Man caught on camera keying Tesla Model 3 in NSW

Footage of a Ford Falcon ute driver keying a Tesla Model 3 in a NSW car park has gone viral on social media platform Twitter (now known as X) – and the victim of the unprovoked vandalism has blamed the futile behaviour on the “insane” hatred towards electric cars.

Naomi Testa said she left her Model 3 in a car park in the coastal city of Wollongong south of Sydney, and returned to find a short scratch next to the handle on the front passenger-side door.

Using Tesla’s ‘Sentry Mode’ in-built security monitoring system, the vehicle’s cameras automatically detected and captured the man approaching the vehicle and using his keys to scratch the side of the electric car.

Ms Testa shared the footage on her Twitter/X account, writing: “Honestly the amount of hatred Teslas get is insane.”

“[H]ad my Model 3 keyed a few days ago and it just goes to show you someone’s true morals and ethics when they think they are not being watched. You don’t mess with someone else’s stuff,” she added.

The video has received almost three million views and hundreds of comments.

Unfortunately, Ms Testa said her car’s cameras failed to capture the licence plate on the vandal’s vehicle, which was parked directly next to her Model 3.

“He sat in the car for a few minutes before he left and it didn’t trigger Sentry when he left,” Ms Testa said on Twitter.

However, since sharing the video, Ms Testa claims she’s been contacted by someone who claims they are able to identify the vandal, and has passed this information onto NSW Police.

It’s not the first time Tesla’s Sentry Mode functionality has captured vandals on camera.

In 2020, a woman was caught keying a Tesla Model 3 in a car park in Penrith, in Sydney’s west. A number of similar videos have been posted on Tesla social media groups in recent years.

Drive has contacted NSW Police about the incident and will update this story with a response.