VANCOUVER, CA – Two motorists in Canada found themselves in the midst of a bizarre situation when they accidentally mixed up their Tesla electric cars, with the vehicles’ smartphone app actually allowing them to mistakenly unlock, enter, and even drive off with each other’s nearly identical car, sparking serious security concerns.
Rajesh Randev, 51, said that he used his app to get into his Tesla, which was parked in a public lot in Vancouver last Tuesday; once inside, he proceeded to drive to pick his children up from school at approximately 2:30 p.m. However, it took him just a few minutes to realize that something was oddly off about the vehicle he had gotten into.
First, he said he noticed a crack in the windshield that he had never seen before. In addition, his cell phone charger was not where he left it.
Just moments later, Uber driver Mahmoud Esaeyh, 32, utilized his own Tesla app to enter into what he thought was his white 2020 Model-3; after having driven just one block, he suddenly realized that he was in the wrong car as well when he noticed that his cracked windshield had mysteriously fixed itself.
It was the only white Tesla on the block, and the car opened. But when I drove away, I noticed that something was different about the car,” Esaeyh said. “There was stuff inside that wasn’t mine. I have a crack in the windshield that wasn’t there.”
After frantically searching the car for clues about the identity of its true owner, Esaeyh discovered a medical prescription with Randev’s phone number and immediately dialed it; after Randev declined to answer calls from a number he was not familiar with, Esaeyh instead resorted to sending a series of text messages that finally got his attention.
Do you drive a Tesla?” Esaeyh texted. “I think you are driving the wrong car.”
Randev was shocked by the revelation that he had somehow managed to open and drive off in someone else’s car.
I was totally surprised,” Randev said. “I mean how was this possible? How was I able to gain access and drive?”
After picking up his children from school, Randev immediately drove back and met up with Esaeyh, and the two shared a laugh over the bizarre mix-up.
They [the children] were laughing together. I mean my kids are young people so they love computers and stuff like that and they were laughing,” Randev said. “But then on the other side, they were kind of scared too, you know, like how was this possible?”
Multiple media outlets have reached out to Tesla to find out how the company’s app was capable of such an error; as of press time they have not yet responded.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® and The Published Reporter® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.