Driver Accidentally Unlocked Someone Else's Tesla Model 3

Every once in a while, news will surface of someone accidentally getting into and successfully driving the wrong car before realizing their mistake. Often, there are additional reasons besides human error as to why this is possible — like the couple who accidentally drove the wrong car in 2013 because the car’s owner left the keys in the ignition. You might think that, with advances in automotive technology by the likes of Tesla, that things like this would eventually stop happening.

But according to a recent report from Autoblog, that isn’t necessarily the case. An article details the case of a guy who unlocked a Tesla Model 3 and drove it home. The only trouble was that it wasn’t his Tesla Model 3 — he accidentally got in the wrong car and took it for a spin. Apparently, Vancouver resident Rajesh Randev parked his Tesla Model 3 next to an almost identical Telsa Model 3. That, in and of itself, seems understandable — after all, a lot of people drive Model 3s. The article recounts how Randev opened the wrong car using his key fob and began driving it, only realizing that something was amiss when he saw a crack in the windshield that didn’t exist on his Model 3.

Report: Tesla Model 3 Display Froze at 83 Miles Per Hour

The driver was able to get off the road safely

Thankfully, both drivers were eventually reunited with their actual Model 3s. But a larger question lingers over the proceedings — namely, why did one Tela Model 3 allow the wrong driver to unlock it and start driving? One would think that the advances in lock and ignition technology would prevent such a thing from happening, which turns this from a fun misunderstanding into something with more worrisome implications.