WATCH: Tesla app failure allows man to drive off in stranger’s Model 3
Heather Hamilton
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A man is rethinking the safety of Tesla technology after he and a stranger were able to break into each other’s Model 3 sedans without at first knowing it.
Tesla owner Rajesh Randev said he used his smartphone’s Tesla app to unlock and drive off in what he thought was his white Model 3 sedan earlier this month. However, he realized a short time later that he had hopped in a stranger’s Tesla parked next to it.
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Randev, who lives in Vancouver, Canada, said he began to notice things that were different about the car.
“I was able to get access,” Randev said. “But while I start driving it, I realized there was a crack on the windshield.”
The glitch reportedly also allowed the other Tesla driver to unlock Randev’s parked car and find his phone number to contact him.
Randev said the two met up and exchanged their Model 3s.
“We were both laughing and I called the police as well,” Randev recalled. “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.”
“I was surprised how I was able to drive someone else’s car, by mistake, for an hour-and-a-half while his car was in his hand,” he added.
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Randev noted that he reached out to Tesla but has not heard back from the electric automaker.
Tesla also recently recalled at least 363,000 of its vehicles due to a safety issue concerning its “Full Self-Driving” system.