Tesla Model 3 owner has chip to start car implanted in her body

Some Tesla owners wear their brand loyalty on their sleeve. This Tesla owner wears it deep under her sleeve, implanted into her arm.

The Drive brings us the story of maker-of-things Aimee DD, a software engineer whose list of interests includes body modifications. She saw a way to mingle those two topics after she bought her Tesla Model 3. She already had a chip planted in one arm, which she uses for tasks such as unlocking her front door. So the car’s RFID key card got her thinking, much as any of us would: Hey, why not put that thing in my other arm? They chip dogs, don’t they?

 Aimees says she “talked to a few doctors, and they were a bit leery about doing this.” Huh, you don’t say. So she wound up lining up a fellow named “Pineapple”: 

From there, we really suggest you let Aimee tell it, in videos (above and below) that explain how she extracted the chip from the card, had it sealed in a biosafe polymer — which by the way looks a whole lot bulkier to implant than the bare chip itself — and then let Pineapple do his thing. The videos do a good job of telling the tale, but note to the squeamish, this shows the actual surgery:

Epilogue: The chip works, but range is an issue. She has to place her arm within an inch of the Tesla’s center console for its sensors to detect it and start the car. In other words, don’t expect to see new-owner outpatient surgery at Tesla storefronts any time soon.