Tesla has introduced a new feature called “Emergency Drive Away,” which allows drivers to shift the vehicle into Drive and drive away while the vehicle is still connected to a Supercharger.
See also: Shooting at Tesla Supercharger sparks debate over EV charging safety
The update comes two months after a gunman shot three people inside Tesla vehicles at a Supercharger station in Twin Falls, Idaho. Tesla is limiting this feature to the United States only.
Tesla's charging team announced the feature on the X today with a 36-second video and a few short posts. The Emergency Drive Away feature allows you to shift into Drive while the vehicle is still connected to a Supercharger station.
Until now, a Tesla vehicle could not be moved out of Park with the charging cable plugged in. You had to unlock the charging port from the touchscreen, app, or button on the handle and wait for the mechanism to release.
The Emergency Drive Away feature removes that restriction, and Tesla isn’t pretending to be lenient. “Using this feature will cause damage to your vehicle and the Supercharger station,” the company wrote. It says the feature is for emergency situations only, and that intentional misuse will result in “additional penalties.” It didn’t specify what those penalties are.
The feature requires software update 2026.38.3, and Model S and Model X vehicles built before 2021 are not supported. When an owner asked if the stations needed new hardware, Tesla confirmed that it works at all Supercharger stations in the US. However, it is only available in the US. Tesla says the feature is available at Supercharger stations in the US “for now.”
See also: Tesla adds car vacuum cleaner to Supercharger for the first time
Tesla didn't mention the shooting in its statement, but the timing is significant. On Aug. 1, a gunman killed three people and injured seven at an In-N-Out in Twin Falls, Idaho. According to police, he opened fire on three people in two Tesla vehicles at the Supercharger station next to the restaurant, killing a 66-year-old man from Salt Lake City.
In the days that followed, Tesla owners asked for a way to escape a Supercharger station without waiting for the charging port mechanism. Many began promoting the EVject, a $299 release adapter that Tesla sued in 2024, claiming it could reach 100°C during high-current charging.
The Twin Falls incident wasn't the first fatal shooting at a Supercharger station. A Tesla driver was shot and killed at a station in Colorado in 2023.
After the Twin Falls incident, it was noted that the solution had to come from Tesla, as it controls both the car and the charger, and that it would have to be limited to prevent abuse and cover damage to the equipment. That's roughly what Tesla delivered, and it took two months.
However, it's a crude version of the idea. The expectation was that the car and the station would cut power and release the mechanism so you could drive away cleanly. Instead, Tesla removed a software restriction and warns users that they could damage the car and charger when driving away. While this is an improvement over being stuck, it's not ideal.
Additionally, the US exclusivity raises questions. Tesla claims this works at every Supercharger station in the US, and since stations in Canada use the same connector, there doesn't seem to be a material reason to limit it to the US. Tesla developed a feature to help drivers escape gunfire, but decided that, for now, only the US needed it.
See also: BMW gains access to Tesla's Supercharger network
This decision reflects the reality of gun violence in the US, and as has already been stated, the real solution lies in gun control and serious investment in mental health, not just a software update.
