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Ford reintroduces old-school climate control in Mustang Mach-E

(Credit: Ford)

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Ford has reintroduced what could now be considered the ‘old-school’ way to control climate in your vehicle. The automaker rolled out its most recent software update this week for the Mustang Mach-E, which enables knobs instead of touch-enabled sliders to control the vehicle’s climate control.

Ford’s Power Up 4.1.2 rolled out to Mustang Mach-E owners this week with various features. However, one of the most interesting was Ford’s choice to enable knob-controlled climate control, where drivers will utilize the centrally-located volume knob to control cabin temperature, fan speed, and heated seats.

“Yes, you did read that correctly,” Ford said in 4.1.2 release notes. “The volume knob can now be used to control the cabin temperature, fan speed, and heated seats. To use these new controls, just tap the temperature, fan or heated-seat screen control once, which will enable control of the feature when turning the volume knob. Then take it for a spin and stop when you reach your comfort zone.”

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The decision by Ford to move ahead with the reintroduction of a physical knob to control climate is out of the ordinary for the electric vehicles of the past, present, and future. While some electric vehicle owners have now grown used to the minimalistic designs that automakers have adopted, others have not. Although dials, knobs, and buttons may not fit the mold of the futuristic stereotypes many consumers have held for electric cars, they do offer a bit of convenience.

The knob being used for climate control allows drivers to cool or heat their cabin by simply twisting the highly-accessible adjustor. It will no longer require dividing attention between the task of driving and sorting through various prompts and screens to accomplish this task.

Some may see it as backtracking in interior EV design, but it creates a fast and efficient way to change the air temperature in your vehicle. Turning the air up or down a few degrees should not take more than a few seconds to complete, nor should it take the driver’s attention away from navigating the vehicle by any means.

Tesla made minimalistic interiors mainstream in EVs. Not long after the company started influencing other automakers to develop EVs did we see companies mimic Tesla’s touchscreen-dominated design. While the design is certainly personal preference and differs from one driver to the next, Mustang Mach-E owners having the built-in volume dial allowed the automaker the open-ended option of adding this feature after the vehicle was initially released. Vehicles that have completely axed buttons, knobs, and switches altogether will unfortunately not have this luxury.

As vehicles continue to become more advanced, companies will be forced to spar with the idea that their revolutionary new interiors may not fit the model of “classic” features that many drivers still find useful. Luckily for Ford, the volume knob was an idea candidate for easy climate control, and a simple Over-the-Air software update solved the issue without any true difficulty.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla top exec Tom Zhu highlights Elon Musk’s “prime directive” for FSD

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Credit: Tesla AI/X

Tesla Senior Vice President for Automotive Tom Zhu, a key executive behind the company’s success in China and Giga Texas, recently highlighted the “prime directive” of Full Self-Driving (FSD).

Zhu’s comments emphasize Tesla’s uncompromising focus on safety, which has made the company’s vehicles among the safest on the road.

Echoing Musk’s vision for safe autonomous driving

Zhu’s post quoted Musk’s statement from 2021, where the CEO reportedly stated that FSD must avoid accidents even if the most ridiculous events happened in the middle of the road. Zhu stated that beyond everything, Tesla’s systems like Autopilot and FSD are designed to keep passengers safe.

“Elon said it in 2021: “For self-driving, even if the road is painted completely wrong and a UFO lands in the middle of the road, the car still cannot crash and still needs to do the right thing. The prime directive for the autopilot system is: Don’t crash. That really overrides everything. No matter what the lines say or how the road is done, the thing that needs to happen is minimizing the probability of impact while getting you to your destination conveniently and comfortably,” Zhu stated.

“The prime directive, the absolute priority, is to minimize the probability of injury to yourself or to anyone on the road, to pedestrians, or anything like that. It can’t be dependent on the road markings being correct.”

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Tesla leadership rallies behind global FSD rollout

Tom Zhu, who previously led Tesla China through its record-breaking growth phase, now oversees automotive operations worldwide. He has reportedly become a problem solver for Elon Musk over the years, with previous reports stating that he was brought in to help Giga Texas optimize its vehicle production ramp.

Zhu’s comments may sound ambitious, but FSD has proven that it values safety above all else over the years. This was highlighted recently in an incident in Australia, when a Model Y was hit by what could very well be a meteor. Despite the impact and part of its windshield melting, the vehicle was able to drive safely and keep its passengers safe.

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Elon Musk’s biggest tech rival just canceled his Tesla Roadster

“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman said.

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Tesla Roadster at Tesla Battery Day 2020 Credit: @BLKMDL3 | Twitter

Elon Musk’s biggest tech rival just canceled his reservation for a Tesla Roadster, the supercar the company has been developing for nearly eight years.

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, announced on X on Thursday evening that he canceled his Tesla Roadster reservation, or at least is trying to:

Altman placed his Tesla Roadster reservation with a $50,000 deposit way back on July 11, 2018. However, he recently decided that he had waited long enough and decided to email the company to officially cancel the order.

“Hi, I’d like to cancel my reservation. Could you please refund me the $50k?” Altman emails to reservations@tesla.com.

He then received an immediate response, but not from Tesla. Instead, it was a bounce-back message from Google, stating that the message could not be delivered to the email because it was not active.

Altman then provided a reason for his cancellation, and it was not related to the intense rivalry he had with Elon Musk:

“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.”

Altman and Musk have a lengthy history with one another that dates back to 2015, when OpenAI was created. The feud has resulted in lawsuits over breaching founding agreements by prioritizing profits.

Musk has been especially critical in recent years because of Altman’s decision to turn OpenAI into a for-profit business that he says is “built on a lie.”

This year, Musk offered over $97 billion to buy OpenAI, and a judge blocked his request to stop the company from being converted into a for-profit in March.

OpenAI then countersued Musk in April, while xAI, Musk’s company, sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing secrets through poached employees in September.

Elon Musk explains why xAI sued OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft

Regarding the Roadster, Tesla has been developing it for several years and has delayed its release for five consecutive years. The company says it will have a demo of what it has changed since it was unveiled in 2017 later this year, but no date has been set quite yet.

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Neuralink’s first human patient reflects on 21 months with brain implant “Eve”

He credited Neuralink and Elon Musk for giving him “the opportunity to be the first,” as the experience has been life-changing.

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Credit: Neuralink

Nolan Arbaugh, the first person to receive Neuralink’s brain implant, shared his 21-month update this week, reflecting on how far he’s come since his groundbreaking surgery. 

Arbaugh, who became paralyzed after a diving accident, stated that his Neuralink implant, which he fondly calls “Eve,” continues to transform his daily life.

Arbaugh celebrates Neuralink’s progress

In his post on X, Arbaugh revealed that his hands-on involvement with Neuralink has decreased as more participants have joined the program. “The team might call me to test something once in a blue moon,” he wrote, adding that he’s happy to see others experience the technology’s full potential, from operating robotic arms to typing on keyboards with thought alone.

He credited Neuralink and Elon Musk for giving him “the opportunity to be the first,” as the experience has been life-changing. Despite a recent pressure sore that temporarily kept him bedridden, Arbaugh noted that he is still very optimistic, describing his journey as one of resilience, faith, and gratitude. He also teased “big news” coming for his two-year update in early 2026.

Studies and a growing public speaking career 

These days, Arbaugh stated that he is focused on his studies in neuroscience, taking full-semester courses in chemistry, biology, and pre-calculus while earning top grades. He credited “Eve” for making school possible again, as his current academic workload would have been “impossible without Neuralink.” Arbaugh stated that he has also begun building a speaking business after delivering a paid talk at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference.

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“At the beginning of September I attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, as a paid speaker. That sentence seemed like an impossibility two years ago. But it’s just the beginning. My business is built, my legal is near complete, I’m surrounding myself with a team of amazing folks, and I plan on speaking once or twice a month in the same fashion beginning as soon as January. 

“Conferences, interviews, podcasts—you name it, and I want to be there spreading the word about how amazing this technology is, the growth it’s experiencing, the possibilities of the future, and how it has so deeply affected my life,” Arbaugh stated.

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