ThisTesla Model S RecallCan you imagine driving your brand new electric car around the city when suddenly the doors pop open? That is what hackers proved they could do in a test or challenge at the University of Zhejiang in China. The Tesla Electric Model S was hacked and had its doors pop while moving at speed. This would be scary even if it was not a test run by Tesla. It was a challenge to improve the security of their car.

The Tesla Electric Model S test was run at the University of Zhejiang, with a top prize of $10,000, designed to use hackers to help the Tesla team find out what they needed to do to improve the security of their car. If the doors can be popped, the car can also be stolen using the same techniques, and Tesla does not want to be known for this.

Tesla Electric Model S

Tesla supported the idea of testing and developing better security. As our cars become increasingly electric and run by computers with communications tethers to various devices needed to support the car and report operating status, it will become increasingly important that these cars cannot be hacked. Take Google’s driverless car as an example.  Using a combination of sensors, GPS, and communications abilities, it is fully electronic and prone to hacking. These vehicles are at risk unless more tests are run, like the one on the Tesla Electric Model S electric car.

We need to resolve this before the market is inundated with electric vehicles. This is the beginning of a new era in which electric vehicles replace combustion-driven cars. We need to get this right.
Why is this only limited to electric vehicles? This is another question that we wonder about. Many old-technology cars burning gasoline are also linked to satellites and now offer WiFi connections. Is it possible for these cars to be taken over and controlled? We do not know the answer, and we would be happy for someone to let us know if traditional-powered cars can also be hacked.