Tesla may be preparing for changes at the very top. Tom Zhu, who was rumored to be Tesla's next chief executive officer earlier this month, has stepped down as the legal representative for the company in China. While he will remain chairman, there are also reports Zhu is taking on significant roles in the United States.
The timing of the movement coincides with Tesla's freefall on the stock market and several investors clamoring for Tesla's Board of Directors to act. The company's current CEO, Elon Musk, is spending most of his time running his new company — Twitter. Musk has repeatedly stated that he doesn't want to be CEO of any company. He recently reiterated his thoughts during a court case last month.
Therefore, the door is open for one of Tesla's brightest stars to take on a more prominent role. Reuters has reported that Zhu is spending time at Giga Texas and Giga California. There is speculation that he is taking a leadership role in increasing the production of Model Y, overseeing the revamped Model 3 and running the show regarding the highly anticipated and long overdue Cybertruck.
Zhu has an Impressive Track Record
As CEO, Zhu may be just what Tesla needs to breathe new life into the trailblazing company. He is recognized as the main reason that Tesla's Giga Shanghai was able to rebound so quickly from being locked down and achieving the 50% growth target in 2022.
Zhu joined Tesla in 2014 with a Bachelor of Commerce from Auckland University of Technology, and he graduated from Duke's Business School, Fugua, with a Master of Business Administration in 2012. Zhu participated in a WeChat Q&A with a Duke student. It provides some valuable insight into Zhu's work ethic and philosophies.
Zhu Envisions an Incredible Future
He was asked about the impact of EVs. He has a long answer that you can read here, but he stated many positive, forward-thinking ideas that cause excitement and hope. "I believe innovation can lead to a butterfly effect from a single product to an industry, to a mindset throughout the whole country."
Zhu spoke about the changes Tesla can introduce, "New technology brings us infinite possibilities, forming various sorts of synergies regarding vehicles: for example, communication between human and vehicle, communication between vehicles, and communication between infrastructure and vehicle. Those capabilities are inserted into an EV's genes, generating faster responses that make transportation more convenient."
He also touched on changing the entire industry, "productivity will be improved, and at the same time the structure of the workforce will be optimized. The car industry will shift from a more traditional manufacturing model towards a skilled, technologically innovative industry."
While he doesn't want to be CEO, Musk has also stated that he isn't going anywhere. That may mean that the company is looking to split responsibilities, as Tesla has several projects on the go, including FSD, expanding the charging network, Cybertruck, Optimus, and the list goes on.
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Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, recently took to X and opened the floor for user input. There, he asked the community for features and improvements they’d like to see to make Teslas better heading into 2026.
This post generated thousands of suggestions - and we recapped the best of them. There were also a few that Lars responded to, giving owners hope for some much-requested future changes, so let’s take a look at what may be coming
Lumbar Profile Support
Today, lumbar support is one of the few items that is not saved in the Tesla profile. That means if you have multiple drivers who use the same vehicle, you’re often left adjusting this setting manually, as it retains the setting that was last used. One community member suggested saving your lumbar setting to your profile just like Tesla does for other seat settings.
Lars said making this change seems doable, but it’ll take some engineering magic. The lumbar support isn’t tied to an absolute sensor like the other seat settings. This suggests that Tesla does not have an exact value to save, as it does with other seat functions, but Lars believes Tesla can find a way to save lumbar preferences. Tesla could potentially time how long the motor runs to get to the user’s lumbar setting and save this value.
With that said, it seems the vehicle engineering team may take a look at this one, and we may see it included in a future update.
Model 3 Signal Stalk Retrofit
The move away from traditional stalks in favor of the steering wheel buttons on the Refreshed Model 3 has been a point of debate. While the author is squarely in the camp of steering wheel buttons (at least with the Cybertruck), many dissent and say that the buttons on the Refreshed 3 aren’t as satisfying or easy to use.
Many other drivers also prefer the tactile feel and muscle memory of a physical stalk for signaling. Tesla appears to favor stalks, as they retained the turn signal stalk with the new Model Y. There are also rumors that Tesla is going to reintroduce the turn signal stalk to the Model 3.
If Tesla adds stalks back to the new Model 3, current 2024+ Model 3 owners are still left without stalks. However, a user suggested adding stalks as a retrofit option. Lars said that he would try to consider a retrofitted signal stalk for the Refreshed Model 3, similar to the simplified version in the Refreshed Model Y.
While less definitive than the lumbar support response, it appears that Tesla may at least consider offering a stalk retrofit for the new Model 3. If you’re a lover of signal stalks and can’t wait for Tesla to get an official one - we recommend the Enhauto S3XY Stalks, which are customizable and feel very close to Tesla’s original fit and finish.
With that said, it’s nice to see Tesla incorporating more community feedback into its vehicle design these days. Perhaps one day, they’ll address the infamous auto wipers. They have gotten better, but they’re still not as reliable as what’s available in most other vehicles. With that said, we look forward to the changes that will emerge from these recent conversations.
Sometimes, even with Tesla’s intensive bug-testing regime, bugs manage to make it out into the wild. In this particular case, a European user (@darkwaffle48484 on X) noticed that their 2024 Model 3 was using up more battery than normal while parked. Normally, they noted that the vehicle would lose about 1-2% per week; however, recently, they noticed much larger drops of 3-4% per night.
They monitored their Tesla widget and noticed the car wasn’t entering deep sleep. The widget consistently showed a recent connection time—usually within the past 45 minutes.
Fix Inbound
After discussing the issue with other Tesla owners and realizing it was somewhat widespread, they contacted Tesla Service. The service team confirmed that it was a firmware bug affecting the Telematics Control Unit (TCU), which prevented the vehicle from entering deep sleep mode.
The TCU is essentially the communications hub of your Tesla - and is mounted on the ceiling of newer vehicles such as the Model 3 and the new Model Y. It enables cellular and location services (via GPS) and also handles Wi-Fi and Bluetooth services. Tesla Service stated that this bug is planned to be fixed in update 2025.14.6, although the exact version number could change. However, they confirmed that they are aware of the issue and it is being addressed.
@darkwaffle48484
When the user reached out to Tesla Service, Tesla Service responded with the following (translated from Dutch):
“It has been confirmed that this is a firmware bug. The fix is in one of the next updates. Currently, it is planned for 2025.14.6 (subject to change). Do you have any more questions?”
Potentially Region-Specific
This bug could potentially be region-specific. TCUs often require specific hardware components, such as modems, as well as specific firmware versions that support different regions and cellular providers. These enable Tesla to comply with local cellular standards and regulations and ensure that your vehicle can connect to the networks available in that particular region.
At this point, it’s not clear when the fix will roll out, but given that update 2025.14.1 has practically stopped rolling out, Tesla may be waiting to resume the rollout with update 2025.14.3 or this 2025.14.6 version.
If you’ve noticed this issue and are in a non-European nation, let us know.
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