The Tesla is a revolutionary disruptive car. It is the first viable long distance high performance luxury electric car on the market. It has numerous electronic IoT (Internet of Things) capabilities that make it one of the most exciting examples of IoT around. With that comes some potential vulnerabilities.

1. Tesla, a good IOT Case Study
John Mathon
WSO2, VP Enterprise Product
Strategy
March 20, 2014

3. IOT Features of Tesla model S
1) The Tesla has a persistent
3G cell connection to the
internet that is paid for
gratis by Tesla. This makes
it one of the “Internet of
Things” It also has Wifi,
bluetooth and garage door
opener built in.
2) The car has an API! Tesla
API
3) The car can provide
Geolocation information
4) The car has attitude (angle)
and various other sensors
for acceleration
5) The car has a camera (in the
back)
6) The car could be lethal to
both passengers and others
if it were hacked
inappropriately

4. IOT Features of Tesla model S
7) Tesla has reportedly
formed an early warning
threat detection and
reward system to reward
hackers who discover
vulnerabilities in the cars
security
8) The car can detect the
presence of a key fob
within a small distance of
the vehicles perimeter
9)Virtually all aspects of the
cars functionality are
digitized and theoretically
available for inspection and
utilization including energy
use, positions of wheels,
brakes and emergency
brake, climate system, seat
positions, mirrors, door
handles …

5. IOT Features of Tesla model S
10) The car has an “App
framework” that allows
developers to build apps to
run in the car. This will be
enabled in late 2014 with
the addition of a Chrome
browser and android app
compatibility. Currently
there are only a couple
internet music apps that
are built into the car.
11) The car has a browser
with geolocation capability
and a map application
12) The car has a horn, lights
for external signaling that
can be controlled remotely

6. IOT Features of Tesla model S
13) The car can be woken up
from a sleep low energy
state over the air and
booted up at any time
needed to query or operate
the car
14) The car can take in new
versions of its software and
firmware and upgrade itself
automatically.
15) the car has a 17″
touchscreen console for
controlling all functions
and a video console for the
drivers speedometer and
other driving information

7. IOT Features of Tesla model S
16) The car has a smart charging system that can
adapt to almost any electrical source that is plugged
into the car. Adapters for things like RV hookups,
Clothes dryer plugs as well as standard 110V and
220V configurations are supported. The car can
also accept up to 500Amps of current in DC mode
for quick charging. It has the ability to regulate the
power consumed to the capability of the line it is
connected to and to reduce consumption as the
batteries can accept as well as allowing the user to
designate lower power levels and even a timer to
control when it starts charging.

8. Functionality of the Car Itself

9. Functionality of the Tesla Model S
o The slowest version of
the Tesla model S is as
fast or faster than any
luxury sedan in the
world.
o The performance
version of the Tesla
model S is as fast as any
sports car available.
The new D model has 2
motors, 4wheel drive
and goes 0-60 in 4secs
o The Telsa Model S gets
90-100 MPG while
capable of this kind of
performance.

10. Safety
o Nobody has been
seriously injured or
killed in a Tesla yet
o NTSA gives the car its
highest rating possible 5
stars but in fact the
Tesla tested the safest
ever recorded
o Reportedly the Tesla
took more than the
weight of 4 Tesla
stacked on its roof
before the crushing
machine ran out of
steam.
o the car reportedly broke
the flipping machine as
well

11. Range; Battery
o Range is between 150-
400 miles depending on
driving conditions and
battery choice.
o The car can be recharged with
almost any input from 110V to
dryer plugs, RV plugs, standard
J1772 plugs, NEMA standard
plugs at 220V and different
amperages in 4-30 hours
depending on source.
o There are hundreds of Tesla
supercharging stations around
the country that will charge the
car 50% in 20 minutes. These are
placed strategically about 120
miles apart to insure any Tesla
can traverse between any two
supercharging stations. Charging
is free at Tesla facilities.
o Tesla offers a battery lender
program so that you can get a
fresh battery in 90 seconds at
stations.

12. Revolutionary Service
o The car has no belts, spark plugs,
transmission fluids and far fewer
moving parts subject to wear
than an ICE (Internal combustion
engine) leading to minimal
maintenance cost leading some
to argue the loss of millions of
jobs in the ICE service industry.
o “Fueling” the car at home or at
work or in garages could cause
loss of millions of jobs at “liquid
dinosaur” stations.
o The car can be upgraded
online from Tesla with
improvements and fixes.
Fixes have included safety
improvements, driving
improvements as well as
efficiency improvements
and luxury features added
after the fact for free by
Tesla.
o Tesla supports an at home
service option

13. Future
o Later in 2014 Tesla is
planning on opening up
the Android App
capability allowing a
diverse set of apps to
operate in the car.
o The Tesla comes with an API:
http://docs.timdorr.apiary.io/
o Functions available from the API
include:
o Open and close the roof, start and
stop charging, operate climate
controls, find location, operate
flashers, horn, open car or lock,
pop the trunks

14. o Functions Available in
documented API today:
o Get operations:
o state of car
o Location
o Set Operations
o Horn, Lights flash
o Charging
o Functions we know car has but
aren’t part of documented API:
o Energy use, acceleration, angle,
velocity
o Steering, braking, accelerator,
Park reverse drive, power brake
o Camera
o Sensors for proximity
o Suspension System
o Media, sound system, web
browser, bluetooth, wifi,
homelink
o Seating position and control

15. Apps in the car (internal)
o The car comes with the
following apps:
o Navigation
o Energy
o Camera
o Settings/Controls
o Media
o Phone
o Calendar
o Browser
o Slacker
o TuneIn
o Potentially interesting apps not
announced:
o Waze
o Uber Driver 
o Pandora/Spotify/Audible/Shazam…
o Parking payment
o Yelp
o Glympse
o Enhanced Camera App
o Chargepoint
o Calculator
o Voice Messaging (Heytell)
o Kayak

16. Potential Vulnerabilities
o Failure of Existing Apps
o unexpected behavior or distracting
behavior
o Failure of New External Apps
o Unexpected behavior or distracting
behavior
o API vulnerabilities
o Privacy issues around data
availability
o Lack of 2 factor authentication
o Security Measures
o Unknown what Tesla has
engineered
o Potential Problems
o Access to secure data
o Unexpected behavior or
distracting behavior
o Failure of onboard systems
o Corruption, malware, spying
o Taking control of the car

17. Summary
o Good Points
o Environmental friendly
o Very Fast and fun to drive
o Long range
o Safest car ever built
o No one ever injured or killed
o Auto Update and upgrade
o Minimal Maintenance / At home
o New Interface and usability benefits
o Remote API/Operation
o Supercharging network
o Extended Warranties
o Persistent free data service
o App integration and big screen
o Spacious
o Bad Points
o Unknown vulnerabilities
Including the possibility
of gaining control of the
car, private information
and causing accidents
o Can take 8 hours to
charge
o New car unknowns

18. John Mathon
johnmathon.wordpress.com
twitter: @john_mathon
Disclaimer: I own a Tesla