Tesla is rolling out a small but practical charging improvement to owners across Canada and the United States, bringing a feature that first debuted in Europe last year to North America.
The new feature is called Unlatch Charge Cable and included in software update 2026.2.3, giving drivers another way to stop charging and release a stuck or unresponsive charge cable—without touching the screen or opening the Tesla app.
According to Tesla’s release notes, “Charging can now be stopped and the charge cable released by pulling and holding the rear left door handle for 3 seconds, provided the vehicle is unlocked or a recognized key is nearby. This is especially useful when the charge cable unlatch button does not work or a charging adapter is stuck in the charge port. You can still release the cable using the vehicle touchscreen or the Tesla app.” (via Teslascope)
While the change may sound unnecessary in many cases, it solves a real-world annoyance many Tesla owners have encountered, particularly when using non-Tesla charging equipment. At Superchargers and with Tesla’s Wall Connector or Mobile Connector, a button on the handle already stops charging and unlocks the cable. That convenience, however, isn’t guaranteed when plugging in elsewhere.
Third-party chargers often lack a physical unlatch button. In those cases, drivers typically need to unlock the car, climb inside to tap through the touchscreen menus, or pull out their phone and navigate the Tesla app just to unplug and leave. The new door-handle shortcut removes those extra steps.
The feature was first introduced in Europe in June 2025 as part of software update 2025.20, also proving useful in edge cases, such as when a charge handle button is broken or when an adapter becomes stubbornly stuck in the port.
Before Tesla added this capability natively, some owners turned to aftermarket solutions to achieve similar functionality. Accessories like Enhance Auto’s S3XY Buttons (you can use the promo code DRIVETESLA for 10% off any product on their website, including the popular S3XY Stalks) allowed drivers to trigger charge port unlatching through programmable physical inputs. With software update 2026.2.3, Tesla has effectively built that convenience directly into the vehicle experience, eliminating the need for extra hardware for this specific task.
Software update 2026.2.3 has only just started rolling out and should be deployed to the entire fleet in phases over the next few weeks.
