Tesla Will Sell You A Model 3 Turn Signal Stalk Retrofit For $595

• Tesla has added a signal stalk retrofit option for the Model 3 in the United States.
• The entry-level electric sedan doesn’t come with any steering wheel stalks stateside.
• The change is welcome, but it comes at a price. Meanwhile, European and Chinese Model 3 customers get the signal stalk for free.

American owners of the refreshed Tesla Model 3 can finally get an official turn signal stalk straight from Tesla, after the company added a retrofit option on its online shop. 

As a reminder, the facelifted Model 3, which went on sale in the United States at the beginning of last year, doesn’t come with any steering wheel column stalks. Instead, the functions of the stalks were moved to the steering wheel and the central infotainment screen.

The move didn’t go down too well with reviewers and owners, and Tesla knows it. That’s why the company will now sell you a $595 retrofit pack to put back what it took away two years ago.

According to the product page, the retrofit is only compatible with Model 3 vehicles assembled in 2024 and 2025. It includes a traditional turn signal stalk, a new steering wheel, a steering wheel column module and the installation cost. In other words, it’s not as easy as sticking a stalk to the column, but it does seem unfair to American customers.

In the U.S., the Model 3 is still being sold without a traditional stalk, whereas customers in China and Europe can now buy the electric sedan with the stalk from the get-go without having to pay an extra fee. What’s more, when the retrofit pack was announced in China earlier this year, it cost the equivalent of $350.

The Shanghai-built Model 3s also get upgraded batteries that enable more driving range, but the prices in Europe have remained the same, with the base Rear-Wheel Drive version starting from €39,990 ($46,450) in Europe. All this being said, European customers don’t get the newly introduced Model 3 Standard and Model Y Standard–at least not yet.

Stripping the Model 3 of a turn signal stalk was a mistake, and Tesla knows it. That’s why it kept it on the refreshed Model Y and is now slowly adding it back to the Model 3. Having a lot of buttons on the steering wheel can make you feel like a race driver, but race cars don’t usually have turn signals, so it doesn’t make much sense from a safety standpoint to go down this route on a run-of-the-mill passenger car.