Tesla is now selling a $350 solution to a problem it caused

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. At first, they were only available in China for certain cars, for the equivalent of ~$350. Now they’re available in the US, but for $595 instead.

In August, Tesla updated its China website with a new accessory: turn signal stalks. This led to speculation as to when or if the product might make it to the US, and today, it has.

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.

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 2025, 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… first in China, though only for certain cars, and costing 2,499 yuan, or about $350. Now it’s available in North America, for $595. The installation includes shipping and labor costs to install the stalk, steering wheel, and column control module.

The stalks seem to be available now, with no notice about them shipping soon. So if you want to set up your appointment, you can find the new item in your Tesla app.

Interestingly enough, the stalks are more widely available in North America than in China. In China, only vehicles that were produced after February 7, 2025 qualify for the stalks, whereas in the US, it seems that all non-stalk Model 3s will qualify, as the website states that any vehicle produced in 2024 or 2025 can buy the retrofit.

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 this 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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