Hackers turn off Tesla Model S at low speed: FT

Shares of Tesla Motors plunged Thursday after investors poked through the company’s earnings report and subsequent conference call and uncovered some unsettling prospects for the maker of electric vehicles. Tesla has been heavily spending in anticipation of its newer models.

For the definitive driving experience, Unplugged Performance is giving the Tesla Model X SUV adjusted suspension settings, “sportier” braking, improved interior materials, headlight and wheels performance as well as exotic materials for weight reduction. TSLA stated that it generated $20 million in new revenue in the latest quarter by selling certified preowned Model S automobiles. No need to go to the mechanic for it. (That’s more a nice side effect.). In total, they needed to chain four separate vulnerabilities to first gain access to the infotainment systems and the touchscreen used to control certain functions of the vehicle. “And that’s still the main function, whether that content is streaming music or streaming maps”.

Reporting on second-quarter trading, Mr Musk said that the next few years would be “transformational from a product perspective”, having already established the high-performance Model S as the best-selling electric auto in the US. They also highlighted that the Model S vehicles have half a dozen flaws in their softwareSuch as the four year old web browser which isn’t as good as current browers such as Chrome and Firefox. Last month an article in Wired magazine described how a driver lost control of his Jeep Cherokee when two hackers remotely took over the car’s computers.

The analyst John Murphy also asked whether the company will come out with any fresh equity issue. With Energy Storage emerging as a significant secondary revenue stream and Model X launch now appearing imminent, we believe the stock is much cheaper today than when the valuation was at similar levels a year ago.’. Ed Markey, D-Mass., found that automakers have fully adopted technologies like Bluetooth and wireless Internet access, but have “not addressed the real possibilities of hacker infiltration into vehicle systems”.

In the UK, a basic version of the Model S sells for just shy of £50,000, though a £5,000 rebate is available from the Government under a scheme aimed at encouraging take-up of electrically-powered vehicles.

“With embedded systems like you find in cars, you can not control who has access to it”, he said. “That doesn’t work”.

Ulf Lindqvist manages R&D projects in infrastructure security for SRI global. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) expects demand for Model S and Model X to rise to between 1,600 and 1,800 per week by 2016. Long-term growth is intact, and we would be buyers ahead of the Model X configuration/reveal this month.’.