James's Youtube Of The Week - Ep2 - How to hack a Tesla Model S

Ben Krasnow runs a channel on YouTube called Applied Science. He is the kind of science teacher you wish you had at school or university. He works for Google. He has a Shed. He has a Delorean and a Tesla Model S.

Unlike so many of the Shed Folk that run YouTube channels that hack stuff, make stuff, or blow stuff up in spectacular fashion by trial and error to get a zillion subscribers, Ben is a thinker. That is a good thing - for one, it means that he won't blow himself up making hybrid rocket engines from scratch, but also he explains the details behind his projects in a way that those of us who have foggy and distant memories of physics and science can follow.

Designing products for a hack-tastic world

In the YouTube clip below Ben demonstrates how he is using some standard lab equipment to decipher the signals that control the operation of his Tesla. He also shows some workarounds (hacks) that he developed with the help of online communities to incorporate additional functionality into the cars user interface.

A fair question could be "why would a guy go to such lengths to do this?" Well, "because internet".

For those of you who aren't technically inclined, I wouldn't blame you if you don't make it through the video as Ben's monologue is not for everyone! However, there are four things that came to mind when I saw this that I believe are worth a thought:

1. End users of products can go to extraordinary lengths to complete their User Stories
2. The technology and knowledge required to reverse engineer products is more widely available at lower cost than ever before
3. Hacking around with car networks and control signals is probably more dangerous than messing with motors like in the olden days
4. Teslas are very fast

Lets have a quick look at each of these.

End users of products can go to extraordinary lengths to complete their own stories

User Stories are an easy way to explain features and problems - lets see if they can explain behaviours! Ben's User Story could be:

"As the owner of a car I want to visualise and capture data about the operation of it so that I can learn about how it works"

Racing teams rely on these insights to tune their vehicles and drivers all the time, manufacturers like Ducati offer data loggers as an accessory option for those who like to make charts of their track day heroics. So the User Story is valid - but is it in Tesla's interest to spend the time on it? How far down the backlog does this go?

Products now rely on software rather than hardware to define most of their capabilities, so hacking or "Jailbreaking" enables consumers to bypass the manufacturers' own product development cycle (and often revenue streams) to get the features they want.

Technology and knowledge required to reverse engineer products is more widely available at low cost

The oscilloscope that is doing the signal analysis here is pretty cool and at around NZ$25k, outside of the average hacker's budget. However, once the protocol has been sorted, the hardware and software is only $250 - so within a modest hackers budget.

The knowledge to bring it all together? Well, that is free. Forums of like minded people enable once tightly held IP to be distributed and augmented easily and instantly.

In years gone by you needed to have a workshop to pimp your car. Without a lathe, welder and oily tools you were very limited with what could be achieved. The tools of today are a laptop, some cables, an internet connection and time. A lot of time.

Hacking around with car networks and control signals is probably more dangerous than messing with motors

A few years ago, you would never consider the throttle cable connecting a cars accelerator to the throttle body a security risk. Physical interlocks between the transmission and the brakes prevented accidents, and as Jeep has learned through some public incidents - software and UX design is arguably not as safe as physical controls.

Although Tesla cars have a raft of new technology in them, as Ben points out the CAN bus has been used in the automotive industry for years, so it is likely that your own car has this tech baked in. There have been a number of demonstrations to show how messing with the systems can cause cars to misbehave, or be downright dangerous. Does anyone else remember when hacking tools for cars consisted of a coat hanger and screwdriver?

What is my take on this? Well - If you have teenage kids who are into tinkering with cars and you see laptops, cables, and obscure ebay packages disappear into the garage - take an interest in what they are doing! Full disclosure - this would be what I would do, but I'm a grown up! I know what I'm doing!

Tesla's are fast

The chart below shows a comparison between the performance of the flagship P100D Tesla and the P85D as tested by Ben:

The battery pack, software and price differentiate these cars by 0.5s on a 0-60mph sprint. The results are amazing.

I would take either thanks!