This intrepid bug bounty hunter is splicing together Tesla parts from crashed cars, and has somehow managed to build a semi-working computer system on their desk
When I retire (who am I kidding), I'd like to have a proper workshop. I've always been a tinkerer, someone who likes to take apart bits of engineering to see exactly how they work. Which is why I feel a certain kinship with David Schütz, who's been cracking open Tesla Model 3 computers on their desk in an effort to participate in the company's bug bounty program.
Schütz managed to get hold of a Tesla Model 3 Media Control Unit (MCU) on Ebay, albeit one pulled from the innards of a crashed car. Fitting it with an adjustable 10 A power supply, they then purchased a Model 3 screen for the surprisingly reasonable sum of $175.
The cables linking the two were more difficult to find. However, a widely-used cable more often found in BMW video units had similar connectors, so Schütz went for the "order it and see" method. I knew we'd be pals.
Our intrepid bug hunter found that Tesla publishes electrical reference diagrams for all of its cars, so was able to power up the computer with relatively little effort. The MCU was also connected to a laptop via an ethernet cable, which allowed some networking access as the "vehicle", rather hilariously, seems to be convinced that it's parked.
However, disaster was yet to come. Remember that BMW-compatible cable? Unfortunately for Schütz, the connectors were too thick to plug into the screen, resulting in the need to strip some wires—which in turn shed debris over the PCB, shorting out a crucial chip.
Back to the drawing board, then. A second computer was purchased—but a friend eventually identified the exact step-down controller that was fried in the original box, which was then duly installed on the broken MCU at a local PCB repair shop. Two computers, no great luck in connecting them to the screen.
Eventually an entire Tesla wiring harness was ordered, and the full loom was strewn across a desk in order to get the computer and screen to talk to each other and boot. And it does! The result is an unholy mess of tangled cables and salvaged components, but hey, now the real work can begin.
Schütz says that now the system is operational, they can now start playing with the user interface, with the goal being to interact with the networking elements, explore the CAN busses, and eventually, to extract the firmware.
It's this sort of dedication that makes me want to raise a flag, salute, and wipe a single tear from my eye. Carry on, brave scrapper. In the apocalypse that's yet to come, we're going to need people like you.