Lifestyle
Tesla community mobilizes to help in Elon Musk’s end-of-Q2 push: Here’s why they do it
Tesla volunteers are mobilizing once more to help the electric car maker deliver as many vehicles as it can before the end of the second quarter. These volunteer-driven initiatives are happening not only in the United States, but in foreign territories as well. Earlier this month, for example, reports emerged stating that Tesla owners from Beijing are volunteering their time and effort to help the company hand over electric cars to new buyers.
This remarkable community-driven initiative initially started out of necessity amidst Tesla’s efforts to hit profitability back in Q3 2018, but it quickly evolved into something of a tradition among electric car enthusiasts. For some Tesla owners, volunteering their time and helping the company is a worthwhile endeavor, and it is something that they do not mind doing every quarter. This is true for the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley group, who visited three Tesla locations this Friday to deliver over 100 donuts for the electric car maker’s employees.
For John, the president of the group, doing something as simple as sharing food for the company’s workers goes a long way, particularly at the current time where the narrative surrounding the company is persistently negative. “We love the Tesla brand. Unfortunately, the media is cutting them down any chance they get. It’s like kicking a horse that’s down. We do small things like volunteering at the delivery center and giving donuts to show our appreciation,” he wrote in a message to Teslarati.
Tesla’s volunteer-driven end-of-quarter initiatives are incredibly unique simply because they caught on despite the pervading negativity around the company. When Elon Musk initially responded positively to owner-enthusiast Ryan McCaffrey’s suggestion that the company accept help from volunteers last year, Tesla was mocked incessantly. Auto-themed website Jalopnik, for one sarcastically dubbed the community-driven program as a way for the billionaire Musk to tap into “free labor from generous, giving fans.” Undeterred, the community helped nonetheless, and it resulted in Tesla posting a profit in Q3 2018.
Perhaps critics find it difficult to rationalize why regular Tesla owners are open to volunteering their time and effort to help the electric car maker. In this sense, it appears that one must have a personal encounter with one of the company’s creations to understand why Tesla commands such a strong following, both among owners and enthusiasts alike.
Marques Brownlee, a Model S owner better known on YouTube as MKBHD, noted that it is really all about the product when it comes to Tesla. Narrating his experiences with the company in a message to Teslarati, the prolific tech YouTuber, who has used and reviewed his own fair share of hyped products over the years, noted that he became comfortable talking about Tesla when he developed a passion for its electric cars. “The main thing that got me to talk about Tesla is the product itself. The company could have all the hype in the world, and all the greatest incentives, but if the product didn’t live up to it, everything would fall flat for me. But testing and now owning the car was all it took for me to develop a passion for the product, just like I have for many other tech products in the past,” Brownlee wrote in a message to Teslarati.
Tesla owner-enthusiast and Ride the Lightning podcast host Ryan McCaffrey is on the same camp. Being an enthusiast long before he owned his Model 3 Performance, McCaffrey stated that there is just something unique and remarkable about the company’s creations. “It’s the products. No one would care as deeply about Tesla as many in the community do if the products weren’t incredible. It’s why one test drive is all it takes to convert so many new owners. It’s an instant, oh-my-goodness-this-is-amazing experience,” he wrote.
Some owners even go above and beyond with their efforts to introduce new electric car buyers to the Tesla ecosystem. Among these is longtime Tesla owner Vivianna Van Deerlin, who, together with her husband, created an actual “Tesla Boot Camp” program for new owners. For the Van Deerlins, Tesla has become much more than a simple company that just happens to make excellent, compelling electric cars. “The company inspires us because they have a mission (that’s) important for humanity. It is bigger than just the corporation,” Vivianna wrote.
A look at the later portions of Tesla’s 2019 Annual Shareholder Meeting shows that similar sentiments run across the company’s investors. During the Q&A portion of the meeting, several shareholders brought up the issue of the overwhelmingly negative narrative surrounding the company, and it showed a level of empathy for a company that rarely seen. Some even personally offered to help address the misinformation surrounding Tesla. Musk admitted that the constant negativity thrown at Tesla is distressing, though he, together with CTO JB Straubel and VP for Tech Drew Baglino, thanked the shareholders for being the electric car maker’s line of defense. “Customer testimony and referrals are the key to our sales,” Musk said.
So what is it really about Tesla that makes it easy for owners to become enthusiasts? Perhaps it is the company’s mission of accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy, or perhaps it is the flourishing community that has, in multiple instances, shown empathy towards its members. Regardless, it appears that Tesla, at this point, has pretty much become an idea; one that represents the possibility of a more sustainable future. And as history would show us, it takes far more than an aggressively negative narrative to bring down an idea.
Lifestyle
Tesla teases “Halloween Mode” update with Optimus rising from a graveyard
Tesla’s Halloween teaser hides a covered vehicle and an Optimus hand rising from the ground.
Tesla has started teasing a Halloween software update for its vehicles, with a short clip on X that reads, “Halloween is coming.” The clip opens on a glowing pumpkin before pulling back to the car’s center touchscreen, where the usual parked visualization has been replaced by a graveyard scene, and the vehicle draped with a white sheet so it reads as a cartoon ghost.
Halloween is coming pic.twitter.com/lM3ASUeOqX
— Tesla (@Tesla) October 1, 2026
The second detail is a robotic hand clawing its way out of the dirt like a zombie, which looks to be the hand of Tesla’s latest Optimus V3 humanoid robot. While Tesla still has not formally shown Optimus Gen 3 walking around in service, renders pulled from Tesla’s Android app last month gave the clearest look yet, including far more refined hands that Tesla has said carry 22 degrees of freedom. The hand has been the hardest part of the program. Musk has called it the majority of the robot’s engineering difficulty, and Tesla’s patents describe a design driven by tendons with the actuators moved into the forearm.
Tesla Optimus V3 hand and arm details revealed in new patents
Optimus also has a Halloween track record. Last October the robot handed out candy in Times Square, and a costumed “zombie” Optimus shuffled around the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles on Halloween night.
On the software side, Tesla’s 2025 Holiday Update expanded Santa Mode with a Santa sleigh, snowmen, snow effects, and a festive lock chime, so it wouldn’t be too far fetched if we saw something similar but themed for a Halloween Mode.
Lifestyle
Tesla’s newest feature lets you floor it out of a Supercharger while plugged in
Tesla’s new Emergency Drive Away feature lets owners flee a Supercharger while still plugged in.
Tesla has given drivers a way to escape while a vehicle is plugged-in at a Supercharger, in the event of an emergency. The company’s charging team announced a new feature on X called Emergency Drive Away, which lets a driver shift into Drive and pull away while the charging cable is still connected to the car.
Until now, a Tesla would not leave Park with a charge cable plugged in. Drivers had to release the latch from the touchscreen, the Tesla app, or the button on the charge handle, then wait for the port to let go. Emergency Drive Away removes that lockout, but Tesla is clear that it comes at a cost. “Use of this feature will damage your vehicle and the Supercharger,” the company wrote, adding that the function is meant for emergencies only and that deliberate misuse will lead to “additional penalties.” Tesla did not say what those penalties are.
Emergency Drive Away lets you shift into Drive while still plugged into a Supercharger pic.twitter.com/40GSzyP4lG
— Tesla Charging (@TeslaCharging) October 1, 2026
The in-car prompt is just as direct, with the warning reading: “Driving with the cable connected will cause damage to your vehicle and the Supercharger. Short camera recordings will be shared with Tesla.” That footage gives Tesla a way to separate a real emergency from someone who simply did not want to wait for the latch.
The feature requires software update 2026.38.3, and Tesla said in replies to owners that it works at every Supercharger in the United States without new stall hardware. Model S and Model X vehicles built before 2021 are not supported, and the company says the feature applies to U.S. Superchargers “for now,” leaving Canada and other markets out at launch.
Tesla Supercharger argument leads to tragic shooting incident
Tesla did not tie the announcement to any specific event, but it arrives two months after a gunman opened fire at an In-N-Out in Twin Falls, Idaho, on August 1, targeting three people in two Teslas at the neighboring Supercharger. One of them, a 66 year old man from Salt Lake City, was killed. Superchargers have been the scene of violence before, including a fatal shooting at a station near Denver in 2023.
In the weeks after Twin Falls, owners pushed Tesla for a native way to escape a stall, and many pointed back to EVject, the aftermarket breakaway connector Tesla sued in 2024 over claims it lacked overtemperature protection. The two companies later reached an agreement that led EVject to recall its earlier connectors in favor of a version with thermal sensors.
Our mission has always been about providing peace of mind and eliminating sitting duck scenarios.
We patented the built-in breakaway charger tip on Feb 15, 2023. Awarded Jan 30, 2024. Then shared the designs with @TeslaCharging
Thank you @Tesla for rolling out a solution. This… https://t.co/djOzswLw9N
— EVject (@EVject) October 2, 2026
Tesla’s Automatic Collision Evasion feature can be seen in one of the first owner videos of it in action.
Tesla owner Spencer (@scotsrule08) posted on Monday that the feature “worked flawlessly,” saying FSD reengaged itself just as he was about to hit a curb. Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla’s AI team, shared the clip and wrote, “A guardian angel always looking out for you.”
The video arrives in the middle of a staged rollout. Tesla first shipped Automatic Collision Evasion with FSD (Supervised) v14.3.9 in software update 2026.27.6 earlier this month, which Teslarati covered as it reached cars. Update 2026.27.10, which began going out on September 19, carried the feature improvements with FSD v14.3.10, according to release notes tracked by Not a Tesla App. The newer 2026.27.11 build is now reaching another wave of vehicles.
The new Automatic Collision Evasion feature worked flawlessly! FSD reengaged itself just as I was about to hit a curb.
Kudos @Tesla_AI team! 👏 pic.twitter.com/Fbp15HhpL2
— Spencer (@scotsrule08) September 28, 2026
The feature only runs on HW4 vehicles, and it requires an active FSD purchase or subscription with both FSD (Supervised) and Automatic Emergency Braking enabled. HW3 owners receive FSD v14.2 Lite in the same updates, but that build does not include collision evasion.
Tesla’s release notes describe two triggers. The first is an imminent frontal collision that braking alone may not prevent, in which case the car can activate FSD to steer, brake or accelerate around the hazard. That scenario is limited to highways below 85 mph, with no pedestrians or cyclists detected and no slippery road surface. The second covers a driver who appears inattentive, such as reaching into the back seat, or who seems to have switched off FSD by accident. Spencer’s curb clip appears to fall into that second category.
Tesla plans big safety improvements for Full Self-Driving v15
Once the system takes over, the accelerator is muted and light brake input will not cancel the maneuver. Drivers need to apply firm, deliberate steering force to take back control, and the car chimes to hand control back once the danger has passed.
Elluswamy recently noted that earlier hazard prediction, faster reaction time and better collision avoidance would arrive with FSD v15, the next major version.
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