The incident was caught by the Tesla's own cameras and posted to social media.
The incident was caught by the Tesla's own cameras and posted to social media.
A 4-year-old girl was sleeping inside a Tesla when a balaclava-clad man attacked the Model 3 car in either a road rage or failed carjacking attempt in suburban Auckland on Tuesday.
The child’s father was driving to buy food for his mum about 7.30pm when the incident occurred on Ngapipi Rd, Ōrākei, with the electric vehicle’s video footage showing the alleged assailant’s futile attempts to grasp its retractable handles.
The footage sparked a slew of mocking comments after it was shared on Reddit and Facebook.
“His sausage fingers couldn’t grasp the retracted door handles,” motoring journalist Gavin Shoebridge wrote after posting a clip to his Facebook page Kiwi EV Adventures.
“It’s not the first time those clever handles have prevented crime. Good job, Tesla.”
The incident was “a serious matter”, the Tesla’s owner said.
“It’s kind of funny that this guy didn’t pass the IQ test on how to open the door. But on the other side it’s quite a serious matter in that there was a genuine threat … and that this s*** is starting to happen in Auckland.”
The incident actually began a few kilometres earlier when the man began tailgating him and was “basically just driving like an idiot”, said the driver, who did not want to be identified.
The man was driving his Nissan SUV within two metres of the Tesla and there had been no provocation, the driver said.
“I was in a sign-written vehicle with a child, I wasn’t going to drive in a manner that would compromise [us], or be a nuisance to the public.”
After accelerating to get away, the driver eventually had to stop at a red light – at which point the man caught up to him.
“So there are two cars in front of me facing the red light and then he gets out of the car with a balaclava on and starts trying to smash the car … with his fist.
He didn’t know whether the man wanted to steal the car, or attack him, the driver said.
“I think the main intention was to intimidate.”
He felt more frustrated than afraid, unable to “pull a manoeuvre and kind of push him out of the way” because his daughter was in the car, the driver said.
Video from the Tesla showed the incident as it unfolded on Ngapipi Rd in the central Auckland suburb of Ōrākei.
Modern vehicles such as his locked automatically when being driven, and the man didn’t manage to smash the window and gain entry, the driver said.
“It’s annoying because it’s under my insurance excess. So I’ve got to find some other way of getting him to pay for it.”
Fortunately, his daughter slept through the ordeal, which ended when the lights turned green as the driver was calling 111.
“The cars in front of me went and I just drove from there … you can see from the footage he obviously gave up and then probably made his way back to his car.
“But by then I was long gone.”
The driver later reported the incident to police at Henderson in person, but has had no response yet, he said.
They were aware of the alleged incident, a police spokesman said.
“[Police are] in the very early stages of an investigation,” he said.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
