TL;DR
- Tapping Activate on Emergency Drive Away puts a service alert on your Tesla, and Tesla says a service visit for the charge port is mandatory afterward, even if you never drove away.
- Owners report inspection bills from $0 (goodwill) to $539. Tesla hasn’t published a price that we could find, and these figures are owner reports, not Tesla numbers.
- Separately, Tesla says repair costs at the Supercharger can reach up to $25,000. Tesla’s release notes say you may be responsible for repair costs.
Tesla’s Emergency Drive Away lets you shift into Drive while a Supercharger cable is still plugged in. It is built for real emergencies, but pressing the button has a price even when nothing goes wrong. Here is what owners report, what Tesla has said, and which cars have it. This follows our launch coverage and reflects reports through November 2, 2026.
What happens if you use Tesla Emergency Drive Away?
If you try to shift out of Park while plugged in, the touchscreen shows a red warning. To continue, you hold the brake pedal and tap Activate, according to Not a Tesla App. The charging handle then breaks away from the port as the car moves off. Tesla’s own release notes for software 2026.39.6 say driving away with the cable attached “will damage your vehicle and the Supercharger, and you may be responsible for repair costs,” and that short recordings from the car’s cameras are shared with Tesla when you activate it.
The car also flags itself for service. Not a Tesla App reported on October 31 that an owner’s touchscreen showed a persistent red alert reading “Emergency Drive Away has been activated,” with a note that service is required. That owner said the car would still charge while the alert was showing.
How much does the Emergency Drive Away service visit cost?
Tesla has not published a price for the inspection that we could find. Owners have started to share what they were billed. InsideEVs and Not a Tesla App have reported these, drawn from posts on X and Reddit that we haven’t been able to verify:
| What the owner reported | Charge |
|---|---|
| Charge port inspection after tapping Activate, car never moved (Not a Tesla App, InsideEVs) | $539 |
| Tapped Activate “out of curiosity,” error could only be cleared by service; Tesla marked the visit goodwill (InsideEVs) | $0 |
| Initial estimate of $255, final bill after the visit (InsideEVs) | $33.15 |
| Invoice for an inspection after testing the feature (InsideEVs) | $178.20 |
The range is wide, and no single report tells you what yours will cost. In these accounts the visit is required, but the bill varies.
What does Tesla say Emergency Drive Away can cost at the Supercharger?
When an owner asked Tesla what damage to expect, the Tesla Charging account answered (as quoted by Electrek on October 2): “Depends on the Supercharger, but electrical & civil cost can be up to $25k. Service visit mandatory for the chargeport. Only use in case of an emergency.” Electrek also reported that Tesla did not answer owners who asked who pays that bill. Tesla also said deliberate misuse “will invoke additional penalties,” and as of that report had not said what those are.
Tesla’s Director of Charging for North America, Max de Zegher, wrote that it is “a feature we hope you never need,” adding, “Don’t abuse it, so we don’t have to restrict it,” and that Tesla will “improve it quickly based on feedback,” as quoted by TeslaNorth.
Which Teslas have Emergency Drive Away?
- Models: the 2026.39.6 release notes list Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y and Cybertruck. TeslaNorth and Not a Tesla App both report that Model S and Model X built before 2021 are not supported.
- Software: it first arrived with 2026.38.3, per Not a Tesla App. Rollout is in waves, so check Controls > Software on your car. See our software updates page for the current builds.
- Chargers: Tesla Superchargers in the U.S. only for now, per TeslaNorth. Electrek reported Tesla saying it works on V2, V3 and V4 stalls and not on home chargers.
Our 2026.39.6 breakdown covers the rest of that update.
What to do
- Treat it as a last resort. If you are not in danger, unplug the normal way. Tesla’s own wording is “only use in case of an emergency.”
- Read each prompt before you tap. Not a Tesla App covered an accidental use at an Austin Supercharger, where the Reddit user who filmed it said the driver “only seemed to half read the prompts.”
- If you did tap Activate, expect a service alert. Book the visit in the Tesla app and check the estimate before you approve it. Owners report different outcomes, including goodwill visits.
The service charges above are owner reports, not Tesla figures. We will update this post if Tesla publishes a price or changes the feature.
