Electric vehicle giant Tesla (TSLA) is having an incredible day today, but not all of the news is good. In fact, reports noted that a self-driving Tesla managed to just barely miss an oncoming train, driving through a lowered barrier. That proved to be nearly a disaster, but Tesla investors stuck to their guns and sent Tesla shares blasting up nearly 8% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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Trade TSLA with leverageJoshua Brown was driving a Tesla not far from his home in Texas, when he approached a railroad crossing and expected to stop. The crossing gates were fully lowered, Brown related, complete with flashing warning lights. Worse, Brown could “…clearly see a train coming…” on the track not far from him. The car apparently did stop at the crossing but did not remain stopped for long.
Brown, horrified, watched the car roll forward, and through the crossing arm to proceed down the street. Brown, an experienced race driver, followed the old adage, “When in doubt, throttle out,” and accelerated past the incident. A look from a rear-facing camera angle revealed that he had indeed crossed safely, but the train moved rapidly, occupying the space where his Tesla was only seconds prior. There was no actual accident, and the crossing arm appeared undamaged. But it was a near-miss in every sense that mattered. Then, in a truly knife-twisting moment, a message from Tesla appeared on the car’s screen, asking the innocuous but secretly freighted with meaning question: “Autopilot disengaged, what happened?”
New Spring Update
Meanwhile, the car’s automation systems got a bit of an upgrade with the Spring Update 2026 release. The Self-Driving subscription app got a retooling, Grok is now available from voice access, and software updates can now be automatically installed.
One of the biggest features is a “streak counter” for FSD users, which keeps track of miles driven both with and without FSD engaged. It serves as a handy way to point out just how often drivers use the service, and in turn, how valuable it is to keep around. Assuming, of course, it can be kept under control at railroad crossings.
Is Tesla a Buy, Hold or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 13 Buys, 11 Holds, and six Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 50.78% rally in its share price over the past year, the average TSLA price target of $401.13 per share implies 3.68% upside potential.
