Tesla’s New Updates Intend To Make Your Model 3 Impossible To Steal

Tesla has introduced a handful of new features for the entry-level Model 3, which are supposed to make the vehicle a little safer when it’s parked.

The new features can be found in the ‘Safety & Security’ menu on the vehicle’s central touchscreen. By accessing it, Model 3 owners can enable ‘Pin To Drive’, which requires a four-digit verification for the car to be started. There is also a ‘Manual Entry’ mode that disables Passive Entry from the Tesla app and requires a key card. Last, but not least, is the new ‘Security Alarm’ that is activated when the trunk or a door is opened without a valid entry key.

The electric automaker was prompted to introduce these new safety measures after a spate of thefts involving Tesla vehicles in the United States, particularly California.

Tesla will also introduce a ‘Sentry Mode’. First reported on yesterday, it will monitor the vehicle’s environment when it’s parked. If the sensors detect a potential threat, the cameras across the car will start recording and the alarm system will be triggered. It is hoped that this system will discourage would-be thieves from breaking into Tesla vehicles – and even if it doesn’t, there will at least be footage of the individual committing the crime, which could help the authorities identify and capture him/her.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk recently took to Twitter to say that Sentry Mode could be introduced as early as this week, along with the Dog Mode that, despite its name, aims to aid not just dogs left in hot cars, but kids, too.