Two Canadian motorists unknowingly open wrong Teslas and are allowed to drive away

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Two Canadian Tesla owners accidentally got into the wrong cars before their apps allowed them to drive off in lookalike vehicles, they said on Tuesday.

Rajesh Randev, 51, used his app to get into his 2021 Tesla Model 3 – or so he thought – around 2:30 p.m. on March 7 and picked up his two children from school, the consultant said. Vancouver immigration.

Minutes into the trip, Randev was alarmed to see a crack in the windshield and find his phone charging cable was missing.

“I called my wife, ‘What happened to the windshield?’ “, said Randev. “Then it was, ‘Where did my cable go?’ ”

Shortly after Randev left, 32-year-old Uber driver Mahmoud Esaeyh used his app to get into what he believed to be his white 2020 Tesla Model 3 and drove a block before realizing what happened. had passed.

“It was the only white Tesla in the neighborhood, and the car opened up. But when I left, I noticed something was different about the car,” Esaeyh said. “There were things inside that weren’t mine. I have a crack in the windshield that wasn’t there.”

Esaeyh was quick to return to the original parking spot and call the police, fearing he could be charged with stealing the Tesla.

“Maybe someone calls the cops, ‘Hey, my car’s stolen’ and I’m in big trouble,” he said.

“Or what would have happened if he took my car and committed a crime or stole something, that car would have all my information.”

Luckily, Esaeyh spotted medical records and a prescription with Randev’s cell phone number in the car, allowing them to connect.

But the contact was not instantaneous.

Randev ignored several phone calls from a name and number he did not recognize.

Then the strange experience became even more confusing when Randev received a text: “Do you drive a Tesla?

“I was thinking maybe a client saw me or maybe an old friend or whatever maybe someone recognized me (passing by) and texted me ?” Randev said.

Randev didn’t put it all together until the text stated, “I think you (drive) the wrong car.”

Randev said he pulled over in an alley, saw the rims of the tires hadn’t come off his car and realized he had mistaken his own white Model 3 for the white Model 3 belonging to the man on the other side.

“I was totally surprised,” Randev said. “I mean, how was that possible?” How did I access and drive? »

Randev collected his children and returned to the scene of the non-crime, where all parties shared a laugh and some concerns.

“They (the kids) were laughing together. I mean my kids are young so they love computers and stuff like that and they were laughing,” Randev said.

“But on the other side, they were a little scared too, you know, how was that possible?”

As an Uber driver, Esaeyh said his car was everything to him.

“It’s my only income,” he said. “That’s how I make money and pay my rent.”

Both men said they appreciated how the other handled the situation. Although both men said they called Vancouver police, no official report has been filed.

“There was no crime in this case, it was just a mistake,” a Vancouver police spokesperson said.

The Vancouver snafu marks the latest oddity involving the high-end car line which includes elements of driverless technology.

A You’re here driver was killed and a passenger was seriously injured on February 18 when the car slammed into a fire truck parked on a Northern California highway to protect a crew cleaning up another crash, authorities said. It was
It is immediately clear whether the driver may have been intoxicated or whether the Tesla Model S was operating with automation or driver assistance features.
Limousine driver Kevin George Aziz Riad was driving his Tesla Model S on autopilot in California in late 2019 when he ran a red and slammed into a Honda Civic, killing Gilberto Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, officials said. The driver has been charged with two counts of gross negligence manslaughter and the trial in Compton is ongoing.
Regulators revealed this month that they opened an investigation into Tesla’s Model Y SUV after receiving complaints that the steering wheels can come off while driving.

A representative from Tesla’s investor relations department could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Randev said he has been trying to reach Tesla since the incident. And aside from an email from a local Tesla dealer asking for his phone number, there was no response, he said.