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Tesla crashes into parked fire truck, Autopilot being blamed once again
A Tesla Model S traveling at 65 mph crashed into a stationary fire truck at Interstate 405 on Monday morning. The driver of the vehicle, who was reportedly unharmed by the accident, allegedly claimed that the electric car was on Autopilot when the collision happened.
Authorities who responded to the scene stated that the driver smashed into the fire truck around 8:30 a.m. local time. While the California Highway Patrol and Culver City Fire Department has confirmed the general details of the incident, authorities explained that they could not confirm if the Tesla Model S had indeed been on Autopilot when it crashed into the stationary truck.
The firefighters also noted that they could not be sure if the electric luxury sedan slowed down in the moments before it hit the fire truck. Considering the extensive damage to the car, however, it appears like the Model S was moving at a fairly high speed when it collided with the emergency vehicle.
Source: Culver City Firefighters via Twitter
In a statement to The Mercury News, Culver City Fire Department battalion chief Ken Powell explained that the accident was quite severe, with the entire front of the Tesla Model S crushed as a result of the impact. Powell further stated that the driver of the vehicle was able to walk away from the accident unharmed. The battalion chief even noted that while the driver of the Model S seemed shaken, he showed no signs of any injuries and refused treatment.
The accident was announced to the public by the Culver City Fire Department through its official Twitter account, where the update was met with strong reactions from members of the microblogging platform. Many Tesla and non-Tesla owners, for one, noted that the incident might have been caused by driver error. After all, Tesla’s Autopilot system is an advanced driver-assistance system that does not provide fully autonomous features. Thus, the driver of the ill-fated Model S could have intervened when the electric car was heading into the parked fire truck.
Since the debut of Autopilot, Tesla has strongly urged drivers that the system is only intended to be used as a way to aid the driver. The Model S also has several fail-safes in its software system, with the electric car engaging numerous visual and auditory warnings when it senses too little interaction from the driver.
The Tesla Model S is one of the safest vehicles on the road. Due to the construction of the vehicle and the absence of a gas-powered engine, the luxury electric sedan has a large crush zone in its front. Its low center of gravity also prevents the vehicle from rolling over easily. Despite being a safe vehicle, however, the Model S and its Autopilot system met with tragedy in 2016, when Tesla owner Joshua Brown collided with a truck near Williston, Florida in a fatal accident. Nevertheless, Brown’s family eventually released a statement, saying that they do not blame the car for the loss of Joshua’s life, as there was a vital window of time when the Model S owner was not able to notice the truck his car was heading into.
Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.
Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.
This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.
Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.
Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.
The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:
“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”
Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.
“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”
I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy …
When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless. 🤷♂️
🦕 🦕
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2025
Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.
Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.
A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.
Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers
Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.
Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.
Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.
Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.
Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.
However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.
For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.
However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:
The naming change should have happened at once, instead of in 2 sequential steps. That was a big miss on our end. We do listen to the community and we do course-correct fast. The accelerated fix rolled out last night. The Tesla App is updated and most in-car touchscreens should…
— Max (@MdeZegher) November 20, 2025
The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.
Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.
Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.
Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving
