Tesla rolled out a 'drive away' feature it hopes ‘you never need’

Tesla has introduced a new feature called "Emergency Drive Away" that enables the vehicle to shift into drive while connected to a Supercharger station during emergencies. The update was released following a tragic incident where three people were shot at a Tesla charging station in Idaho. Tesla emphasized that this feature is intended for emergency use only and warned that its misuse could cause damage to both the vehicle and the Supercharger station.

One Tesla employee described it as "a feature we hope you never need." The feature was put into effect after the shooting at a charging station near an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho, which left three people dead, including Dale Schultz, who was inside a Tesla at the time. Tesla stated that the feature will only be available at safe Supercharger locations and that deliberate misuse will result in additional penalties.

A video demonstration showed how the Tesla will disconnect from the charging handle if the driver shifts into drive and presses an "Activate" button at the bottom of an alert message.