Significant rewards were earned by researchers on the second day of the Pwn2Own Automotive 2025 hacking competition organized this week by Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) in Tokyo, Japan. 

A total of $335,500 was paid out on the second day of the event, which, with the $382,750 awarded on the first day, brings the total to $718,250.

Of the second day’s total, $129,500 was earned for exploits targeting Tesla’s Wall Connector charger. 

One team earned $50,000 — the maximum amount for hacking the Tesla Wall Connector — for taking over the device and crashing it. 

Another team earned $45,000 for what ZDI described as an inventive Tesla charger exploit that leveraged the charging connector. 

Two other teams earned $22,500 and $12,500 rewards for hacking Tesla EV chargers — the amounts are smaller because the exploits involved previously known bugs.  

One more attempt to hack the Tesla Wall Connector is scheduled for Friday, which could add another $50,000 to the $129,500, if the exploit is successful.

Other significant rewards were earned on the second day for Wolfbox ($50,000), Phoenix Contact ($25,000), Autel ($23,000) EV charger exploits. 

At Pwn2Own Automotive 2025, no one is scheduled to attempt a Tesla vehicle hack, for which the organizers had been prepared to hand out a car and up to $500,000 in cash for an autopilot exploit.

At last year’s event, participants earned a total of $1.3 million for exploits targeting Teslas, EV chargers and infotainment systems.

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