4 ms·

Clever, but the same case shows the difficulty of getting away with it, even if you are able to steal a Tesla. He was tracked by his use of the supercharging ne

Clever, but the same case shows the difficulty of getting away with it, even if you are able to steal a Tesla. He was tracked by his use of the supercharging network, which allowed law enforcement to find and arrest him a few days later.

SilasX 8y ago
Which is good news if you live in a locality where recovering traceable stolen cars is a law enforcement priority.
- jstarfish 8y ago
  Recovering cars is a low priority for a reason. Auto recovery has a terrible success rate. The goal is to get them chopped or into containers for overseas consumption. You will eventually be caught if you keep driving it around.
Alupis 8y ago
Could he not have just charged without using the superchargers?
- selectout 8y ago
  TSLA most certainly could have tracked it just using the GPS and woken the car (or even bricked it) remotely. Superchargers may have been used, but definitely weren't needed to track this vehicle.
  - LeoPanthera 8y ago
    From the article: "Since this person disabled GPS tracking on the car, the owner had to utilize a different method of tracking down the alleged crook." I don't own a Tesla, but this implies it's possible to turn the GPS off.
- jplayer01 8y ago
  Who's going to use a Tesla without superchargers? At some point, somebody will.
  - Alupis 8y ago
    > Who's going to use a Tesla without superchargers? Well, if you stole the car, and now everyone is aware this is a way to track them...
    - jplayer01 8y ago
      Most people who steal cars either chop them up for parts or sell them. What do you think the new owner is going to do? Live without superchargers?
      - Alupis 8y ago
        > What do you think the new owner is going to do? Live without superchargers? Why not? Plenty of folks with electric vehicles charge at home and such. I agree it's usually to chop or sell - in this kid's case though, he was probably planning on keeping it.
  - stcredzero 8y ago
    If one is going to plug into a US 220V outlet with an adaptor, then you're talking about adding back something like 180 miles range in 8 to 12 hours. Stealing such a car by driving it to a port city for shipment overseas would be a huge pain across most of the US. You'd at least need to tow it or haul it on a flat bed, unless you already lived in near a port city. (San Francisco and the Bay Area are fairly close to Oakland.)

SilasX 8y ago

Which is good news if you live in a locality where recovering traceable stolen cars is a law enforcement priority.

jstarfish 8y ago
Recovering cars is a low priority for a reason. Auto recovery has a terrible success rate. The goal is to get them chopped or into containers for overseas consumption. You will eventually be caught if you keep driving it around.

Alupis 8y ago

Could he not have just charged without using the superchargers?

selectout 8y ago
TSLA most certainly could have tracked it just using the GPS and woken the car (or even bricked it) remotely. Superchargers may have been used, but definitely weren't needed to track this vehicle.
- LeoPanthera 8y ago
  From the article: "Since this person disabled GPS tracking on the car, the owner had to utilize a different method of tracking down the alleged crook." I don't own a Tesla, but this implies it's possible to turn the GPS off.
jplayer01 8y ago
Who's going to use a Tesla without superchargers? At some point, somebody will.
- Alupis 8y ago
  > Who's going to use a Tesla without superchargers? Well, if you stole the car, and now everyone is aware this is a way to track them...
  - jplayer01 8y ago
    Most people who steal cars either chop them up for parts or sell them. What do you think the new owner is going to do? Live without superchargers?
    - Alupis 8y ago
      > What do you think the new owner is going to do? Live without superchargers? Why not? Plenty of folks with electric vehicles charge at home and such. I agree it's usually to chop or sell - in this kid's case though, he was probably planning on keeping it.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  If one is going to plug into a US 220V outlet with an adaptor, then you're talking about adding back something like 180 miles range in 8 to 12 hours. Stealing such a car by driving it to a port city for shipment overseas would be a huge pain across most of the US. You'd at least need to tow it or haul it on a flat bed, unless you already lived in near a port city. (San Francisco and the Bay Area are fairly close to Oakland.)