Tesla owner tracked stolen Models S via iPhone app, leads to arrest

[freeewilly]

Tesla owner tracked stolen Model S via iPhone app, leads to arrest, enjoyment | Electrek

I always know the iPhone app will become useful if someone stole my MS, but the question is how were the thief able to drive it away.

 

[yo mama]

Tesla owner tracked stolen Model S via iPhone app, leads to arrest, enjoyment | Electrek

I always know the iPhone app will become useful if someone stole my MS, but the question is how were the thief able to drive it away.

Story says owners left a spare fob in the car. Oops.

 

[cmu5p]

Tesla owner tracked stolen Model S via iPhone app, leads to arrest, enjoyment | Electrek

I always know the iPhone app will become useful if someone stole my MS, but the question is how were the thief able to drive it away.

It looks like owners inadvertently left key fob in the car.
Poor choice for the thief: a trackable car AND only 42 miles of range left!

 

[tinm]

I wish there were a way to set a PIN to the "disable remote access" setting in the Controls menus. Eventually the bad guys are going to figure it out -- if you steal a Tesla, be sure to immediately disable remote access.... a PIN requirement would defeat that.

 

[cmu5p]

Oh, and I hope the owners played with temperature settings, honking horn, opening sunroof, etc. for additional creep factor for the thief.

I know someone posted once to add media controls and GPS routing to the app: i.e., car stolen--> lock doors--> put horrible music on 11--> set temp to extreme-> direct car to drive to nearest police station--> honk horn. Awesome.

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I wish there were a way to set a PIN to the "disable remote access" setting in the Controls menus. Eventually the bad guys are going to figure it out -- if you steal a Tesla, be sure to immediately disable remote access.... a PIN requirement would defeat that.

+1 to this

 

[efusco]

I think I would have called Tesla to ask them to shut down the vehicle, or put it in Valet mode at least...if the thief had decided to run from the cops or intentionally high speed crash it there would have been a lot of damage.

 

[Max*]

honking horn, opening sunroof

You can't do it with the Tesla app while the car is driving (not sure about VisibleTesla/third party apps/etc.). You can only lock and unlock the car (which turns the dome lights on and off). And yes, you can obviously mess with the temp.

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I think I would have called Tesla to ask them to shut down the vehicle, or put it in Valet mode at least...if the thief had decided to run from the cops or intentionally high speed crash it there would have been a lot of damage.

Can't put it in valet mode while the car is driving.

 

[freeewilly]

I see, that explains why they can drive off the car so easily.

Spare fob? When I bought the MS, I received 2 key fobs only, they are exactly same. Is there another "Spare" fob?

 

[f-stop]

interesting story - right in my backyard!

Poor choice for the thief: a trackable car AND only 42 miles of range left!

BTW, no telling how much range the thief had left - don't think those screenshots in the news article are the actual ones (e.g. there's no Deer Creek Road in Vancouver area!)

here's another article about this in one of our local papers:
Vancouver Tesla owner tracks car thief in real time while on phone with 911 dispatch

interesting fact pointed out in the article:
"Last fall, MarketWatch reported that only four Teslas ... had ever been stolen in the U.S., based on data obtained from the National Insurance Crime Bureau."

 

[yo mama]

This story does hit home, however, because the Mrs. lost her "spare" (our second fob) back in August and we only just found it last weekend. It somehow got in my Chewbacca Halloween costume - must of been when I tried it on and showed her when I first got it. But at least we know where the fob is now.

 

[dsm363]

I see, that explains why they can drive off the car so easily.

Spare fob? When I bought the MS, I received 2 key fobs only, they are exactly same. Is there another "Spare" fob?

They are the same. They just meant the second fob.

 

[scottm]

I wish there were a way to set a PIN to the "disable remote access" setting in the Controls menus. Eventually the bad guys are going to figure it out -- if you steal a Tesla, be sure to immediately disable remote access.... a PIN requirement would defeat that.

raised before, item 2411 on wish list.

 

[efusco]

You can't do it with the Tesla app while the car is driving (not sure about VisibleTesla/third party apps/etc.). You can only lock and unlock the car (which turns the dome lights on and off). And yes, you can obviously mess with the temp.

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Can't put it in valet mode while the car is driving.

Are you sure that Tesla is not able to do this? I suspect they can. You and I can't from the app, I agree.

 

[Max*]

Are you sure that Tesla is not able to do this? I suspect they can. You and I can't from the app, I agree.

No clue about Tesla, I meant specifically from the app by the user.

 

[AB4EJ]

Vancouver must have a top-of-the-line police department to have been able to do this. In a lot of places, if you called the police and told them you were tracking your stolen car, you will have one of the following outcomes:

- they wouldn't believe you.
- the closest officer who can respond is 45 minutes away, even if running lights & siren (and they won't do that for a simple vehicle theft).
- the police will engage the vehicle in a high speed pursuit, which results in the car being totaled.
- stolen vehicles are not considered a high priority. File a report, and we'll get back to you.
- the car will be driven to an underground location where tracking doesn't work, followed by being chopped.

So, the result in Vancouver represents the best possible outcome. Moral: don't leave a fob in the car!