Tesla Extended Warranty No Longer Available in the UK

UK Extended Coverage Not Offered

Tesla

Tesla owners in the United Kingdom have had the option to buy Tesla’s Extended Warranty option. However, a recent change has come into effect that alters the availability of these warranties for new customers (Thanks, Mark). As of December 31, 2023, Helvetia Global Solutions Ltd has ceased offering Tesla Extended Warranty insurance to new UK customers.

Tesla's Warranty Coverage

Tesla's Extended Warranty, previously available through Helvetia in the UK, offered additional protection for Tesla vehicles after the New Vehicle Limited Warranty expires. This coverage was an assurance against electrical or mechanical failures, excluding the vehicle’s Battery and Drive Unit, which are covered under separate warranties. Customers could easily buy the warranty through the Tesla app or their website, extending their vehicle's protection for up to an additional 4 years or 50,000 miles.

Now, when customers in the UK attempt to get a quote for the Extended Warranty through Tesla's website, they are redirected to a page stating that Helvetia no longer offers this insurance to new UK customers as of December 31, 2023. The page reassures existing customers that Helvetia remains committed to servicing their needs and directs them to an email address for further assistance.

Helvetia backs Tesla’s Extended Warranty coverage in other European countries as well, including Germany, Spain, and France. However, the extended warranties in those countries do not appear to be affected at this time.

Implications for Tesla Owners in the UK

This change primarily affects new Tesla customers in the UK looking to extend their warranty coverage beyond the initial period offered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. It appears existing customers with policies already in place will continue receiving Helvetia's support.

New Tesla owners seeking extended warranty coverage must look for alternative solutions, which may involve researching third-party providers or relying on Tesla's own separate warranties for specific components like the Battery and Drive Unit.

Tesla’s Battery / Drive Unit Warranty

Tesla’s battery/drive unit warranty is for eight years for all models but varies by maximum miles allowed based on the vehicle model. The RWD Model 3 gets up to 100,000 miles of coverage, while other Model 3 and Model Y variants are covered up to 120,000 miles. Tesla’s Model S and Model X are covered up to 150,000 regardless of trim level.

Tesla’s battery warranty will repair or replace the battery if it holds less than a 70% charge during this warranty period. Tesla brought back their Extended Warranty program in the U.S. in March 2023. The coverage in the U.S. and North America appears to remain the same at this time.

Follow

Follow

Follow

Tesla Update 2025.20 Tear Down Reveals Grok Personalities and Icons

@greentheonly on X

While most automakers are adding basic and un-integrated AI assistants to their vehicles, Tesla appears to be working hand-in-hand with xAI to build out an entire cast of characters for in-vehicle Grok. In the latest dive into Tesla’s firmware, Tesla hacker @greentheonly uncovered a few new details about the upcoming Grok feature.

This discovery, part of a larger batch of changes found in Tesla update 2025.20, also offers a hint at the hardware required for the Grok.

A Dozen Groks

While we knew from previous firmware teardowns that Tesla was adding various Grok personalities to the vehicle UI, this update introduces a new one called Language Tutor, which may allow users to learn and practice a new language. 

These are the different personas that will be included in Grok:

• Argumentative

• Assistant

• Conspiracy

• Doctor

• Kids’ Stories

• Kids’ Trivia Games

• Meditation

• Motivation

• Romantic

• Sexy

• Storyteller

• Therapist

• Language Tutor

• and the Grok Classic - Unhinged Mode

Release Date

Icons for these personalities have been added to the firmware for the first time, leading us to think Tesla is getting close to releasing the feature. However, even after the feature is developed and included in vehicle software, Tesla may only enable it selectively — such as for select employees for testing.

Grok is expected to be one of the largest vehicle features added via a software update, so it’ll be a big deal when it’s finally released. While we know more or less what to expect from Grok, what we don’t know is about vehicle requirements or whether it’ll require a subscription beyond Premium Connectivity.

Grok Requirements

While subscriptions required are anyone’s guess, vehicle requirements may be a little clearer now, thanks to Green’s discovery that Grok is only being added to AMD-based vehicle software builds.

Unfortunately, this likely means that older, Intel-based vehicles will not receive Grok support, at least for the time being. When Tesla introduced a voice assistant in China, they also started off with AMD-only support but later added Intel support, so it’s possible that the same could happen with Grok.

Energy Saving

Green also found a new undocumented navigation feature in 2025.20.3. This one focuses on leveraging Tesla’s vast amounts of data in an interesting way and offers drivers proactive advice to save energy on a well-traveled route. 

In the Energy App, your vehicle will display, “This route is typically driven at X mph. Slow down by Y mph to save Z% for the rest of this trip.’ 

As you can see in the photo below, Tesla recognizes that vehicles typically drive at 66 mph on the route being driven and offers the driver the option to go five mph slower to save 1% of range. While this example doesn’t provide much incentive to slow down, it could be useful for someone with a low state of charge or if the savings are more significant.

The new line in the Energy App

Not a Tesla App

In the future, Tesla could even use this, alongside the road surface data they’re gathering, to help plan routes for Robotaxi and Unsupervised FSD.

Follow

Follow

Follow

NHTSA to Streamline Approvals for Control-Free Vehicles Like Tesla’s Cybercab

Not a Tesla App

In a letter to industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it is overhauling its approvals process for vehicles designed without human controls.

The change addresses a regulatory bottleneck that has slowed down American companies like Tesla from deploying purpose-built Robotaxis, rather than relying on using traditional vehicles with steering wheels and pedals. The policy shift is outlined in a letter posted to the NHTSA’s website, which you can find here.

Reducing Approvals From Years to Months

Under the existing rules today, any vehicle that is built without a steering wheel or brake pedals must receive a special exemption from federal safety standards.

Obtaining exemptions for a particular vehicle was a time-consuming process for both the companies requesting exemptions and the NHTSA. The process was often a black box—nobody knew when an exemption might be granted, and approvals could take years.

The NHTSA, under the new administration’s guidelines for autonomous vehicle development, is now committed to streamlining this process. The agency will be implementing a new, faster approach immediately for receiving exemptions for autonomous vehicles without standard controls. The NHTSA expects decisions on exemption requests to be determined within months rather than years. 

Accelerating the Cybercab

This change has massive implications for Tesla, which is banking on the production of the simplified and easy-to-maintain purpose-built Cybercab. The Cybercab is developed from the ground up as an autonomous Robotaxi and will be one of the key beneficiaries of this move by the NHTSA.

Knowing that a final design won't be caught in a multi-year regulatory limbo provides a level of certainty that has been missing. It allows Tesla to confidently plan the manufacturing, development, and deployment processes without worrying whether the project will get stuck in regulatory approvals.

According to the letter, the agency will publish its improved instructions for the streamlined process "shortly." With Tesla already having begun Cybercab pre-production and the goals for its deployment as soon as late 2026, there’s still a lot to be done to make autonomy a part of Tesla’s new sustainable abundance mission statement.

Follow

Follow

Follow