Dismantled Tesla Model S found in truck
electrek.co
electrek.co
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.
Tesla's privacy policy does say that this data won't be shared outside of "Tesla personnel" [0] - what evidence do you have that Tesla would break their agreement with their customers, and which law(s) in which country(s) prohibit carriers from selling location data?
Most people don't carry portable Faraday cages.
One could argue that cellphones might secretly call home even on airplane mode and we shouldn't trust them, but then again, why couldn't one apply the same conspiracy theory against vehicles not made by Tesla?
It's harder to drive a car when it's wrapped in tinfoil.
With a cellphone the GPS in the phone can - and will - track you six ways from Sunday unless you are very very careful, with a cellphone the carrier does not so much 'track your location' as that they record field strength to determine which tower you connect to as well as to manage the handover. To turn that into location data is absolutely possible but not nearly as accurate as GPS, especially not when you stop moving for a while.
Nevertheless, what you describe sounds a lot like a "smartphone with location services off" (assuming you trust the smartphone)
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-04/smartphone-...
Smartphones can track you in a large number of ways, and you really should not trust them (esp. not if they are Android).
> 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.
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.
Perhaps they just loaded them onto a shielded vehicle, moved them, dismantled them, and spread the parts around via regular trucks?
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.
What do they do about software updates though? They would probably have to break the firmware to if they still want any updates.
Foil backed foam won't necessarily block a cell signal - heck, there are entire buildings insulated with the stuff and it has little effect.
With the Model 3 hitting a much wider consumer market, you'll see a lot more interest in ways to get around Tesla.
I am actually expecting you may also see more lawsuits regarding things like software activation requirements vs. holding the title to the car and such. Tesla treats these cars like they're still Tesla's property, and if anything I'm shocked it hasn't been tested in court more already.
Most Teslas on the road are still under warranty, with Tesla footing the bill for repairs. Once all of those second and third owners of Model Ss start needing out-of-warranty repairs, then I expect we'll start seeing some real heat.
Besides there being many more of the latter they also have special legal aspects in the form of all kinds of consumer protections.
I always wondered what thieves do with these vehicles though.
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.
But, bear in mind, the difficulty in getting access to Tesla service or parts outside of the official methods is what makes the parts so valuable: There's almost none on the market to begin with. Those who need them (for whatever reason) will have to pay big to get them, since competition isn't driving down the prices. And most Tesla owners can obviously afford it.