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Texas lawmaker doubles down against Tesla, accuses carmaker of violating ‘existing law’

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7 years ago

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Texas State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) is doubling down on his statements against Tesla, noting in a recent statement to The Dallas Morning News that the electric car maker is actually in violation of existing law. Hancock claimed that his office was able to come to this conclusion after reaching out to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The lawmaker further argued that S.B. 1415, which has been dubbed as the “anti-Tesla” bill, is simply intended to “reduce over-regulation of vehicle manufacturers in Texas.” Hancock also dismissed concerns that S.B. 1415 will prevent Tesla vehicles from being repaired and serviced within the state, adding that reports surrounding these reservations are “the definition of fake news.”

S.B. 1415 caught the Tesla community in Texas by surprise after language in the bill added “servicing” and “repairing” to the definition of dealership activities, preventing car manufacturers such as Tesla from performing essential maintenance on its vehicles in the state starting September 1. In a statement to The Dallas Morning News, Tesla noted that the bill would “leave Tesla drivers with very little recourse in terms of keeping their vehicles running safely in the state.”

Unlike traditional automakers, Tesla does not utilize dealerships, selling its cars and energy products through showrooms that are very similar to Apple Stores. Tesla states that it prefers to sell its vehicles directly to customers because dealerships don’t usually educate the public on the benefit and requirements of electric cars. This has resulted in Tesla being a target for the car dealership lobby in Texas, which has insisted that franchised dealerships benefit customers when it comes to service repairs and the car buying experience.

Despite this stalemate, Tesla has stated that its representatives met with Hancock’ staff recently in an attempt to make S.B. 1415 less threatening to the electric car maker’s business model. Hancock, for his part, argued that his communication with Tesla was an “attack” on his office. In a recent tweet, the Texas lawmaker added that Tesla “brought nothing to offer” when he met with the company’s representatives, resulting in no compromise being reached.

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Teslarati has reached out to the office of Texas State Sen. Kelly Hancock regarding S.B. 1415 three times so far, though we are yet to receive a single response.

Tesla has been rapidly expanding its reach since the advent of the Model 3, and this is felt even in states like Texas, which are quite protective of its car dealerships. Amidst the Model 3’s ramp last year, North Texas residents registered nearly 3,000 new Tesla electric cars. The company also continues to expand its reach in the state, opening a new showroom at the Galleria Dallas earlier this year.

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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 makes a massive change to a Service policy that owners will love

If you have a subscription to Full Self-Driving or Premium Connectivity for 30 days, the date of its expiration is 30 days after you activate the subscription, even if the vehicle was in service.

Published

5 hours ago

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October 26, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has decided to update its policy on Subscriptions and Service, and owners are going to love it.

If you have a subscription to Full Self-Driving or Premium Connectivity for 30 days, the date of its expiration is 30 days after you activate the subscription, even if the vehicle was in service.

So, if your car was with Tesla Service for five days, you essentially lost those five days, as your expiration date was not adjusted to reflect the time the vehicle was unusable.

Loaners that Tesla gives owners are usually equipped with perks like Full Self-Driving and Premium Connectivity, so your subscription does not roll over to another vehicle.

Tesla launches new loaner program that owners will love

However, Tesla has decided to revise that policy in an effort to give owners full access to the subscriptions they paid for. It requires Service visits to be longer than one day.

In a communication to an owner who was having their vehicle serviced, Tesla said:

“A loaner vehicle may be available during your appointment (pending availability) – please check the app closer to your appointment for the latest updates and access details. If your repair requires more than one business day, any active subscriptions or free trials will be extended accordingly.”

The move is a good one from a customer service standpoint, especially considering the loss of even a few days of a 30-day subscription to something like Full Self-Driving, which costs $99 per month, can be frustrating.

Tesla’s choice to extend the subscription duration for the length of the service visit is a good-faith move that customers will appreciate.

While this adjustment is not directly related to Service, many customers will relate it to that. It’s yet another move Tesla has made in 2025 to make its Service experience better for customers.

It is also offering more options to communicate with Service advisors during and after cars are repaired, which can help streamline the entire visit from start to finish.

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SpaceX reaches incredible Starlink milestone

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6 hours ago

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October 26, 2025

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Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX has reached an incredible milestone with its Starlink program, officially surpassing 10,000 satellites launched into low Earth orbit since starting the program back in 2019.

Last Sunday, October 19, SpaceX launched its 131st and 132nd Falcon 9 missions of 2025, one from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the other from Vandenberg, California.

The 10,000th Starlink satellite was aboard the launch from California, which was Starlink 11-19, and held 28 v2 mini optimized satellites.

The achievement was marked by a satellite tracker developed by Jonathan McDowell.

The first Starlink launch was all the way back on May 23, 2019, as SpaceX launched its first 60 satellites from Cape Canaveral using a Falcon 9 rocket.

Of the over 10,000 satellites in orbit, the tracker says 8,608 are operational, as some are intentionally de-orbited after becoming faulty and destroyed in the atmosphere.

SpaceX has truly done some really incredible things during its development of the Starlink program, including launch coverage in a global setting, bringing along millions of active subscribers that use the service for personal and business use, locking up commercial partnerships, and more.

Starlink currently operates in around 150 countries, territories, and markets and is available at least somewhere on all seven continents.

Additionally, Starlink has over 5 million subscribers worldwide, and 2.7 million have joined the program over the past year. It has revolutionized internet access on commercial aircraft as well, as several high-profile airlines like Qatar and United, among many others, have already installed Starlink on some of their planes to deliver more stable connectivity for passengers and crew.

SpaceX has the approval to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites from the FAA, but it plans to bring over 30,000 to its constellation, giving anyone the ability to have access to high-speed internet.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving’s biggest improvements from v13 to v14

Published

8 hours ago

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October 26, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14 has been out for several weeks now, and there are a tremendous number of improvements, as we have now reached the fourth iteration of the semi-autonomous software.

Tesla began the v14.1.4 launch last night, which included minor improvements and addressed brake-stabbing issues many owners have reported. In my personal experience, the stabbing has been awful on v14.1.3, and is a major concern.

However, many things have improved, and only a couple of minor issues have been recurring. Many of the issues v13 addressed are no longer an issue, so Tesla has made significant progress.

Here are some of the most notable improvements Tesla made with v14 from v13:

Better Lane Switching on Highways

One of my biggest complaints with v13 was that the “Hurry” Speed Profile would often stay in the left lane, even when there were no passing cars. The legality of cruising in the left lane fluctuates by jurisdiction, but my personal preference is to drive in the right lane and pass on the left.

That said, Tesla has improved FSD’s performance with more courteous lane behavior. It no longer camps in the left lane and routinely gets back in the right lane after passing slower cars.

More Awareness for Merging Traffic and Makes Courteous Moves

There have been times when FSD has been more aware of merging traffic, and even cross traffic, than most human beings.

Here are a few examples –

  • Full Self-Driving lets a car out of cross traffic during a busy time of day. This road tends to get very congested, especially during rush hour, so the car that was let in by FSD would have been sitting there for likely a minute longer if my Tesla had not let him in:

  • A busy, four-lane expressway with a quick exit on the far side of the highway for this merging vehicle. I’ve seen some drivers be extremely inattentive and travel at the same speed as merging cars, making their entry onto the expressway less seamless. FSD doesn’t do that; it makes way for merging cars:

More Confident Driving Around Mail Trucks…and Amish

I encounter a lot of Amish in my area of Pennsylvania, and they commonly use both shoulders and the road, so traffic can get congested at times.

In the past, I’ve taken over when encountering Amish buggies, mail trucks, or other vehicles that are moving slowly or making frequent stops. I have felt it is more logical to just take over in these situations.

I decided not to yesterday on a long drive through Lancaster, PA, and the FSD did a wonderful job of confidently overtaking these vehicles:

This was really impressive and fun to see. There was a slight stutter during one of the three instances, but overall, I didn’t have any concerns.

Object Avoidance

On v13, I almost let the car drive into a fallen branch in the middle of the road. A mile later, the car swerved out of the way for horse droppings. It was a beautiful, clear morning, and the fact that the car did not try to avoid the branch, but did steer away from poop, was concerning.

Tesla has obviously done a great job at refining FSD’s ability to navigate around these road hazards. Last night, it swerved around a dead animal carcass in the middle of the highway. I didn’t see it until we were already going around it:

It was awesome to see this and never feel alarmed by the sharp movement. The maneuver was smooth and really well done.

Better Speed Consistency

With v13, I felt I had to constantly adjust the Speed Profile, as well as the Max Speed setting, when using FSD. With V14, I don’t feel like I am making as many adjustments.

Tesla axed the Max Speed setting altogether with v14, which was a good move, in my opinion. Choosing the Speed Profile is now more intuitive by using the right scroll wheel. If the car is traveling too fast or too slow, just change the profile.

Three things Tesla needs to improve with Full Self-Driving v14 release

V13 had some issues with local roads, and I felt it would travel at strange speeds. In a 45 MPH zone, it would sometimes take a long time to reach 40 MPH, then hover between 43 MPH and 47 MPH. It would then fluctuate between those two speeds, frustrating drivers behind me, understandably.

V14 gets up to speed much better and travels at speeds I’m much more comfortable with on both local roads and highways.

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