Tesla ended a policy in November that prohibited U.S. leasing customers from purchasing their leased cars at the end of the lease term. Originally, Tesla planned to use these cars in its proposed “robotaxi” network. However, the robotaxis never materialized, and Tesla instead sold many of these off-lease cars to new buyers after upgrading them with additional features such as “Full Self-Driving” software and “acceleration boost.” This practice allowed Tesla to sell the vehicles at higher prices. The reversal of the no-purchase policy was announced last November, allowing lessees to buy their cars at lease-end. Some former lessees expressed disappointment upon learning that Tesla sold their returned cars rather than using them as promised. — new from Reuters