It might sound counterintuitive since we often hear stories about fire departments being called out because of an e-bike. But firefighters in Scottsdale, Arizona, are now using e-bikes on emergency calls for a highly particular reason.

The Scottsdale Fire Department is often tasked with search-and-rescue of lost hikers in the area, and now they’re using electric bikes to help reach lost hikers more quickly, potentially saving lives when minutes matter.

The e-bikes, which appear to be Recon Stryker models designed specifically for police and security use.

“What we’re finding out is it’s taking off 45 minutes from our response time to making patient contact and stopping the clock,” says Scottsdale Fire Department Captain Dave Folio. “That’s huge for us becasue it’s safer for the hiker, and it’s safer for our crews.”

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The heavy-duty e-bikes include two motors for all-wheel drive, which is helpful on the rugged hiking trails they typically cover. The bikes are also mounted on carriers on the rear of ambulanaces, meaning they can be driven right up to a trailhead and then a first responder can continue down a rugged trail by e-bike to find the stricken hiker more quickly and beginning administering life-saving aid.

“We carry all the ALS (advanced life support) equipment on our backpacks. So we get there and we can start IVs, we can give meds, we can start the cooling process for treating heat stroke. So the e-bikes are pretty priceless to us right now.”

Folio attributes three lives already saved since the department received its new e-bikes, and another six e-bikes are now on the way.

Electrek’s Take

While this isn’t the most common way we see e-bikes used, it’s a great example of the many benefits of the technology off the beaten path, so to speak. I can’t imagine how much an official ambulance or fire rescue vehicle costs, but an e-bike must be a tiny, tiny fraction of that budget. And yet, it’s uniquely capable for arriving on scene faster.

Where I live, motorcycle-mounted EMTs have long been the very first of the first responders to arrive at an emergency scene in the city, but in the past few years I’ve actually seen electric bicycle EMTs rolling up first, as they’re sometimes even quicker. Cities are of course quite different than the rugged lanscapes these fire fighters are working with in Arizona, but many of the same principles around speed and agility still apply.

I just hope those batteries are UL-listed…

via: Fox10 Phoenix

Tesla is now selling retrofit turn signal stalks for certain Model 3 vehicles, after having deleted the stalks in its update of the Model 3. But so far, they’re only available in China, and only for some cars. Will they come to the US?

Tesla updated its China website with a new accessory today: turn signal stalks.

That sounds like the setup for a joke (ha ha, those Tesla drivers never using their signal, am I right?!?! (…. I am a Tesla driver and I always use my signals, get off it everyone)), but for those who are out of the loop, it’s actually a solution to a self-inflicted problem by Tesla a few years ago.

You see, the Tesla Model 3 Highland refresh, released in 2023, came with quite a lot of changes. The model had been out for 6 years without major changes, and got quite a slew of them including better sound dampening, a new front end, a slower steering ratio (not a fan of this change), ventilated seats, rear touchscreen, and so on.

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But one of the more controversial changes, within the various cost-cutting that Tesla did to offer these improvements, was the deletion of the turn signal stalk.

Tesla had already been moving in this direction, with the introduction of a “yoke” wheel on the Model S, which didn’t have stalks and used buttons on the wheel for turn signals and the vehicle touchscreen to change gears.

But the deletion of the turn signal stalk, even on a car with a normal steering wheel, was quite controversial. Even though some drivers have gotten used to using the buttons on the steering wheel, or letting FSD signal for you when it decides to change lanes, the convenience and familiarity of a turn signal stalk was still hard to give up.

This all happened in 2023, and Tesla got a lot of flack for it, but didn’t relent for some time. Then, in January of this year, Tesla released the Model Y Juniper refresh, with many of the same changes that the Model 3 had seen.

In that refresh, Tesla did change the steering wheel, including removing the gear selection lever… but also brought back the turn signal stalk. Reason finally ruled the day.

Soon after that, an interview came in February of 2025, where Tesla’s head engineer Lars Moravy admitted “maybe we deleted too much.”

And now, we’re finally seeing the problem get rectified… but only for China so far, and only for certain cars, and costing 2,499 yuan, or about $350.

The stalks aren’t quite available yet, but are supposed to start shipping in “mid-September.” And while they’re meant to be for Model 3s, they might not apply to all Model 3s – currently they’re only available to Model 3s produced after February 7, 2025. Incidentally, this date is just a few days before the interview was posted in which Moravy admitted to “deleting too much” from the Model 3.

Tesla says that cars with earlier build dates will eventually gain a turn signal stalk retrofit, but doesn’t specify a timeline for when that might happen.

According to Tesla’s China website, here are the details (machine-translated):

Modify your Model 3 and update the steering signal button on the steering wheel to the steering signal lever. The purchase price includes the modification fee, and the installation service is provided by the Tesla Service Center.

Attention:

• This product is applicable to steering leverless Model 3 vehicles produced after February 7, 2025, and vehicles produced before this service will be launched later.
• The installation of this product needs to be operated by technicians with professional maintenance knowledge and experience using professional tools. It is recommended that you install it through the Tesla App appointment service center as soon as possible after placing an order. If the customer installs it by himself, Tesla shall not be liable for any damage caused by this, and may affect the scope of the Limited Quality Assurance of New Cars.
• Since the Tesla Service Center needs to prepare materials after the order is established, please make an appointment for the service time at least 3 days later. After the appointment is successful, you can view or modify the appointment through Tesla App-service reservation. If you need to cancel the service, please contact the staff.
• This purchase price is only for the accessories and labor costs involved in the modification service. The original steering wheel and related accessories should be delivered to Tesla to offset the cost of installing the new steering wheel accordingly.
• This service will replace the original steering wheel and related accessories. After the original steering wheel and related accessories are disassembled, they will be recycled by the service center.
• After the installation service is completed, the order cannot be canceled or refunded.

So, it’s only available from Tesla, to be installed a Tesla service center. And it sounds like it involves purchasing and installing an entire new steering wheel assembly, after which Tesla will take back the old one.

Currently, this is only available in China. In fact, even though several of Tesla’s recent releases have come out in other countries in the Asia region at the same time as they were released in China, this one seems to only be in China – we didn’t see it on Tesla’s Singapore or even Hong Kong site.

But, recently, Tesla has been releasing various items in China first, before they made their way to the rest of the globe. This has mostly applied to new car refreshes, but it’s entirely possible that this turn signal stalk might make its way around the world soon.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see to limited to cars produced after a certain date, and that date changing based on the factory they were built in. Tesla’s China factory does have significantly different processes than its factories elsewhere in the world, so we can’t predict which cars might get access to this modification over here in the rest of the world.

But we do think it’s likely to come, at some point, to other territories. Just don’t get your hopes up for any 2023 refresh cars to get it right away. And definitely get ready to pay for it, as $350 certainly seems a bit steep for something that should have been there in the first place…

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Tesla has officially launched the Model YL, a new, larger Model Y with 6 seats, in China, and it starts at 339,000 Chinese Yuan, the equivalent of about $47,000 USD.

After a few weeks of teasing, Tesla has officially launched the new version of the Model Y on its online configurator in China:

The main things we didn’t know about the vehicle yet were the price and range. Those questions are now answered.

The Model YL starts at ¥339,000, equivalent to approximately $47,000 USD. It’s about $3,600 USD more expensive than the Model Y Long Range AWD in China.

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It is rated with a range of 751 km (466 miles) based on the CLTC driving cycle, which typically yields a longer range than the WLTP and EPA standards.

For comparison, the larger version achieves roughly the same range as the smaller Model Y Long Range AWD, thanks to its larger battery pack.

Tesla has released new images of the new version of the Model Y:

Last month, the first specifications and dimensions were released, confirming a length of approximately 180mm (7 inches) longer, a height of about 24mm (1 inch) taller, and a wheelbase that is also 150mm (or approximately 6 inches) longer.

Now, Tesla has confirmed a few more features, including up to 2,539 liters of storage space and electric armrests in the second-row seats.

The automaker is guiding deliveries in September.

Electrek’s Take

The price is reasonable in comparison to Tesla’s current lineup, making the upgrade relatively affordable.

However, it is a lot more expensive than other 6-seater all-electric SUV options in China, such as the Onvo L90, which is about $8,000 cheaper.

I’m curious to see how it will be priced in North America, where I think it would be much more popular than in China.

Tesla needs to go downmarket to access a bigger market in China – not upmarket, but the new option is still a positive for the automaker.

If the pricing matches the one in China, it shouldn’t be much more than $51,000 in the US, which I think would make it a popular option.

However, I think it would be the end of the Model X.