a steering wheel wrap. We quickly left and found the non- steering wheel wrap car

But now it happened ONCE to a Tesla… which means it’s never happened before and the sky is falling ?

 

[Coolbreeze704]

In other news...

That is horrible. Those poor people. I hoped they served more then nuts and pretzels for that long of a flight.

 

[Friday]

With a large inventory of Ford company cars back in the day, about 1 in 10 cars could be opened with someone else's key. Many preset radio stations were changed regularly. Low quality, but mostly harmless pranks. But yeah, keys opening other cars has been around forever. This is probably phone left in car issue, not "omg app makes you steal other Tesla's" issue.

 

[CyberGus]

easy fix

 

[Coolbreeze704]

easy fix

Not necessary. It is a manual.

 

[Rutrow]

I question all the facts listed in the story.

what I find hard to believe is his phone activated the car in question if they did not pair beforehand

The real owner either:
1. left their phone on the charger in their car
2. had paired their friend Rajesh's phone as an approved driver to their car.

Both are highly plausible. The rightful owner was obviously friends with Rajesh.

No story here