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Cars & Coffee group keeps Tesla Supercharger free after mass blocking incident

(Credit: Benswing Rich/Facebook)

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After its members were called out for blocking a Tesla Supercharger en masse last Sunday, the Cars & Coffee Yorktown, NY group has made sure that its next regular meetup will be free of any untoward incidents. The result of these efforts was a Supercharger that was free to use by any Tesla owners in need and a Cars & Coffee session that welcomed a member of the electric car community. 

The Cars & Coffee Yorktown, NY group caught the ire of the Tesla and electric car community last week after images emerged online showing a group of its members parking their muscle cars and other high-performance vehicles in a Supercharger, effectively blocking access to all of the station’s stalls. The incident resulted in strong reactions among EV enthusiasts online, especially after it became evident that the organizers of the meetup had posted a request to its members to not block the Supercharger before the Cars & Coffee session. 

Tesla Supercharger blocked by attendees at a Cars and Coffee meet. (Credit: Tesla Reporter/Facebook)

With images of the mass-blocked Superchargers spreading online, the organizers of the auto enthusiast group explained that they would work harder to ensure that such incidents will not happen again. If photos taken of the Supercharger this past Sunday are any indication, it appears that Cars & Coffee Yorktown, NY stayed true to their word, keeping the charging station’s stalls free of parked vehicles during the duration of its most recent meetup. 

Tesla Model 3 owner Benswing Rich, who wanted to check out the location following the previous week’s incident, posted several images of the ICE-free Supercharger. Cones clearly marked “Tesla Only” appear to have been placed by the auto enthusiasts as well, to further emphasize that the spaces in the charging station were only intended for Teslas. The Tesla owner shared his observations on a Tesla Model 3-themed Facebook group. 

A Tesla Supercharger unblocked. (Credit: Benswing Rich/Facebook)

“Cars & Coffee in Yorktown NY, where a bunch of people blocked the Superchargers last weekend, has put cones to signify the Superchargers are for Tesla owners only. I met the organizer and he is a good guy. He loves cars including Teslas. Please share!” he wrote. 

An update from the Cars & Coffee organizers revealed that the Tesla Model 3 owner actually ended up being encouraged to attend the group’s next meetups. The organizers added that the group’s members learned more about Teslas from the Model 3 owner, though they maintained that the anti-EV allegations thrown at the Cars & Coffee group the previous week were false. 

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A Tesla Model 3 owner gets welcomed in a Cars & Coffee Yorktown, NY meet. (Credit: Cars & Coffee Yorktown, NY)

“We had a nice turnout today at C&C. We met a great Tesla owner Ben Rich who was spurred to come to C&C due to the social media ruckus of this past week. He saw that what was being said by many folks in the Tesla community (most that live nowhere near here) portraying us as EV/Tesla haters were false. As you can see pictured, we made sure to block off all the Tesla charging spots for the C&C time period to avoid issues experienced last week. We learned a lot about Teslas from Ben and had an all-around great morning,” the organizers wrote. 

Ultimately, credit is due to the organizers of Cars & Coffee Yorktown, NY for stepping up and staying true to its word. While the previous week’s incident was unfortunate, the group appears to be showing some real effort to ensure that such a thing does not happen again. Perhaps more Teslas could be part of the group in the future? If the Tesla Model 3 owner’s update is any indication, that seems to be a real possibility. Real car enthusiasts recognize and respect great vehicles, after all, electric or otherwise.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla faces Full Self-Driving pushback in EU over ‘speeding’

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Credit: Tesla

A new report from Reuters claims that a transport authority in Sweden is pushing back against the approval of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite because it will travel over speed limits.

The report says the Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) recommends the European Union votes against FSD’s approval. TRV believes it should not be approved until Tesla disables FSD’s ability to speed.

TRV sent a letter to the European Union’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles (TCMV), which is set to meet on June 30 to discuss the potential approval of the Tesla FSD suite in the country. Tesla, which has received various approvals in Europe over the past two months, has not provided a comment.

Tesla Full Self-Driving gets first-ever European approval

Teslas operating on FSD do travel over the speed limit, depending on the Speed Profile that is chosen. Drivers have the ability to disengage FSD at any point; Tesla specifically states that those supervising the suite are responsible for its actions.

Let’s cut to the chase: humans operating any vehicle speed almost daily in the United States. Realistically, speed limits in the U.S. are more frequently treated as speed minimums. However, other countries are different, and driving behaviors are less aggressive.

TRV believes that “allowing automated systems to systematically exceed legal speed limits…risks undermining both the legal framework and the expected safety benefits of ​vehicle automation,” the report stated. It’s surprising that Tesla has not received this claim from other countries previously.

This could be a good argument to bring Max Speed back, the setting that previously allowed the driver to choose the absolute fastest the car would travel.

This would still put the responsibility of supervision in the hands of the driver. It would allow the driver to choose whether the car would travel over the speed limit or not, acknowledging that they set the speed, and if they get pulled over, there would be no ability to argue it.

However, it does not seem as if this is something Tesla will do, especially considering many U.S. drivers have requested the feature in an effort to eliminate speeding or at least tone it down. The company has not shown any interest in bringing it back.

Tesla has approvals for FSD in Europe in Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

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Tesla teases greater Grok FSD integration and ‘Banish’ feature ‘in about 3 months’

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is going to let you guide Full Self-Driving with Grok in 3 months, CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X.

The response from Musk, which revealed Tesla plans to allow drivers to effectively control the car and its navigation more explicitly using Grok, puts the feature for about September.

A Tesla owner said that Full Self-Driving is great, but owners should be able to “converse with Grok like we can with an Uber driver.” She then used examples like, “Grok, turn right here,” and “Drop us off right here, we’ll walk due to traffic,” and finally,” Drop at entrance first, then park far away.”

Coincidentally, the final piece of dialogue would also mean features like Banish are potentially on the way soon.

Banish is also referred to as “Reverse Summon,” and would enable the car to self-park while dropping occupants off at their destination.

This would be a great way to improve the overall experience while supervising FSD. Navigation is already a major painpoint that many owners complain about. Manual overrides when a maneuver is requested or canceled (like using the turn signal stalk to override a navigation route), do not always work.

The feature could be especially useful in street parking scenarios in a city, where spots are sometimes tough to come by. Many of us who grab dinner in a more populated area will park a street or two over from wherever we’re going, because sometimes you know that’s the best you will get. If a driver using FSD could say, “Hey Grok, turn right here on Queen St. and park in that open spot on the right,” it could save a lot of confusion FSD might have on its own.

Musk teased that a similar feature was “coming” back in February:

Tesla Full Self-Driving set to get an awesome new feature, Elon Musk says

It is certainly surprising that Tesla is doing it at this point. The company’s more recent moves have been more evident of taking control and inputs away from humans and putting them in the AI’s hands more frequently. The biggest example of this was taking away Max Speed in AI4 cars, giving us Speed Profiles, and not having any input on the fastest speed the car will travel.

Of course, giving navigation preferences to Grok is availble already in Teslas, but not at the drop of a hat. Instead, you can suggest a certain route at the beginning of your drive.

Here’s an example of that from December:

Finally, the original post that Musk responded to mentioned a parking preference after dropping off the occupants, which describes the Banish feature that Tesla has teased for years.

We’re not sure if Musk was responding more to the ability to guide the car with Grok, or whether he also was including Banish in the three-month prediction timeframe.

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Tesla Cybercab has one important piece that AI4 cars might need for FSD

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Credit: @tpgoebel | X

A close-up image of a Cybercab engineering vehicle in Peabody, Massachusetts, reveals a compact triangular side repeater camera housing equipped with an integrated washer mechanism.

This seemingly small hardware addition could prove to be one of the most critical components for achieving reliable, unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) — not just for the dedicated Robotaxi but potentially for existing AI4-equipped vehicles as well.

The washer system’s importance cannot be overstated in Tesla’s vision-only autonomy approach. Cameras are the sole sensory input for the neural networks powering FSD, constantly interpreting the environment for safe navigation. In real-world conditions, however, lenses quickly accumulate rain, snow, mud, dust, or road spray.

Many of us Tesla owners, especially those who deal with any sort of winter weather at all, know the all-too-common alert that pops up when cameras are obstructed:

Even brief obstructions can drop perception confidence, trigger safety disengagements, or force the vehicle to pull over, although these are relatively rare. Instead, most of the time, the camera will need a wipe from the owner next time they stop the car.

But unlike human drivers who can manually clear their view, a Robotaxi operating 24/7 without a steering wheel or mirrors must maintain pristine vision autonomously. The Cybercab’s side repeater washer delivers targeted cleaning bursts precisely where needed for merging, lane changes, and blind-spot monitoring — functions that demand uninterrupted visibility from the external cameras:

This hardware directly tackles a known pain point in current FSD deployments. Owners frequently report camera-related alerts during inclement weather, which is understandable, but needs to be solved for a true autonomous experience.

For a production Robotaxi fleet aiming for high utilization and minimal downtime, robust washer systems represent a foundational reliability upgrade; essentially, they’re a must-have. Early sightings suggest the design may extend to rear cameras as well, creating a comprehensive cleaning architecture that keeps the entire vision suite operational in harsh environments.

Without it, even the most advanced neural nets struggle when their “eyes” are compromised.

What Does This Mean for AI4 Cars?

This Cybercab detail raises timely questions for AI4 cars already on the road. While Hardware 4 delivers superior compute and camera resolution compared to earlier versions, production models typically lack dedicated side and rear washers. Tesla has included them on Model Y robotaxis that it is using in the fleet:

Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys

As Tesla refines unsupervised FSD for broader release, the gap in environmental resilience becomes evident. Software improvements can help mitigate issues, but they cannot fully replace physical cleaning in heavy rain or muddy conditions. Analysts and owners increasingly speculate that AI4 vehicles may eventually require similar washer retrofits — or a future AI4.5 variant — to match the Cybercab’s all-weather readiness and support the same level of autonomy.

As testing progresses, the Cybercab’s washer mechanism highlights Tesla’s pragmatic focus on real-world robustness. It may well become the hardware piece that determines how quickly and reliably FSD scales from prototypes to everyday vehicles.

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