In a bizarre incident, Rajesh Randev, a Tesla Model 3 owner from Vancouver, British Columbia, unintentionally unlocked another person’s Tesla using the Tesla app on his own phone and drove off in the wrong car. The two vehicles were of the same make and color, parked side by side, which led to the confusion.
Randev was in a rush to pick up his children from school and didn’t pay much attention to the car he entered, assuming it was his own. It was only later, when he noticed a cracked windshield and a misplaced charger, that he realized he was driving someone else’s Tesla.
The actual owner of the vehicle sent a text message to Randev, asking if he drove a Tesla, and the mixup started to become clear. After parking the vehicle, Randev saw that the wheels were different from his Model 3, so he called the person who texted him and acknowledged the mistake.
Surprisingly, Randev was able to enter the car again using his app and drove it to pick up his children from school. He later met with the rightful owner and handed the Tesla back. The owner had been able to contact Randev because he saw a paper with his name and phone number in the vehicle.
Confused by the mixup, Randev contacted Tesla and submitted video evidence. However, some of his emails bounced back due to Tesla’s North American corporate mailbox being full, and no one has contacted him so far. With potentially serious implications, Tesla should investigate this incident to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
A member of the InsideEVs Forum speculated that the vehicle may have been left unlocked and in “Valet” mode, but there’s no indication that was the case. Randev reported the incident to the police, who told him they could not provide a file number since nothing had actually happened, but they would investigate if something did occur in the future.
