Will car technology see the end of stolen vehicles?

Car thieves may become a thing of the past after a Tesla owner managed to track down their stolen vehicle when someone tried to take off from a garage.

After attending a concert in Vancouver, Canada, the owner, Katya Pinkowski discovered her Tesla had been hijacked from an underground parking area. One phone call later to her husband, Cary Pinkowski, and the car was immediately located.

Through the power of Tesla's official smartphone app, Cary was able to track the car's exact movements, and so provided the police with directions on where to find the thief so they could coordinate an arrest.

Although the app also allows you to remotely honk the horn and open the sunroof, the Pinkowskis decided to play it safe and get the motor back to the rightful owners.

After the recovery Cary Pinkowski told The Province: "It's a huge testimonial for Tesla," before adding "I think it's the way of the future, that within five years all cars will be tracked, so the days of stealing cars are going to come to an end."

Tesla App

And she may be right. As Tesla are not the only manufacturer to use vehicle tracking, Mercedes-Benz and GM also use this feature, it is only likely that more and more will begin to incorporate tracking into their future models.

In April earlier this year it was revealed by the Office for National Statistics that the number of vehicle theft has fallen to the lowest tally in 48 years - with 69,547 stolen vehicles recorded in the UK last year. One can only assume that this number would continue to fall if, or when other popular models are fitted with tracking devices.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) are also singing from the same hymn sheet of Cary Pinkowski. In April, Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT said: "Thanks to significant investments in the latest security systems, vehicle thefts across the UK are at the lowest levels for decades.

Find out how securing your car's safety could save you on insurance costs

However, before Hawes gets excited at the prospect of the extinction of car thieves he says the focus should also be on how cars are poached from their owners.

He added that the SMMT are: "Calling for better tracking of how different vehicles are stolen so that we have an an accurate understanding of how criminals are operating and can develop future technology to eradicate vehicle crime."

Despite the progress in car tracking technology, the story of how the Pinkowskis' Tesla was stolen will leave a doubt hanging over whether technology will see the end of car thieves.

The thief managed to gain access to the car by using an extra electronic key fob that was left inside the vehicle, after the couple had bought it earlier in the week.

Simply by approaching the car and touching its self-presenting door handles, the thief was beckoned inside, Katya Pinkowski said.

"The car opens and is going, 'Come on, sit down, let's have a ride,'" she said with a chuckle.