Tesla Adds Emergency Drive-Away Override for Charging Cars

Tesla has rolled out a software feature that lets owners pull away from a charging stall without first unplugging, a change the company framed as a safety override. The catch: the charging handle is designed to snap free and drop to the pavement, and both the car’s charge port and the cable are expected to take damage. Because of that, the function is meant strictly for emergencies.

The mechanics are simple enough. A Tesla normally locks the connector into the port and blocks the car from being shifted into drive while charging. With the new “emergency drive away” option, a driver can shift into drive anyway, at which point the car displays a confirmation prompt asking them to verify that they truly need to leave immediately. Once confirmed, the vehicle pulls away and the handle breaks off.

Tesla says the feature is limited to the United States for the time being and warned that deliberately abusing it will bring “additional penalties,” though the company did not say what those penalties would look like.

The update follows a mass shooting in August at a Supercharger site in Twin Falls, Idaho, where a 24-year-old gunman wounded seven people and killed four before taking his own life. One of the wounded was a Tesla owner who had been charging at the station. In the weeks since, owners have pressed Tesla for a way to escape a charging bay quickly. Tesla did not reference the shooting in its announcement. A third-party startup, EVject, had previously marketed a breakaway adapter for the same purpose; Tesla sued over overheating concerns and later dropped the case.