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Move over Audi, now Chrysler has a beef with Tesla's claims

In the same week that Audi said "not so fast" to some claims from Tesla, Chrysler has responded to a new press release from the California-based EV-maker by saying "not exactly, Tesla." The statement, released through the company's blog, comes in response to Tesla claiming it was "the only American car company to have fully repaid the government." Chrysler notes that it, too, recently paid back Uncle Sam from its 2008 bailout. Similar to Audi's recent press release, which was eventually and mysteriously deleted from the German automaker's site, Chrysler is both right and wrong in its statement.
Tesla specifically said that it had paid back the Department of Energy loans that many automakers received - including Fisker and VPG Autos - while Chrysler's retort argues Tesla is "unmistakably incorrect" since it repaid the government in 2011 a full six years early. Technically, the statements from both automakers are correct, but Tesla's startup loan originated from the DoE, while Chrysler's loan came in bailout form from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Further, as The Detroit News notes, Chrysler's loan still cost taxpayers well over a billion dollars after all was said and done - those negative assets tied to "old Chrysler" in the bankruptcy did not require repayment.

Tesla Model S prone to password hacking?

As more and more technology gets crammed into our automobiles, replacing once simple mechanical systems with electronics and other such wizardry, hackers and people much smarter than ourselves are finding more and more ways to exploit them. The latest such case comes from a man named Nitesh Dhanjani, who has reportedly managed to send wireless codes over the internet to the Tesla Model S that can unlock the car's doors.
According to an article from Reuters, the six-digit passcode required to gain entry into Tesla's electric sedan isn't the only flaw in the car's security Dhanjani - himself a Tesla Model S owner - has found. That said, the car's electronic key fob is still required to start and drive the vehicle, meaning thieves would only have the ability to steal things left inside the car and wouldn't actually be able to operate it or drive it away.
"It's a big issue where a $100,000 car should be relying on a six-character static password," said Dhanjani, who has shared his findings with Tesla.

Tesla Model S successfully hacked by Zhejiang University team

The $10,000 prize for successfully hacking a Tesla Model S has been claimed. A team from Zhejiang University in China claimed victory at the Symposium on Security for Asia Network (SyScan360) event in Beijing by exploiting a "flow design flaw," whatever that means, to gain access to vital systems including the door locks, horn and window controls, while the vehicle was moving.
The group that was able to hack a Tesla reported its findings to the electric car automaker, so this security breach will hopefully be fixed in short order. The event was welcomed by Tesla, which said it "[supported] the idea of providing an environment in which responsible security researchers can help identify potential vulnerabilities."
Last year, potential security pitfalls of high-tech electric and hybrid cars came to light when the US Defense Department's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (better known as DARPA) successfully hacked into hybrids from Ford and Toyota. Questions about the security of the Tesla Model S have been raised before. If you're wondering why all this might be such a big deal, we suggest you watch this.