Tesla Driver Says It’s ‘Literally Impossible’ To Steal His Tesla. There's Just One Problem

Brandon, Tesla enthusiast behind the Tesla Flex (@tesla.flex) TikTok account, claims that stealing his Model Y isn’t just hard: It’s impossible. In a viral clip that’s garnered more than 33,000 views on the popular social media application, he explains why.

“Here’s why it’s literally impossible to steal my Tesla,” he says at the top of the clip, holding up one of the brand’s access key cards as he records the grey crossover SUV. “Teslas are among the least stolen cars in the world. And no it’s not because people don’t want them,” he adds.

InsideEVs previously reported on this statistic as well. So it appears Brandon isn’t telling any tales out of school.

Getting Inside Is “Confusing” Enough

One way many thieves are dissuaded from attempting to steal a Tesla, Brandon says, is because of its unconventional lock/unlock mechanism. Furthermore, his Model Y’s door handles aren’t exactly intuitive to open, either. That’s because they’re flush with the vehicle, and require folks to press into them to release their locking mechanisms. 

“First of all if you find a key card on the ground you have to know where to tap it to unlock the doors. And then you have to know how to open the door which is really confusing.”

But even if a Tesla thief manages to grab hold of a Tesla’s key card and enter the vehicle, the obstacles don’t stop there. “Then if you get inside you have to figure out how to shift into drive. Because there’s no gear stalk anymore,” the TikToker says.

He hovers his hand around the steering wheel demonstrating that conventional shifting mechanisms aren’t present in his Model Y.

But that’s not the only level of security, either.

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Tesla Enter Pin To Drive

The Elon Musk-led EV company has an added layer of security in its infotainment system. Drivers can enable a feature in their cars that require an additional 4-digit pin code to get on the road. What’s more, is that each time this pin code prompt appears on the infotainment screen, it randomly pops up on a different portion of the dash display. This way, folks can’t look at your fingerprint smudges to guess what your pin code is.

Brandon argues that this added level of security can stop would-be Tesla thieves in their tracks. Which is difficult to argue against, because sometimes Tesla drivers with Pin to Drive enabled have difficulty driving their cars. “And even after you buckle your seatbelt to use auto shift, and go to press your foot on the brake to go on a drive. You have to enter a pin. And there’s no way anyone is guessing my pin,” the Tesla owner tells his viewers after punching in 6,9,7,2 on the alpha-numeric pad.

Upon doing so, his car’s steering wheel and seat can be heard automatically adjusting itself.

Remote Access Via the Tesla App

Brandon offers up further praise for the car’s pin to drive functionality. Even if a person re-enacting scenes out of Gone in 60 Seconds used this radio-scanning trick to get into your Tesla, starting it could still be problematic. Because they’d not only have to bypass the “tap to drive” functionality with their key card. They’d also have to figure out your car’s PIN, or a way to bypass that screen as well. 

“But for real even if someone does manage to get inside of your Tesla. Somehow, they still can’t do anything because they first have to tap right here. And then enter a pin. Because pin to drive right here in the safety settings, is one of the best things that Tesla’s added. It just adds an extra layer of security to your Tesla,” Brandon states.

How Do You Steal a Tesla Then?

It seems that one of the few ways a car thief could steal your Tesla is if they managed to get a hold of your phone. If they were able to do so, and bypass your mobile device’s lock-screen, they could get into your Tesla app. Here, they could unlock the car and remotely start the vehicle. This functionality allows folks to allow the Tesla to drive without needing a pin to start it. Brandon demonstrates how this works on his Model Y.

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“And if someone is borrowing your Tesla real quick, and you don’t want to have to tell them a pin to drive. You can go right here into the Tesla app, in the controls tab, and start it remotely. Which is basically just activating the key so they don’t have to do anything. And right here on the screen it will say keyless driving enabled,” Brandon says.

Commenters Sound Off

One person who replied to Brandon’s video also highlighted another feature that Teslas have: Detailed geo-location tracking. Finding where your Tesla is at all times, provided that it’s connected to data, is as simple as tapping on your phone. “You forgot to say that you have the location of the car on your phone,” one person penned.

However, another user stated that Pin to Drive isn’t exactly a feature specific to Tesla, either. “Every new BMW, Audi and so on have a pin locked accounts.”

There was one TikToker who didn’t think Pin to Drive was all that great of a security layer, however. “A 4 digit pin can be broken in about 10 minutes with the right algorithm. I know that that seems a bit too advanced for a car thief. But if someone is trying to steal a 60k to 100k car, they most probably aren't an idiot,” they said.

But there was another TikToker who said all these features aren’t exactly going to stop someone from taking your car if they want. According to them, car thieves don’t always drive the vehicles they want to burglarize. “They just tow the vehicle and strip it off for parts,” the social media user wrote.

And if they placed the vehicle in a giant faraday cage, drivers won’t be able to pin its location until its too late.

InsideEVs has reached out to Brandon via email for further information.

 

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