A group of researchers have successfully deceived Tesla 's GPS sensors , causing the car to hit an obstacle in front of it . In a worrying series of tests , the team was able to read Tesla 's various sensors using off - the - shelf radio- , sound- and light - reading tools . Although the tests were carried out on a stationary car and the equipment used was expensive , the results led to concerns about the vulnerability of electric vehicles to hacking . "This is definitely interesting and good work," says Jonathan Petit, the principal scientist at Security Innovations and a former computer science professor at the University of Cork who presented research earlier this year on deceiving the lidar sensors in Google’s autonomous vehicles. The research was carried out by the University of Carolina , Duke University and security firm Qihoo Group .
A group of researchers have successfully deceived Tesla 's GPS sensors , causing the car to hit an obstacle in front of it . In a worrying series of tests , the team was able to read Tesla 's various sensors using off - the - shelf radio- , sound- and light - reading tools . Although the tests were carried out on a stationary car and the equipment used was expensive , the results led to concerns about the vulnerability of electric vehicles to hacking . The research was carried out by the University of Carolina , Duke University and security firm Qihoo Group .