Overview
Interior Overview
1. Door open button ( Opening Doors from the Interior on page 15)
2. High beams ( High Beam Headlights on page 59), turn signals ( Turn Signals on page 60),
and wipers and washers ( Wipers and Washers on page 64)
3. Horn ( Horn on page 51)
4. Gear selector ( Shifting Gears on page 56) , Traffic-Aware Cruise Control ( Traffic-Aware
Cruise Control on page 87), and Autosteer ( Autosteer on page 93)
5. Touchscreen ( Touchscreen Overview on page 4)
6. Driver dome light ( Lights on page 58)
7. Cabin camera ( Cabin Camera on page 27)
8. Hazard warning
Child Safety Seats
Guidelines for Seating Children
Your Model 3 seat belts 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’s age, weight, and size.
Warning: Never seat a child on a seat with an ACTIVE AIRBAG in front of it. DEATH or
SERIOUS INJURY to the child can occur. See Passenger Front Airbag Status on page 43.Warning: Do not associate the Easy Entry setting with the driver
For dual-strap tethers, position a strap oneach side of the head support.
For single-strap tethers at the outboard
seating positions, run the strap over the outside-facing side of the head support (sameside of the head support as the seat belt
retraction mechanism).
For a single-strap tether in the center seating
position, fully lower the head support (see Raising/Lowering the Rear Center HeadSupport on page 29) and run the strap over
the top center of the head support.
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.
Child Safety Seat Warnings
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 3 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
vehicle.Warning: According to collision 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
Child Safety Seats
Seating and Safety Restraints39
Caution: If the brakes are not functioning
properly, stop the vehicle as soon as safety permits and contact Tesla Service.
See Park on page 56 for information on
using the Park button to stop the vehicle
in case of emergency.Warning: Always maintain a safe driving
distance from the vehicle in front of you
and be cautious in hazardous driving
conditions. Do not rely on brake disc
wiping or hydraulic fade compensation to act as a substitute for adequate braking.
Regenerative Braking
Whenever Model 3 is moving and your foot is
off the accelerator, regenerative braking slows
down Model 3 and feeds any surplus energy back to the Battery.
By anticipating your stops and reducing or
removing pressure from the accelerator pedal
to slow down, you can take advantage of regenerative braking to increase driving range.
Of course, this is no substitute for regular braking when needed for safety.
Note: If regenerative braking is aggressively
slowing Model 3 (such as when your foot is
completely off the accelerator pedal at
highway speeds), the brake lights turn on to
alert others that you are slowing down.
Note: Installing winter tires with aggressive
compound and tread design may result in
temporarily-reduced regenerative braking
power. However, your vehicle is designed to continuously recalibrate itself, and after changing tires it will increasingly restore
regenerative braking power after some
moderate-torque straight-line accelerations.
For most drivers this occurs after a short
period of normal driving, but drivers who
normally accelerate lightly may need to use
slightly harder accelerations while the
recalibration is in progress.
Warning: In snowy or icy conditions
Model 3 may experience traction loss
during regenerative braking, particularly
when in the Standard setting and/or not
using winter tires. Tesla recommends
using the Low setting (see To Set the
Regenerative Braking Level on page 66)
in snowy or icy conditions to help maintain vehicle stability.The amount of energy fed back to the Battery
using regenerative braking can depend on the
current state of the Battery and the charge
level setting that you are using. For example,
regenerative braking may be limited if the Battery is already fully charged or if the
ambient temperature is too cold.
Note: If regenerative braking is limited, a
dashed line displays on the energy bar (see
Driving Status on page 63).
To Set the Regenerative Braking Level
You can use the touchscreen to change the
level of regenerative braking:
1. Touch Controls > Driving > Regenerative
Braking .
2. Choose from two levels:
Park Assist
How Park Assist Works
Model 3 has several sensors designed to
detect the presence of objects. When driving
slowly in Drive or Reverse (for example, when
parking), the sensors alert you if an object is
detected in close proximity of your Model 3.
Objects are only detected in the direction of
the gear you selected; front objects in Drive,
rear objects in Reverse.
Warning: You may not be alerted if Model
3 rolls freely in the opposite direction of
the gear you selected (for example, you
will not receive an alert if Model 3 rolls
backwards down a hill while in Drive).
The sensors are activated when driving slower
than 5 mph (8 km/h).
Warning: Never depend on Park Assist to
inform you if an area you are approaching is free of objects and/or people. Several
external factors can reduce theperformance of Park Assist, causing
either no readings or false readings (see
Limitations and False Warnings on page
71). Therefore, depending on Park Assist
to determine if Model 3 is approaching an
obstruction can result in damage to the vehicle and/or objects, and can
potentially cause serious injury. Always
inspect the area with your own eyes.
When reversing, perform shoulder checks and use all mirrors. Park assist does not
detect children, pedestrians, bicyclists,
animals, or objects that are moving, protruding, located too far above or
below the sensors, or too close or too far
from the sensors. Park Assist is for
guidance purposes only and is not intended to replace your own direct visual
checks. It is not a substitute for careful
driving.
Visual and Audio Feedback
When you shift to Reverse, the Park Assist
view displays on the touchscreen, showing objects that are in close proximity to the front
and rear of Model 3. This view closes when you shift into Drive unless an object is
detected close to the front of Model 3, in
which case the Park Assist view closes automatically when your driving speed
exceeds 5 mph (8 km/h). When reversing,
visual feedback also displays on the touchscreen, immediately below the camera
view (see Rear View Camera on page 75).
You can manually close the park assist view on
the touchscreen by touching the X in the
upper corner.
When driving with the Camera app displayed
on the touchscreen, you can switch to the
Park Assist view when driving at speeds below
5 mph (8 km/h). Touch the button located in
the upper left corner of the Camera app
window. This is useful if you need assistance
with parallel parking.
If chimes are turned on (see Controlling
Audible Feedback on page 71), an audible
beep sounds as you approach an object. You
can temporarily mute the chime by pressing
the scroll button on the left side of the
steering wheel or by touching the mute button on the bottom left corner of the Park Assist
view.
Note: If a sensor is unable to provide
feedback, the touchscreen displays an alert
message.
Park Assist
70Model 3 Owner
The touchscreen displays a message
indicating that Autosteer is temporarily unavailable if you attempted to engage
Autosteer when driving at a speed that is not
within the speed required for Autosteer to operate. Autosteer may also be unavailable if
it is not receiving adequate data from the
camera(s) or sensors.
If Autosteer is unable to detect lane markings,
the driving lane is determined based on the
vehicle you are following.
In most cases, Autosteer attempts to center Model 3 in the driving lane. However, if the
sensors detect the presence of an obstacle (such as a vehicle or guard rail), Autosteer
may steer Model 3 in a driving path that is
offset from the center of the lane.Warning: Autosteer is not designed to,
and will not, steer Model 3 around objects
partially or completely in the driving lane.
Always watch the road in front of you and
stay prepared to take appropriate action. It is the driver
When Navigate on Autopilot is active and you
approach an off-ramp or freeway interchange
along your navigation route, the appropriate
turn signal engages and Autosteer maneuvers Model 3 onto the off-ramp or interchange.
Warning: Never depend on Navigate on
Autopilot to determine an appropriate lane at an off-ramp. Stay alert and
perform visual checks to ensure that the driving lane is safe and appropriate.
When you leave a controlled-access road (for
example, you exit a freeway or you enter a section of the navigation route that is no
longer supported), Navigate on Autopilot
reverts back to Autosteer
If Require Lane Change Confirmation is turned
on, you must engage the appropriate turn signal to confirm that you want Navigate on
Autopilot to make the lane change. If you do
not confirm the lane change within three
seconds, a chime sounds to remind you that
Navigate on Autopilot requires your
confirmation to change lanes.
Note: If you ignore a route-based lane change
suggestion (for example, you are driving in the
left lane while approaching an off-ramp on the
right side of the highway), Navigate on
Autopilot will be unable to maneuver onto the off-ramp and as a result, the navigation
system will re-route you to your destination.Warning: Navigate on Autopilot may not
always attempt to exit at an off-ramp or
change lanes, even when an exit or lane
change is determined by the navigation
route. Always remain alert and be prepared to manually steer onto an off-
ramp, or make a lane change to prepare
for, or to exit at, an off-ramp or
interchange.
Be Ready to Assist
When attempting to change lanes or
maneuver Model 3, or when approaching
construction zones, Navigate on Autopilot
may be unable to determine the appropriate
driving lane (for example, complex clover leafs
and multi-lane off-ramps) and the touchscreen
displays an alert indicating that Navigate on
Autopilot is trying to maneuver and may
require assistance. When you see the
message, be prepared to take immediate
action to ensure that it is safe and appropriate
to complete the lane change or maneuver.
Limitations
Autosteer and its associated functions are
particularly unlikely to operate as intended
when: