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Pranksters Troll the Heck Out of Tesla Owners by Abusing Charging Port Convenience Feature

A new prank is making rounds on social media, and Tesla owners are falling victim to it. Apparently, a small radio device can be used to open the charging port flap remotely, and trolls don’t seem to get enough of it.
Pranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience feature 7 photos
Photo: Collage, credits in the gallery
Pranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience featurePranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience featurePranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience featurePranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience featurePranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience featurePranksters troll Tesla owners by abusing charging port convenience feature
Social media channels like TikTok are flooded with videos of kids showing off their hacking abilities by annoying Tesla owners. The pranksters use a radio device to play a radio sequence that triggers the charging port flaps of Tesla vehicles nearby to open. The radio signal is usually generated by the Tesla charging station to prompt the car to open the flap when the owner approaches the receptacle. Captured and retransmitted, it triggers the same behavior, only this is happening from further away, thanks to the radio’s higher transmitting power.

If you think of it, it is not much different from the Honda radio vulnerability we wrote about earlier. But as car unlock systems use a new code with every button press, the charging station plays the same signal over and over again. This made it simple for mischievous teenagers to capture and share it online, partly explaining why so many videos are circling around. All they need is a radio device able to transmit the signal with the required frequency; for that, the $169 Flipper Zero does the job.

This is not a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) like the one used to hack Honda vehicles. However, it can still receive and transmit messages on the same frequencies as the key fobs and other close-range devices. It can also re-play the signal at higher power, which means the pranksters can operate from a distance without risking being caught on camera by Tesla’s Sentry Mode.

For now, this is not more than a joke, although it can be annoying for unsuspecting Tesla owners. Just watch the guy in the video linked below. I’m sure he must be thinking something is wrong with his Tesla. The charging flap is programmed to close if the port is not used after a while. And it’s not like somebody would be able to “steal” electricity from a Tesla since the dominant EV brand does not offer Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) capabilities yet.

@thevalcyn Honey, I’m taking this POS to carmax. #gotem #harmlessprank #tesla #teslatok #flipperzero #cybersecurity #subghz #notsafe #teslabutthole #teslamodel3 ? Gangsta's Paradise (feat. L.V.) - Coolio
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About the author: Cristian Agatie
Cristian Agatie profile photo

After his childhood dream of becoming a "tractor operator" didn't pan out, Cristian turned to journalism, first in print and later moving to online media. His top interests are electric vehicles and new energy solutions.
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