Tesla’s response to recent vandalism doubles as a feature showcase
If you’ve kept up with Tesla news, you’ve undoubtedly seen the wave of vandalism against both dealership and privately owned cars. Tesla has fought back against recent acts of vandalism toward its inventories by enabling Sentry Mode on all of its showroom vehicles. When active, Sentry mode uses a Tesla’s cameras and sensors to monitor its surroundings and detect threats. If triggered, the system initiates several responses, which include pulsing headlights, an alarm, an interior display message noting that cameras may be recording, saving footage to a USB drive if equipped, and sending a mobile app notification. Recent acts of Tesla vandalism appear to be a form of public protest against Elon Musk’s work as an advisor to President Trump. Musk confirmed that Tesla has also expanded security around its inventory in addition to enabling Sentry Mode.
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Tesla vandalism has spread beyond the U.S.
Reports of Tesla vandalism have also gone international. On Thursday, in Hamilton, Ontario, police stated they were “investigating a series of mischiefs that occurred at a [Tesla] vehicle dealership” in the city, according to CBS reports. While domestic and international authorities are on high alert for Tesla vandals, Musk’s confirmation of Sentry Mode usage and enhanced security in showrooms may give perpetrators an opportunity to strategize on how to evade the new measures, as first noted by CarScoops. There’s also the problem of Sentry Mode using significant battery power, and a Tesla must be charged to at least 20% to use the feature.
Still, Tesla had to do something, as something like keying a vehicle can cause hundreds or even thousands of dollars in damages, and it’s typically more convenient to keep a Tesla charged at a company facility than somewhere in the wild. While Musk announced on X, formerly Twitter, that Sentry Mode would be active on the company’s showroom cars, he’ll likely have to take more action, as some people are damaging Teslas when the feature is active since they don’t know they’re being recorded.
On March 2, Tesla owner Alexandra Merz posted on X: “Hey, @Tesla engineers, any way of getting in a software update an alarm to protect from keying the car? The car could tell the criminal before they start that they are being filmed and reported to the authorities.” Musk replied by saying, “Car could honk at people if you want,” however, Tesla hasn’t yet rolled out any new Sentry Mode updates with honking.
Inventory vandalism isn’t Tesla’s only problem. During the first half of March, Teslas made since 2017 represented 1.4% of all vehicle trade-ins, the company’s highest-ever figure. Tesla’s stock has also declined over 40% this year. Edmunds shoppers also had their lowest interest in the brand in February since October 2022, and the EV maker is on track to have its worst quarter in three years.
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Final thoughts
There’s no denying that it’s been a tumultuous time at Tesla, but the company has weathered significant storms before, and Musk has proven himself to be highly motivated. Tesla faced near-bankruptcy situations twice: once in 2008 and again between 2017 and 2019. During the latter period’s Model 3 ramp-up, Musk famously slept under his factory office’s desk for days to show his commitment, saying: “The reason I slept on the floor was not because I couldn’t go across the road and be at a hotel. It was because I wanted my circumstances to be worse than anyone else at the company. Whenever they felt pain, I wanted mine to be worse.”
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