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Tesla Model S vulnerable to hackers?

Next time you walk by a parked Tesla and its sunroof is opening and closing with nobody sitting inside or around it, you could be witnessing a hacker moment. For all of its strengths as a car, the Model S reportedly has a weak spot: the security of its API (application programming interface) authentication, according to an article in the O'Reilly Community by George Reese, executive director of cloud management at Dell. Tesla develops and uses its own API authentication protocols, which have made access to certain Model S functions too easy for hackers, Reese says - himself a Model S owner.
At question is the Tesla REST API, which is accessed via a web-based portal, usually by Model S owners with their iPhone or Android-based smartphone, to perform a variety of menial tasks and check the status of the car. The Tesla-registered e-mail and password of the car owner is used to access the API through a web portal, which creates a "token" that lasts for three months. During that period, owners access the Tesla REST API via the token without the use of their log-in information. Unfortunately, the tokens and their respective cars are stored on website databases that are all too easy to hack, Reese explains, and if a hacker gains access, "it has free access to all of that site's cars for up to three months with no ability for the owners to do anything about it." On top of that, there is no way to revoke access of a compromised application.
Reese says that "there's nothing in the API that (can? should?) result in an accident if someone malicious were to gain access." The API can check the car's battery charge, operate climate control, operate the sunroof, identify car location, honk the horn, open the charge port, and perform other similar operations. But, he cautions, "Perhaps the scariest bit is that the API could be used to track your every move."

Tesla poaches Volvo interior engineering boss Anders Bell

Tesla is the belle of both the eco-friendly and luxury balls. The company's Model S and Model X are status symbols, and benchmarks for the ability to blend both green credentials with performance and a luxury driving experience. That said, their cabins aren't necessarily deserving of those credentials. That's why this little news nugget is such a big deal for the California brand. Electrek reports that Tesla has poached Anders Bell from Volvo. Bell confirmed the move via his LinkedIn page. The (now former) head of interior engineering and senior director of engineering was responsible for the Swedish brand's raft of high-quality, beautifully crafted cabins. Doubtless Tesla wants a piece of the critical acclaim Volvo's received for the interior design and quality on its 90-series models – XC90, S90, and V90. The move is, at least based on Electrek's stalking of Bell's LinkedIn profile, a big loss for Volvo. Bell joined the Swedish brand fresh out of Halmstad College's engineering program in 1998 and has spent his entire career working for Gothenburg and its various owners. That included a nearly four-year stint in China after Geely bought Volvo from Ford, assisting with the Chinese launch of the XC60. Bell's listed his final project with his previous employer as "development, design, and release of Volvo interiors to be launched 2017-2018 and concept definitions of interiors 2019 and beyond." That means that while Bell started at Palo Alto this month, his impact at Volvo won't fade for several more years. Related Video: News Source: Electrek via Jalopnik Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Tesla Volvo volvo s90

Tesla attempting LA-NY Guinness record using Superchargers

Right now, two Tesla Model S EVs are crossing the US from Los Angeles to New York, hoping to be a big deal. Sure, a father-daughter team already claim they've made the cross-country drive, but this time, it's an official Tesla event and the company has its eyes on a Guinness World Record prize. The drivers left the Tesla design studio in Hawthorne, Los Angeles at midnight last night, and the plan is to use the company's just-completed Supercharger network to achieve the "lowest charge time for an electric vehicle traveling across the United States." We didn't know that was a category, either. Tesla now has over 70 Supercharger stations in the US and all of them are free-to-use for Model S drivers, which is why you can follow along on this record attempt via Twitter using the #DriveFree tag. As of early this morning, the teams made it to the Supercharger station in Kingman, AZ and posted this sunrise pic. We wish them safe travels – they will soon reach the snowy northern parts of the country since the current Supercharger route will take them through the upper Midwest on the way to the East Coast.