Every Tesla has a key which can unlock the vehicle as you approach. This is called Passive Entry and is the default setting for the car. It can be switched off in the menus, but most like this feature.
However, this can leave the car vulnerable to something called a “Relay attack”. Basically, whilst your keys are safely in your house and too far from the car to unlock it, a thief can with a radio receiver, and transmitter pick up the signal from the key, amplify it and send it to the car unlocking it! The thief can then drive the car away. Sadly, the Tesla inbuilt tracker can be disabled or overriden very quickly meaning your car is potentially untraceable.
This is something that many cars can suffer from, from Ford Fiesta’s to Land Rovers. However, nobody wants their Tesla stolen from their drive in the middle of the night.
Fortunately, after some representation from Tesla Owners UK, amongst other clubs, Tesla implemented a simple solution called “Pin to Drive”. This means that when you get in the car, you need to enter a pin no to be able to drive the car – this works much the same as the pin on your mobile phone or your bank card.
PIN to Drive allows you to set a secure four-digit verification that must be entered before your car is driven.
The feature can be activated on your touchscreen through ‘Controls’ > ‘Safety & Security’ > ‘PIN to Drive.’ You will be prompted to create your four-digit verification.
If you forget your PIN or want to disable PIN to Drive, go back to the setting on your touchscreen. Tap the link to enter your Tesla login credentials and follow the on-screen prompts.
