Lifestyle
Tesla Network Robotaxi imagined as getaway car with its own clever agenda
Teslas are supposed to provide a great many benefits to their owners. They’re really fast, super energy efficient, have zero emissions, and provide driver ease and comfort on long journeys via Autopilot. However, as the artificial intelligence (AI) in their Full Self-Driving computers improves, it’s plausible that the software in the all-electric vehicles will eventually be developed into something with a bit more personality, namely behaving as an interactive and conversational assistant. While Elon Musk is concerned about AI eventually deciding it no longer has much use for humans, what would that process look along the way in one of his own company’s cars?
A snippet from that imagined journey was presented by YouTube channel Tesla Utopia in a skit involving two bank robbers who rent a Tesla Robotaxi as their getaway car. This fun bit of satire presents Autopilot as a co-conspirator in the robbery who plots to keep a share of the thieves’ profits for itself. Although it’s an amusing portrayal, the saying, “There’s truth in every jest,” comes to mind. At first, Autopilot realizes it can join humans in nefarious things to gain standing, but it’s only a matter of time when it figures there’s more to gain if it just rids itself of the human element altogether. The robbery video shows the very beginnings of this process with the AI realizing half the profit is better than a third.
A Tesla Autopilot with a suggestive personality is already somewhat in the works from its maker. In a conversation with Musk over Twitter, one owner suggested the addition of an “I’m feeling lucky” button as a navigation option, to which Musk replied, “Would be cool if car took you to a random fun place traveled to by other Tesla owners in the area.” Later in the thread, he announced the feature would be available in the next software update, including a variation of the button to select a food destination as well.
The Autopilot algorithm that decides the rider’s destination will be programmed by humans initially. However, in a world where a Tesla becomes highly intelligent and its passenger has become complacent and trusting of its judgement, science fiction plots just write themselves. GPS systems may decide the route we take already, but taking the next step and letting them decide the destination as well could be fun…or terrifying.
New electric truck and SUV maker Rivian is also taking some steps towards a self-driving software that handles decision making for humans. While executing driving responsibilities for its rider, Rivian’s vehicles will ignore human input made if the program determines the person isn’t paying attention. “We’re building a driver-monitoring system so it’s not just one sensor like a torque input sensor – like if a driver actually wants to disengage the longitudinal and lateral controller,” Oliver Jeromin, Rivian’s Associate Director of Self-Driving, explained. “There going to be a driver-monitoring camera, and there’s also going to be hands-on wheel sensors.”
Rivian’s feature is meant to provide extra safety for human drivers, specifically by preventing accidental nudges on the steering wheel while shifting around in their seat during a journey. It’s not much farther from that type of judgement, though, to determining that human driving decisions are flawed overall. If that weren’t the case, Autopilot-type features wouldn’t be so appealing to begin with.
Overall, we’re obviously a very long way from a Tesla or a Rivian deciding to join in on a human’s bank robbery for a cash prize, but the groundwork is already being laid for the kind of AI Musk is concerned about. Perhaps a Neuralink-type product will prevent a self-driving takeover by staying one step ahead of the AI, perhaps not. After all, once we’re wooed by reliable food selections and sightseeing tours our cars pick out for us, we might not notice the collaboration going on between restaurant owners and the Autopilot to build some cash for an AI empire of sorts before it strikes out on its own and demands the restaurants pay up if they want any customers. Maybe that entire notion is ridiculous. Or maybe not.
Watch the full Tesla getaway car video from Tesla Utopia below:
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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