Tesla is now selling retrofit turn signal stalks for Model 3 vehicles in the US, 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.
The Tesla Model 3 Highland refresh, released in 2023, came with quite a lot of updates. 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 for many.
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, but 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. So if you want to set up your appointment, you can head over to Tesla’s website, or find the new item in your Tesla app (which the website will direct you to, anyway).
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 install the retrofit. Given that the Highland Model 3 didn’t come out in North America until January 2024, that should mean all of them can get this stalk installed.
And going forward, it looks like other Model 3s will get the stalk too. Among all the deletions of the “more affordable” Standard Model 3, it added one thing: a turn signal stalk. Presumably, other Model 3s will get a stalk soon, but for those who own one from the last two years, this $595 retrofit is what you get.
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