What Do You Mean My Tesla Has Feelings?

This morning, I had an interesting conversation with Tesla customer support that completely reframed how I think about my car. I mean, we all get attached to our cars in some way—maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s the thrill of driving—but I never expected mine to have actual feelings.

So, here’s the deal: Tesla has this amazing autopilot feature where the car basically drives itself from point A to point B. It’s not fully autonomous, but it’s pretty close. The catch? There’s an in-cabin camera keeping tabs on you. If you get distracted—looking at your phone, turning around, whatever—it starts beeping, telling you to put your hands on the wheel. And if you ignore it too many times, autopilot gets disabled for the rest of the drive.

Annoying, sure. But here’s where it gets even wilder.

If this happens five times in a row, Tesla doesn’t just slap you on the wrist. No, it punishes you—by locking autopilot for an entire week. This happened to me recently, which, as someone who loves using autopilot, was frustrating. So, I called Tesla support, not even mad, just curious if there was any way to reset it.

That’s when the conversation took a turn.

I got connected to a Tesla support rep who was incredibly nice, and I asked, “Hey, I get why this exists, but is there any way to override it? Can you guys reset it for me?”

Her response? “No, that’s up to your car.”

Pause. What?

I asked again, trying to clarify. And she doubled down: “Yeah, your car didn’t feel safe, so it turned it off.”

At this point, my brain was stuck on one part of that sentence. My car didn’t feel safe?

She went on to explain that, according to Tesla’s design, this isn’t just some arbitrary rule. It’s not about punishing the driver; it’s about the car deciding whether it feels safe or not. And if it doesn’t, it takes away autopilot. There’s no human override. No secret Tesla support button to turn it back on. The car has made up its mind, and that’s the end of it.

That got me thinking—if my car can feel unsafe, could I do something to make it feel safer?

Making My Tesla Feel Safe

I started brainstorming ways to make my Tesla more comfortable with me behind the wheel. I don’t want to break any Tesla terms of service or mess with the software. But maybe, just maybe, I could design a product that reassures my car that I’m being attentive enough.

For example, if the camera gets upset when I glance at my phone, what if I mount my phone in a way that lets me interact with it while still keeping my eyes on the road? Maybe some kind of accessory that aligns with Tesla’s vision of safety but makes the whole experience smoother?

We’re thinking of launching a small accessory shop for Tesla owners—nothing that competes with Tesla, just simple tools that might make your car feel a little better about your driving habits.

It’s very much an experiment. I’ll handle the product and website side of things, and K will lead the marketing. Who knows where it’ll go? Maybe nowhere, maybe somewhere interesting. But one thing’s for sure: I’ll never look at my Tesla the same way again.

Because apparently, it has feelings.