// THE VERGE — MOBILE & WEB
Tesla will now let you drive off mid-charge if there’s an emergency
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The new feature was in response to a mass shooting that took place at a Supercharger station in Idaho.
The new feature was in response to a mass shooting that took place at a Supercharger station in Idaho.
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Tesla introduced a new feature to enable drivers to escape quickly while charging their vehicles in response to a mass shooting at a Supercharger location in Idaho in August that left seven people wounded and four dead.
When a Tesla vehicle is charging, the plug is locked to the charging port and driving is disabled. To put the car in drive, a charging cable has to be manually released from the vehicle’s charging port. Since the shooting in Twin Falls, Idaho, Tesla owners have been requesting a quick-release mechanism that would allow them to escape in the event of an emergency. This week, Tesla responded with a software update that responds to those concerns.
The new “emergency drive away” feature allows vehicle owners to override the charging lock and drive away while the handle is still attached. Shifting into drive will activate an emergency drive away alert that asks the driver to confirm they need to get away. The handle will break away and fall to the ground and, unfortunately, both the vehicle and the charging handle will sustain some damage in the process, which underscores why this feature should only be used in an emergency.