Two Tesla drivers take off in each other’s cars in confusion

News

from Patrick Riley

March 14, 2023 | 7:49 p.m

Dude, where’s my Tesla?

Two Canadian Tesla drivers found themselves in a startling mess after their apps mistakenly allowed them to get in and out of their lookalike cars, according to a report.

Rajesh Randev, 51, used his app to enter what he thought was his white Tesla 2021 Model-3 into a parking spot in Vancouver last Tuesday and left around 2:30 p.m. to pick up his children from school, he said. he told NBC News.

Randev, an immigration consultant, became alarmed when, just minutes into the trip, he noticed a new crack in the windshield that hadn’t been there earlier that day.

He also noticed that his phone charger was missing.

A short time later, 32-year-old Mahmoud Essayeh used his app to get into what he thought was his white 2020 Model-3. Esaeyh, an Uber driver, drove a block before realizing the car wasn’t his, he told NBC.

“It was the only white Tesla in the neighborhood and the car opened up. But when I drove off, I noticed something in the car was different,” Essayeh said. “There were things inside that were not mine. I have a crack in my windshield that wasn’t there.

Esaeyh turned around and went back to the parking spot where he found the car. He called the police, fearing he would be charged with stealing the car.

“Maybe someone will call the cops, ‘Hey, my car’s stolen,’ and I’ll be in big trouble,” he said.

“Or what would have happened if he had taken my car and committed a crime or stolen something, that car would have all my information.”

Esaeyh found a medical record and a prescription in the car with Rendev’s phone number and called the stranger. Rendev, however, refused to immediately answer calls from an unknown number.

“Do you drive a Tesla?” Esaeyh wrote in a text message to Rendev, getting his attention after multiple pleas to “text me please” went unanswered, NBC reported.

“I thought maybe a customer saw me or maybe an old friend or whatever, maybe someone recognized me (walking by) and texted me?” Randev said.

“Who is this Rendev? answered.

“I think you’re driving the wrong car,” Essayeh wrote back.

Rendev stopped in an alley and saw that the rims on the car he was driving were different from his 2021 model.

“I was completely surprised,” Randev said. “I mean how is that possible? How did I get access and drive?’

Rendev picked up his children and drove back to where he had gotten into the wrong car. He, his children, and Essay laughed at the mistake.

“They (the children) were laughing together. I mean, my kids are young people, so they like computers and things like that and they were laughing,” Randev said.

“But on the other hand, they were also kind of scared, you know, how is that possible?”

Both men called Vancouver police separately, but neither filed an official report.

Esaeyh told NBC that for him, his Tesla is the main part of his livelihood.

“This is my only income,” he said. “This is how I make money and pay my rent.”

The Post reached out to Tesla Tuesday evening for comment.