How to open a frozen Tesla door handle
We are in the depths of winter with many areas in the northern hemisphere experiencing ice and snow. Tesla’s door handle design, although very aerodynamically efficient can suffer from occasional freezing that hinders access to the vehicle. If you experience frozen door handles on your Tesla, here are four ways to regain access to the […]
How to remove Tesla charging cable from the car
New owners may find it surprising that the charging cable is physically locked with a lock pin while the car is charging. This is a great security measure for unsupervised charging, so nobody can interrupt your charging session. In addition, this is an important safety measure so that energy flow can be stopped prior to […]
How to send locations from Google Maps to Tesla Navigation
The Tesla in-car screen UI and software certainly raise the bar for infotainment systems developed by car manufacturers. Few other car brands come anywhere close to clean user interfaces and the buttery smooth performance of a Tesla. Controlling the Tesla screen is more like interacting with a modern tablet computer than the clunky software that […]
How much energy does Tesla Sentry Mode use without Cameras?
With software update version 2022.44.2 Tesla introduced an optional toggle setting to Sentry Mode, allowing the car to detect events with cameras (as it did previously), or rely only on physical sensors to detect security events. Why would someone disable camera-based detection? Because it is very easy to trigger false positive security threats by just […]
How to make a Tesla charge faster at home
Charging at home is a convenience enjoyed by EV drivers, because starting every drive with a charged battery is easier than having to stop for gas. But what if your charging setup is not providing enough miles added per hour? The most obvious solution is to maximize the available amperage from your circuit breaker to […]
Tesla software update stuck at 50%? How to Solve
Why do Software Update downloads get stuck? Over-the-air software updates make EVs better over time. However, sometimes download progress stalls and becomes unresponsive. Most often, the reason the software update download gets stuck at 50 percent is because of an interrupted internet connection. This recently happened to me when my Tesla automatically connected to my […]
How to find odometer mileage of a Tesla car
Tesla’s most popular models, the 3 and Y do not have instrument cluster screens behind the steering wheel, where traditional cars display the odometer. So where is the mileage displayed on a Tesla? View mileage on the center screen Or view mileage in the Tesla app If app access is available, select your Tesla car […]
How to tell if your Tesla has Matrix headlights
Think of Matrix headlights as essentially light projectors that are able to selectively turn on and off certain sections of the beam, much like a computer projector is able to project pixels of an image. This allows the car to use high beams without blinding oncoming traffic by blocking off the light beam where other […]
How to exit full screen Theatre/YouTube/Netflix mode in a Tesla
Is your Tesla center screen in full-screen mode while on YouTube or the Netflix app? How do you get back to the regular car controls? It can be very confusing the first time this happens to you. Get back to car controls using one of the two methods: With so many possibilities and advanced in-car […]
Testing power output of Tesla USB Type-C Ports
The latest Model 3 and Y Teslas come with two Type-C charging ports in the front and two more for rear passengers. We just took delivery of the newest Model Y out of Fremont (September 2022 build), and wanted to find out if USB Power Delivery is supported and how much wattage comes out of […]