A British Tesla owner posted a home security video to YouTube on Sunday of his Tesla Model S purportedly being stolen from his driveway, and he thinks the suspects only needed a tablet and possibly a smartphone to hack its locking system.
YouTube user Antony Kennedy edited together and annotated a video of the two suspects apparently stealing his luxury car by exploiting the car’s keyless access feature. Kennedy is also a tech firm executive, according to Business Insider.
By Kennedy’s assumption, the suspected car-jackers used a smartphone and a tablet to boost the signal from his fob, which he says was “at the back of the house,” and disable the GPS tracking system built into the car so neither Tesla nor Kennedy could trace where they took his Model S. (RELATED: Tesla’s Model 3 Climes The Ranks For Best Selling American Car)
After less than a minute into the video, the individuals were able to open the car. The rest of the video showed them unplugging the car from its charging station and leaving.
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The Model S comes standard with added security features that can be optionally engaged by owners. Kennedy is open about the fact that he did not utilize the PIN code ignition feature or disable the “passive entry” feature, which is designed to unlock the car when it senses its fob approaching.
Kennedy took to Twitter to ask the company for a more secure system and bring attention to the theft.
@elonmusk My @tesla was stolen this morning, with just a tablet and a phone extending my fob range from the back of the house. I get that I should enabled PIN access. I wish it was harder for them to disable remote access though. I can’t track it or disable it. 🙁
— Antony Kennedy (@booshtukka) October 21, 2018
Tesla did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment in time for publication.
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