Tesla electric cars have a peculiarity: the performance of the vehicle and other features can be improved without having to change any parts, just through software updates. These updates are paid, updates that are hackable. Now the company has decided to start going after those who make these modifications without authorization.
Depending on the model and version, the Tesla vehicle can receive different updates to change its specifications. Sometimes more acceleration, Sometimes improvements in the autopilot, Sometimes more range. Updates are always through software, which causes peculiar situations in which Tesla has had to remove features from the basic versions, since they corresponded to the higher versions.
The vehicle is capable of having higher performance than it has by default due to the hardware you have, it has simply been limited by software. This limitation causes users to look for ways to modify the software themselves to get more performance. And they have succeeded, there are even external companies which, for half the price Tesla charges,, offer devices to perform the unlocking.
These hacks seem to have been on Tesla's radar for some time, and they have started fighting against it currently. According to Electrek, Tesla ha comenzado a notificar a los propietarios de coches que han sido modificados.
Tesla en su última actualización (2020.32.2) detecta los cambios no autorizados hechos en el vehículo y muestra una notificación de ello al propietario. “Riesgo potencial de daño o apagado” y “Modificación incompatible del vehículo detectada” son los dos mensajes que muestra. Según indica un usuario de Reddit que ha obtenido la notificación indica que el vehículo se sigue pudiendo conducir sin problemas, aunque el aviso se queda permanente ahí.
Los responsables de Ingenext(empresa la cual se encarga de vender el dispositivo que Tesla detecta como modificación no autorizada) han comentado a Electrek que están trabajando en una actualización que elimine la notificación de Tesla.