There are times when small gestures could mean the difference between a company that cares and a company that simply treats its customers as numbers on a balance sheet. Just recently, Tesla proved that it is an example of the former, with CEO Elon Musk notifying a wheelchair bound Model 3 customer that the electric car maker will be installing a power liftgate on his all electric sedan — and the upgrade will be on the house.
The story of the Model 3 customer, which was related through a letter, was shared by the Tesla China Twitter account. Writing to the company, the customer noted that the Model 3 had been his dream car since April 2016, when he placed a reservation for the all electric sedan. Unfortunately, tragedy struck in 2018 when he met an accident, resulting in a spinal injury.
After the accident, the Model 3 customer lost his ability to use his legs. Confined to a wheelchair and with his dream car seemingly out of his grasp, the EV enthusiast opted to cancel his Model 3 order. His dream to own a Tesla Model 3 seemed dashed until he returned to work and learned that his wheelchair did not fully deter him from doing his job properly.
His experience at work led him to dream of regaining his ability to drive. He firmly set a goal to apply for a C5 license in China, which is used by individuals with special needs. The Model 3 owner successfully received his C5 license in 2019, and when it was time to look for a vehicle, he immediately gravitated towards Tesla’s midsize sedan.
Unfortunately, the imported Model 3 was out of his price range then. The Tesla fan decided to get BYD Qin ProDM instead, since it was affordable and it also had a feature like Smart Summon. In the long run, though, BYD’s Smart Summon-like feature could not handle certain slopes, which proved inconvenient. And thus, the idea of revisiting the Model 3 was in order.
Fortunately, Gigafactory Shanghai had started producing the MIC Model 3 at the time, and it was available for a reasonable price. The Tesla enthusiast did not hesitate this time around. He pulled the trigger on a Long Range RWD variant of the locally made sedan. His vehicle will have basic Autopilot, which should help make driving easier. However, he opted to not order the Full Self Driving suite, at least for now, or at least until a good payment scheme is available.
With his order now on the way, the Model 3 customer asked the electric car maker if it could make features like Smart Summon standard in its vehicles in the future. Such features, after all, may seem like party tricks to the layman, but they are life changing for individuals with mobility issues. The Tesla enthusiast also asked if Tesla could install a power liftgate for the frunk and trunk of the Model 3, since closing the frunk and trunk are very difficult for wheelchair bound individuals.
Interestingly enough, Elon Musk responded to the Model 3 customer’s request, stating that Tesla would be adding a power liftgate at no additional cost. It’s a relatively small gesture, but it shows a degree of empathy that’s quite rare among carmakers today. The upgrade will cost Tesla a bit more to produce the vehicle, after all, but it would mean a big difference for the Model 3 customer.
Elon Musk is no stranger to goodwill gestures to Tesla customers. Back in 2017, for example, Musk offered to fix the damages on a Model S for free after its owner used the vehicle to save a fellow driver on the road. During the incident, the Model S owner noticed that another driver was slumped over the steering wheel. Responding quickly, the Tesla owner used his Model S to stop the other vehicle. Once the two cars were stopped, the Tesla driver proceeded to administer first aid. The CEO lauded the actions of the driver, later stating that Tesla will be providing all repair costs free of charge.
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
