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Tesla Model S.

Calling all computer hackers: A Beijing security conference is offering $10,000 to the first person who successfully hacks into a Tesla Model S.

Organizers of the Symposium on Security for Asia Network (SyScan) will set up a Tesla Model S and some computers on July 16 and 17 and are inviting conference participants to crack the code of the high-tech car. The goal of the competition, according to the conference website, is to test the software safety of premium electric vehicle.

Contest details are vague but organizers told Forbes.com that the winner may be someone who is able to remotely control the car's in-dash browser, forcing it to visit specific websites or – and this would be the Holy Grail of hacks – take total physical control of it from a laptop.

Tesla is not officially involved in the competition, Forbes reports.

Meanwhile, Tesla founder Elon Musk's claim that no one has ever died in a Model S crash is no longer true.

Reuters reports that a man who stole a Model S on July 4 in Los Angeles died three days later from injuries sustained when he crashed the car into other vehicles while fleeing police during a high-speed chase. The Tesla also struck a steel pole and split in two, igniting a fire in the luxury EV, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff and Fire Department reports. The Inglewood, Calif., thief was thrown from the supercar. Seven other people were hurt in the melee.

"Despite multiple high-speed accidents, there have been no deaths or serious injuries in a Model S of any kind ever," Musk wrote in a Nov. 18, 2013, company website blog titled "The Mission of Tesla."

The Model S has the highest safety rating of any car on the road today, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which last year reaffirmed the car's five-star safety rating.

If you have questions about driving or car maintenance, please contact our experts at globedrive@globeandmail.com.

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