20 Tesla Hidden Features You NEED To Know About
Updated: Aug 8
If you didn't know already, your Tesla has some pretty neat hidden features and secret settings that'll make your experience with your car much more enjoyable. Here are 20 Tesla Hidden Features you have to see to believe!
UPDATE: >> 20 MORE HIDDEN FEATURES <<
Live Sentry Mode
Your Tesla comes equipped with eight cameras. Four cameras are used to record activity while your car is parked and in sentry mode, a well-known security feature for Teslas. But some don't know that these four cameras can be accessed live through the Tesla app for Android and iPhone. Live sentry mode lets you remotely access your Teslas cameras, honk the horn, and flash the headlights. But another cool feature is you can speak through your Tesla's exterior speaker from anywhere in the world! As long as you have premium connectivity and live sentry mode enabled. Too cool!
Free Premium Connectivity
Connectivity in all Tesla vehicles plays an important role in the driving experience, giving access to features that use data — such as streaming music and media, live traffic visualization, and more. Every Tesla comes with standard connectivity that gives you access to basic Navigation features. If you want more features including Live Traffic Visualization, Sentry Mode - View Live Camera, Satellite-View Maps, Video Streaming, Caraoke, Music Streaming, and Internet Browsing, you'll need to subscribe to the Premium Connectivity service for $9.99 per month or $99 annually. What most Tesla owners don't know is that you can get most of these features without having to pay for a subscription at all. The trick is to connect your Tesla to your smartphone's Hotspot via WiFi. This will allow you to get Video Streaming, Caraoke, Music Streaming, and Internet Browsing in addition to core maps & navigation functionality including traffic-based routing, Trip Planner, and Supercharger stall availability. To use your mobile hotspot, it's best to have an unlimited plan with your carrier.
More Streaming Services and Games
If you are subscribed to Premium Connectivity or connected to your mobile phone's hotspot, you can get access to streaming services such as Netflix, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch, and more. It's already an impressive selection but it's possible to add even more streaming services to your Tesla by visiting ABetterTheater.com in your Tesla's internet browser. Visiting this website will give you access to streaming services like HBO Max, ESPN, Paramount+, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and more! You can even play games like Tetris and more. The interface is responsive and easy to use, you can bookmark the website so it's the first thing you see when opening the internet browser making it easier than ever to start streaming right away.
Unlock Charge Port
Although we hope it never happens, the charging cable can sometimes become stuck in your Tesla's charge port. If this happens at home or even at the tesla Supercharger, you won't be able to use the main screen to electronically unlock the charge port. This can be frustrating because releasing the cable manually can be impossible. Luckily, there is a way to release the charging cable using a hidden latch located in the upper left side of the Trunk. You'll need to do some digging to find the cable, but once you've got it, just give it a tug and the charging cable will be manually released. Check this out in the 20 Tesla Hidden Features Video
Lower Autopilot Speed FAST
If you ever find yourself traveling above the speed limit while engaged in autopilot and need to quickly reduce your speed to match the speed limit, you can do this simply by tapping the speed limit icon on the screen, instead of using the scroll wheel to adjust the speed. Tapping the speed limit icon will quickly, but safely lower your speed in case of an emergency or to avoid traffic violations.
Send Address To Tesla
Tesla's navigation system makes it easy to search for an address and navigate to it quickly and easily, but there are also other ways to tell your Tesla where you want to go. If you want to navigate to an address you have on your mobile device, you can send the address directly to your Tesla wirelessly. You can do this using addresses that have been e-mailed, texted to you, or even addresses you search using your internet browser. You can do this by simply long pressing on the address and choosing to share it to the Tesla app, which will then send the address directly to your Tesla and start navigating to the address. You'll need the Tesla app, Bluetooth enabled, and a driver profile connected to your Tesla.
Sun Visor Extension
This one might be pretty common to most drivers, however, it may be surprising to know that most drivers have no idea. If you didn't know, your Teslas sun visors can be extended by simply pulling the visor to the left or right once it's been folded down, exposing an adjustable rod for more coverage.
Parking Brake
You might know that the parking brake is automatically enabled when you park your Tesla and exit the vehicle, but did you know you can enable the parking brake manually? You can do this by holding the park button on the right steering wheel stock. When holding it for a few seconds, the parking brake will engage and a parking brake symbol will appear on the main screen. This can be useful if you are parking on a hill or inclined driveway while still being in the car.
Navigate Home or to Work FAST
Do you want a faster way to navigate to work or home fast? Instead of hitting the address bar and choosing home or work and then tapping navigate, you can make the process much faster by simply swiping either up or down on the navigation bar. One simple swipe will immediately start navigation to your home or work.
Battery and Range Icon
Your Tesla will always show you how much charge your battery has by using a battery icon in the top left of your screen. By default, it will show you the amount of charge by percentage, but if you tap on the number, you can change it to how much mileage you are able to travel with the current charge. A simple but useful hidden feature!
Tesla App Quick Controls
The Tesla app for iPhone and Android is a useful tool to do things like enable sentry mode, check charge stats, and schedule service appointments, but the most useful would be using it as a car key, to lock your doors, open the trunk or frunk, turn on climate or even vent your windows. In the app, by default, you have 4 options, which are lock/unlock, turn on climate, open the charge port, and open the frunk. If you long press between those four icons, a hidden menu will open with many more options, which you can replace with any of the default controls. Some of the hidden controls include: defrosting your car, honking the horn, and enabling sentry mode. As a bonus, if you fiddle with dragging the icons, you can also add a fifth icon to the control bar!
Tesla Widget
In addition to the quick controls in the Tesla app, you can make your quick controls available on your mobile device's home screen by adding the Tesla Widget. On iPhone, simply hold down on a blank area on your home screen and choose the + button at the top left of your screen, next search for the Tesla widget and choose either the small or medium version on the widget and it will be added to your home screen or whichever page you'd like. Once added you can access your four or five quick controls without ever opening the app, turning your phone into a virtual car key. The widget will also show your battery percentage, the car's current location, and sentry mode status. This is one of the best hidden features on this list!
Turn Off Climate
After the holiday update V11 back in 2021, simple controls became harder to access and made using the Tesla more frustrating than ever. Since then the Tesla team has been releasing updated to make things easier to use, but a lot of these updates do not highlight many of the improved features. One of these features is a way to quickly turn off the climate. Usually, to do this, you would need to swipe up on the bottom of the screen and then tap the power button on the climate screen, which can sometimes be incredibly hard to do while driving. To make things easier, you can simply hold down on the climate button for a few seconds and the climate will turn off completely, making it much easier than before!
Quick Light Settings
Another setting you are able to access much faster now is your headlight and foglight settings. Instead of fumbling through the Tesla menus and options, you can simply push the left steering wheel stock forward to reveal your light settings, where you can toggle your headlights, high beams, and parking lights.
Dismiss Autopilot Prompt
One thing we Tesla drivers can't stand is the autopilot prompts that tell us to grab a hold of the steering wheel with slight pressure to show we are paying attention. Due to it being a safety feature, we will never be able to get rid of it, however, there is a way to make it less of a hassle. Grabbing a hold of the steering wheel with slight turning force while driving can sometimes be scary because, with enough force, you can steer the car left and right. Also, autopilot can be disengaged altogether by doing this as well. Instead of grabbing a hold of the steering wheel, you can simply press or spin either scroll wheel on the steering wheel, making it safer and easier on your hands and arms on long drives.
Set Trunk Height
If you've ever been afraid to open the trunk of your Tesla in places with low ceilings or in a place that has hanging objects above your car, you no longer have to be afraid, this is because you are able to adjust the opening height of the trunk by simply tapping on the trunk close button on your trunk at the height you'd like it to stop opening. If you hold down on the button for a few seconds once it's at the height you'd like, you can program it to always open at this height every time you open your trunk, which is great for home use. To reset the height, simply manually push the trunk all the way up and hold down the trunk open until you hear a beeping sound.
Joe Mode
If you have small children or regularly transport backseat passengers in your Tesla, the system noises can sometimes be loud and annoying. Luckily, you are able to lower the volume of these sounds by enabling "Joe Mode" in the safety menu in system settings. The reason this feature is called "Joe Mode" is that a Tesla owner by the name of Joe contacted Tesla with a complaint about the system sounds and wanted a fix. Elon replied to the owner and added the feature, naming it after the owner himself. How cool!
Gestures
As stated previously, recent Tesla updates have made navigating the infotainment screen easier than before, the addition of gestures helps make this a possibility. Instead of going through menus and settings, there's a lot that can be done by using simple gestures. For example, you can control the temperature of the climate by simply holding down on the climate and swiping left and right. Or you can do the same by controlling the volume. There are many new gestures to be found, so start swiping around, you'll be surprised by what you can do!
Quick Reboot
If your Teslas infotainment screen starts to act funny, for example, it slows down and stutters, or if some feature stop working as expected like your phone no longer connecting to Bluetooth or connectivity features stop working, don't go calling Tesla just yet! Most of these simple problems can be solved by doing a soft reboot. You can reboot and refresh your Tesla without losing any settings by pushing the two scroll wheels on the steering wheel for about five seconds. If done successfully, the screen will turn black for up to 50 seconds before it turns back on. Once on your Tesla will be refreshed and everything should be working as intended. You can also do this system while driving as all of the driving features will still work, just with no screen until it's rebooted.
Upgrade Your Tesla
In addition to hidden features, there are ways to make your Tesla More comfortable, upgrade its performance and improve its looks. You can do this by adding aftermarket accessories. Upgrade your interior with custom seat covers and carbon fiber accents. Improve performance with aerodynamic upgrades and wheel spacers or protect it with floor mats and car covers. The possibilities are endless! Make your Tesla YOURS at AccessoriesForTesla.com This site only lists products that Tesla enthusiasts have physically tested for quality over long periods of time.
What do you think of these hidden features? is there anything on this list that you already knew? or is there anything we missed? Let's discuss it in the comments below!
UPDATE: >> 20 MORE HIDDEN FEATURES <<
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