1. Interior door handles (Opening Doors from the Interior on page 6)
2.Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (Traffic-Aware Cruise Control on page 68) and Autosteer (see
Autosteer on page 74)
3. High beams ( High Beam Headlights on page 51), Turn signals ( Turn Signals on page 51),
Wipers and washers ( Wiper Blades and Washer Jets on page 147)
4. Steering wheel buttons - left ( Using Left Steering Wheel Buttons on page 37)
5. Instrument panel ( Instrument Panel on page 43)
6. Steering wheel buttons - right ( Using Right Steering Wheel Buttons on page 38)
7. Gear selector ( Shifting Gears on page 42)
8. Touchscreen ( Touchscreen Overview on page 90)
9. Glove box button ( Glove Box on page 14)
10. Power window switches ( Opening and Closing on page 9)
11. Exterior mirror adjustment switches ( Mirrors on page 40)
12. Seats ( Front and Rear Seats on page 17)
13. Steering column adjuster (hidden from view in the above image) ( Steering Wheel on page
37)
14. Horn ( Horn on page 39)
15. Brakes ( Brakes on page 54)
16. Hazard warning lights ( Hazard Warning Flashers on page 52)
17. Cabin climate control ( Climate Controls on page 104)
18. Cup holders ( Cup Holders on page 16)
Interior Overview
2Model S Owner
Folding Rear Seats
Model S has a split rear seat that can fold
forward.
Note: If Model S is equipped with the optional
executive rear seats, these seats do not fold
forward.
Before folding, remove items from the seats
and the rear foot well. To allow the rear seat
backs to fold completely
flat, you may need to
move the front seats forward.
To fold a rear seat, press the corresponding
lever and fold the seat forward.
Raising Rear Seats
Before raising a rear seat, make sure that the
seat belts are not trapped behind the backrest.
Pull the seat back upward until it locks into place.
To
confirm that the seat back is locked in the
upright position, try pulling it forward.
Warning: Always ensure the seat backs
are locked in their upright position.
Failure to do so increases the risk of injury.
Head Supports
Seats include integrated head supports that
cannot be adjusted or removed.
Seat Heaters
The front seats are equipped with heating
pads that operate at three levels from 3
(highest) to 1 (lowest). To operate the seat
heaters, see Climate Controls on page 104.
If Model S is equipped with the optional cold weather package, you can also control seat
heaters in all rear seating positions, as well as
heated wipers and washer nozzles by by
touching Controls > Cold Weather (see
Controls on page 94).
Seat Covers Do not use seat covers on Model S. Doing so
could restrict deployment of the side air bags
if an accident occurs. It can also reduce the
accuracy of the occupant detection system.
Front and Rear Seats
18Model S Owner
8. Use the right steering wheel buttons to change what displays on the right side of theinstrument panel whenever a phone call is not active (see Using Left Steering Wheel Buttons
on page 37).
9. Total estimated driving distance (or energy) available. Instead of driving distance, you can display the percentage of battery energy remaining. To do so, touch Controls > Settings >
Units & Format > Energy & Charging (see Settings on page 99).
Note: When anticipating when you need to charge, use range estimates as a general guideline only.
Note: In cold weather, some of the stored energy in the Battery may not be available on your drive because the Battery is too cold. When this happens, a portion of the Battery meter isblue and the driving distance value has a
snowflake image next to it. If Model S is plugged in,
you can heat your Battery using wall power by turning on climate control using the mobile app. When the Battery warms up, the blue portion on the meter and the
snowflake image are
no longer displayed.
10. The speed limit (if available) that is currently being detected by Speed Assist (see Speed
Assist on page 88).
11. The car in front of you (if applicable).
12. Pay attention to important driving-related messages that appear at the bottom center of the instrument panel.
13. Your Model S.
14. When Autosteer is active, the driving lane is highlighted in blue (see Autosteer on page 74).
The lane may highlight in red If a front wheel passes over a lane marking and the associated
turn signal is
off (see Lane Assist on page 83).
15. The following distance that Traffic-Aware Cruise Control will maintain from the car in front of
you. You can adjust the following distance as appropriate for driving conditions (see Traffic-
Aware Cruise Control on page 68).
16. Currently selected gear: Park, Reverse, Neutral, or Drive.
Instrument Panel
Driving47
3. Main viewing areaThe main viewing area changes depending on the app you have chosen (in the example, the
Nav and Media apps are displayed). For some apps (such as Nav and Web), you can zoom in and out using standard touchscreen
finger gestures.
4. Maximize/minimize app
Touch the small rectangle to expand the associated app to
fill the entire main viewing area
(some apps are not expandable). Touch again to display two apps in half-screen view.
5. Controls
Touch to access all Model S controls and settings (doors, locks, lights, etc).
6. Climate controls (see Climate Controls on page 104).
7. Volume control
Touch the up and down arrows to increase or decrease the volume of the speakers. You can
also adjust the volume using the scroll wheel on the left side of the steering wheel.
8. Reverse the position of the two currently displayed apps.
Warning: Paying attention to road and traffic conditions must always be the driver
5. Cold WeatherIf Model S is equipped with the optional cold weather package, you can control all seat
heaters as well as the heated wipers and steering wheel. Heaters that are turned on are displayed in red. To turn
off all seat heaters, touch All Off. Note that you can also control the
front driver and passenger seats using the main climate control panel located on the bottom
of the touchscreen (see Climate Controls on page 104).
6. Trips
View and reset the trip meters that summarize how far you have driven (see Trip Information
on page 61).
7. Displays
Manually control the brightness and the Day (light background) or Night (dark background)setting of the touchscreen and instrument panel. When set to Auto, the brightness changes
automatically between day and night brightness based on ambient lighting conditions. When
Auto-adjust is checked, the displays are further adjusted based on both the surroundings and
by learning your preferences (i.e. it remembers the type of manual adjustments you make).
To disable the touchscreen momentarily for cleaning purposes, touch Clean Mode.You can also put Model S into an energy saving mode so it consumes less energy when not inuse (see Getting Maximum Range on page 62).
Note: The Displays settings can also be accessed from the Settings screen.
8. E-Brake & Power
Off
You can manually:
Overview of Climate Controls
The climate controls are always available at the bottom of the touchscreen. By default, climate control is set to Auto On, which maintains optimum comfort in all but the most severe weather conditions. When you adjust the temperature, the system automatically adjusts the heating, air
conditioning, air distribution, air circulation, and fan speed to maintain your selected temperature. To override these settings, touch Auto On (see Customizing Climate Control on page 105).
The fan, heating, and air conditioning systems are powered by the Battery. Therefore, prolonged use decreases driving range.
Note: The following illustration is provided for demonstration purposes only. Depending on vehicle
options, software version, market region, and settings, the information displayed may be slightly
different.
1. The front seats are equipped with heating pads that operate at three levels from 3 (highest) to 1 (lowest).
When operating, the indicator turns red and displays the setting number.
Note: If Model S is equipped with the optional cold weather package, you can also control seat heaters in the rear seats, heated wipers, and heated steering wheel by touchingControls > Cold Weather (see Controls on page 94). When equipped with the optional
executive rear seats, you can control the seat and the backrest separately in each second row
passenger seat.
2. Touch the up or down arrow to set the cabin temperature (from LO, 63
Customizing Climate ControlThe climate control system is designed to automatically provide optimum comfort in most
situations. All you need to do is set the desired temperature, and the air conditioning, air
recirculation, air distribution, and fan speed automatically maintain your selected temperature.
To override the automatic setting, touch AUTO to customize individual settings. Then touch the
setting you want to change. When you change a setting, the AUTO icon turns from blue to gray
and RESET AUTO displays instead. Touch RESET AUTO to change all settings on the panel back to
their defaults. Or, you can touch AUTO associated with any individual setting to change it back to its default.
1. Touch RESET AUTO to change all settings back to their default values.
2. Touch A/C ON or A/C OFF to turn the air conditioning on and off, respectively. Turning it offreduces cooling, but saves energy.
Because Model S runs much quieter than a gasoline-powered vehicle, you may notice the
sound of the compressor as it is operating. To minimize noise, reduce the fan speed or
recirculate the air.
Climate Controls
Using the Touchscreen105
3. Choose how air is drawn into Model S:Outside air is drawn into Model S (see Ventilation on page 107).
Although less efficient than recirculating the air in very hot or low climate
conditions, this setting draws more air into the rear seating areas, and is
recommended when occupants are seated in the Tesla built-in rear facing
child seats.Air inside Model S is recirculated. This prevents outside air (traffic fumes)
from entering but reduces dehumidifying performance. Recirculating the
air is the most
efficient way to cool the front cabin area. To prevent the
windshield from fogging in some conditions, briefly change the setting
every hour to draw in outside air.
4. Choose where air flows into the cabin. You can choose more than one location:
Foot-level ventsFace-level ventsWindshield vents
Note: When air is directed to the foot-level vents, approximately one third of the air continues
to flow to the windshield vents to assist in defogging. However, when air is directed to the
face-level vents, no air flows to the windshield because the air flowing through the face-level
vents may be adequate to assist in defogging the windshield.
5. Drag the slider to set the speed of the fan.
Climate Controls
106Model S Owner