Page 4 of 190
Keyless Locking and UnlockingLocking and unlocking Model S is convenient.
Although you must be carrying a valid key,
there is no need to use it. Model S has sensors that can recognize the presence of a key
within a range of approximately three feet
(one meter). So you can keep your key in your
pocket or purse and Model S detects it.
When you walk up to Model S carrying your
key, doors automatically unlock. If a door
handle is retracted, press it and it extends. If
the Auto-Present Handles setting is turned on
(see Using Exterior Door Handles on page
6), you do not need to touch the door
handle. Instead, door handles extends
automatically as you approach Model S. To
open the rear trunk, press the switch located
under the trunk
Page 11 of 190

Interior ReleaseTo open the trunk from inside a Model S
equipped with the Tesla Built-In Rear Facing
Child Seats, press the interior release switch located inside the rear trunk and push the
liftgate up. If Model S is locked and is equipped with a power liftgate, the
first press
unlocks the rear trunk and the second press
opens it.
Note: If Model S is not equipped with the the
Tesla Rear Facing Child Seats, the switch may
appear to exist, but it will be inactive and
pressing it does not release the liftgate.
If Model S is equipped with the power liftgate,
you do not need to push it up. When you
press the release switch, it opens, and when you pull the switch, it closes.
Note: The interior release switch is disabled if
child-protection locks are turned on (see
Child-protection Lock on page 7), or if
Model S is moving.
Opening with No Power
If Model S has no electrical power, you can
open the rear trunk from inside. Use the
mechanical release cable located on the underside of the liftgate, next to the interior
light.
1. Remove the cover by pulling its lower edge very firmly toward you.
2. Pull the cable to release the latch.
3. Push the liftgate open.
Rear Trunk
Opening and Closing11
Page 13 of 190
Interior Emergency ReleaseAn interior release button inside the front
trunk allows a person locked inside to get out.
This release button is active whenever Model S
is stationary.
Press the interior release button to open the
front trunk, then push up on the hood.
Note: The button glows for several hours after
a brief exposure to ambient light.
Opening with No Power
If Model S has no electrical power, or if you are
unable to open the front trunk using the
touchscreen or key, pull the mechanical release lever located below the glove box. Thisreleases the primary catch.
Note: The mechanical release lever is notavailable on all versions of Model S. For dualmotor vehicles and some newer models,
contact Tesla for assistance.
Then push down on the secondary catch lever
and lift the hood. You may need to push the hood down slightly to release the pressure
against the secondary catch.
Front Trunk
Opening and Closing13
Page 22 of 190
Guidelines for Seating Children
Your Model S seat belts in the front and second row seats are designed for adults and larger
children. You must restrain infants and small children in the second row seats only, and you must use a suitable child safety seat appropriate for the child
Page 26 of 190

Testing a Child Safety Seat
Before seating a child, always make sure the
child safety seat is not loose:
1. Hold the child safety seat by the belt path and try to slide the safety seat from side
to side and front to back.
2. If the seat moves more than one inch (2.5 cm), it is too loose. Tighten the belt or
reconnect the LATCH retained child safety
seat.
3. If you are unable to reduce slack, try a
different seat location or try another child
safety seat.
Warnings - Child Safety Seats
Warning: Extreme hazard! Do not seat a
child on the front passenger seat even if
you are using a child safety seat. This seat
has an airbag in front of it. Although this airbag is disabled when Model S detects a
lightweight passenger, do not rely on technology to protect your child.Warning: Child restraint systems are
designed to be secured in vehicle seats
by lap belts or the lap belt portion of a lap-shoulder belt. Children could be
endangered in a crash if their child restraints are not properly secured in the
vehicleWarning: According to accident statistics,
children are safer when properly
restrained in the rear seating positions
than in the front seating positions.Warning: Do not use a forward facing child safety seat until your child weighs
over 20 lbs (9 kg) and can sit
independently. Up to the age of two, a
child
Page 33 of 190

Passenger Front Airbag
Model S has an occupancy sensor in the front
passenger seat that controls the status of the
airbags based on the weight of the occupant.
Passenger airbag status displays in the top
right corner of the touchscreen to indicate
whether the airbag will
inflate (on) or notinflate (off) if a collision occurs.
Note: The occupancy sensor system meets the regulatory requirement of FMVSS 208 and
automatically detects when
inflating the
passenger front airbags would be unnecessary
or potentially harmful.
Front passenger seat
occupancy*Passenger airbag
statusEmptyOFFInfant in child safety
seat (up to 20 lbs/
9kg)OFFChild or small
occupant
(20-100 lbs/9-45 kg)ON or OFFHeavy object/
occupantON*Values are approximate. Occupants whose weight is close to the low weight threshold
can cause the status to occasionally turn on
and
off depending on seating position and
physique.
Note: It takes approximately six seconds after
you power on Model S for the occupancy
sensor to report accurate status of the front
passenger airbag. As a result, when you
firstpower on Model S, the status defaults to PASS
AIRBAG ON, even in situations when it should
be OFF because the seat is either empty or
carrying a weight of 20 lbs (9 kg) or less.
However, after the six second initialization, the status should display as PASS AIRBAG OFF. If
it fails to do so, contact Tesla service
immediately and seat passengers in the rear
seating positions only.
If the status shows the airbag as permanently
on, even when the seat is empty and the seat belt is unbuckled, contact Tesla immediately.
To make sure the sensing system can correctly detect occupancy status, eliminate the
following:
Page 49 of 190

1. If you turn on DOME lights, all interior dome (map) lights turn on when you unlock Model S,open a door upon exiting, or shift into P (Park). They turn off after 60 seconds, when you lock
Model S, or when you shift into a driving gear. If set to AUTO, dome lights turn on only when
little or no light is detected.
You can also manually turn an individual dome light on or
off by pressing its lens. If you
manually turn a dome light on, it turns off when Model S powers off. If Model S was already
powered off when you manually turned the light on, it turns off after 60 minutes.
2. If you turn on AMBIENT lights, the lights on the door armrests turn on whenever the headlights are on.
3. If you turn on AUTO HIGH BEAM, high beam headlights turn on and
off automatically based
on whether or not light is detected in front of Model S (see High Beam Headlights on page
51). This feature is available only if Model S is equipped with the optional Autopilot Tech Package.
4. DRL (Daytime Running Lights) operate only when driving with the headlights
off. In
jurisdictions where required by law (Canada), daytime running lights can not be turned off.5. If Model S is equipped with optional front fog lights, touch to turn them on or off.
The Front Fog indicator displays on the instrument panel whenever the
optional front fog lights are on.
The fog lights operate only when low beam headlights are on. Whenever headlights are
turned off, fog lights also turn off.
Lights
Driving49
Page 88 of 190

How Speed Assist Works
If Model S is equipped with Autopilot
components (see About Driver Assistance on
page 65), the forward looking camera detects
speed limit signs. The signs are then analyzed
and compared against GPS data to determine
the speed limit at your current driving
location. For routes where no signs are
present, speed limits are determined using
GPS data (if available). Instead of determining
the speed limit based on signs and GPS data,
you can also manually enter an arbitrary speed limit.
When Speed Assist is turned on (described
below), the instrument panel displays a speed
limit sign. Warnings (described below) take
effect when you exceed this limit.
In situations where Speed Assist is unable to
detect a speed (for example, speed limit signs
and GPS data are not available at the current
location), the instrument panel does not display a speed limit sign. If Speed Assist is
uncertain that an acquired speed limit is
accurate (for example, although a speed limit sign was initially detected, some time has
passed before a subsequent sign has been
detected), the speed limit sign is dimmed. In both cases, warnings do not take
effect.
If you set the speed limit warning to Display
(see Controlling Speed Assist on page 88),
the speed limit sign on the instrumental panel
increases in size whenever you exceed the speed limit.
If you set the speed limit warning to Chime
(see Controlling Speed Assist on page 88)
and exceed the speed limit, you also hear a warning chime.
Note: Speed limit warnings go away after 10
seconds, or when Model S slows down below
the
specified limit.
Warning: Do not rely on Speed Assist to
determine the appropriate speed limit. Always drive at a safe speed based on
traffic and road conditions.
Controlling Speed Assist
To turn Speed Assist on or
off, and control
how it works, touch Controls > Settings > Driver Assistance > Speed Limit Warning, then
choose one of these options: