Model 3

Make
Tesla
Segment
Sedan

Aside from their all-electric powertrains, Teslas receive regular over-the-air software updates that fix issues and improve the systems overall. In addition, owners can purchase numerous other upgrades, including for improved performance, through the Tesla app. One specific example is the $2,000 Acceleration Boost for the Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor, which unlocks about 50 additional horsepower and improves 0 to 60 mph time to about 3.9 seconds. Sounds pretty cool, right? Of course, but not everyone is up for paying an additional $2k for it.

One solution to this we reported on earlier this summer came from a company called Ingenext, which sells a unique device that can unlock the same performance for half the price. Owners simply have to plug a connector to their car's MCU and the power boost is immediate. Even "Drift Mode" becomes accessible.

Needless to say, Tesla certainly didn't give Ingenext its blessing and now the automaker is taking action against this hack. According to Electrek, a few Tesla owners who purchased Ingenext's device have begun to receive an in-car notification warning them it has detected an "incompatible vehicle modification" which could possibly result in "potential risk of damage or shutdown."

Fortunately, affected owners are saying there is, so far, no damage and their vehicles still remain drivable. The owner and founder of Ingenext also confirmed a recent Tesla software update patched his company's update of the driver inverter software. So in other words, the product no longer works once the update has been done.

Ingenext has confirmed it sent out notifications to its customers warning them not to do the update. Only three owners, so far, did so before Ingenext could notify them. What does this now mean for Ingenext's customers? Will they ever be able to do this Tesla update, which likely includes additional fixes? Absolutely. Ingenext claims it will only take them up to two weeks to create a new patch, bypassing what Tesla has done.

Basically, this is going to be a regular battle between Ingenext and Tesla. Ingenext will hack the inverter and Tesla will patch the hack, then repeat all over again. Ingenext does warn customers whether or not Tesla updates will affect their product, so it's important these people stay up to date.