How to Turn Off Tesla: A Step-by-Step Guide

How do you turn off your Tesla? Well, as obvious as this may seem, Teslas are a unique kind of car, and therefore turning them on and off may not be as direct as with the other gas-powered vehicles. 

A Tesla is an EV that is arguably one of the most futuristic vehicles in the market right now, and it stands out for its minimalist design on the interior. This may make it quite confusing to drive for those yet to interact with it, as its limited number of buttons means most of the controls are on the touchscreen system. 

However, suffice it to say that Tesla is one of the most intuitive vehicles, and driving one, you won’t break sweat because they kind of ‘understand’ what you’d like at a particular time. Sounds crazy right? Well, that’s just how innovative the vehicle is given its range of features that include features like the autopilot. 

More important to today’s context is that your Tesla will actually predict when it's the right time to go off, which is critical, especially in saving power. So without further ado, let's get right into the gist of how to turn off Tesla. Let’s go.  

Understanding Tesla’s Auto Power-Off System

Tesla is an instinctive vehicle that will actually detect when you open its door and prompt its touch screen to power up. This is by design as the touchscreen is at the heart of most of the car’s operations. Also noteworthy is that you must have the key within the car to start it, and if it's not present, the car will not start. 

So how does the auto power-off system of the vehicle work? 

Say that you’ve been driving and came to a halt and engaged in the ‘Park’ mode. When you open the car door and leave, the vehicle will automatically shut down as long as the phone key and key fob are within the car. 

The turnoff feature will also automatically engage when your car stays in the ‘Park’ mode for more than 30 minutes, even when you’re still inside the vehicle. 

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

Whenever you unbuckle the driver’s seat belt and the car remains stationary, the Tesla will automatically shift to ‘Park’ mode. The same also applies when you set your car to ‘Neutral’ mode and open the car door to leave. Again, it interprets this as a signal that you’re no longer in the vehicle, and therefore, it shifts to ‘Park.’

The logic here is that Tesla’s system assumes that you’re no longer in the vehicle, and it's, therefore, a smart feature that is also central to engaging the auto power-off system to help conserve energy.

How to Turn Off A Tesla?

There are many ways to turn off a Tesla, such as the automatic turn-off feature we’ve highlighted above. However, take a case where you want to manually turn it off without relying on the auto system. Here’s the way to do it. 

• Say that you’ve been driving your Tesla and have come to a halt. So to initiate the turn-off process, first change from ‘Drive’ mode to ‘Park’ mode.
• Next, click on the touchscreen ‘Control’ button, then select ‘Safety,’ and finally ‘Power Off.’
• Now your car is turned off but you can actually revert it back on by stepping on the brakes pedal. Also, it turns on if you happen to open the car door.

Why should you turn off the Tesla?

Remember that a Tesla is an electric vehicle and therefore, powering it off and back on is actually a power cycling exercise. So when should you actually do it, and when is it unsafe to not do it? Let’s see below.

When to turn off a Tesla Manually

Normally, whenever you leave your Tesla, it will automatically shut down after 30 minutes. So usually, there isn’t much need to manually turn it off via the steps highlighted above. However, there are certain scenarios when actually turning it off is a necessity, such as the following:

1. Software Issue

Take a case where your Tesla is displaying nondescript information on the touch screen. This could be because of a software glitch or a bug issue and you can actually clear it through manually shutting it down for a s system restart.

To achieve this, follow the steps above (on shutdown), and once the car is off, don’t touch any control/touchscreen for around 2 minutes to allow the system to reboot. When this period has lapsed, you can restart the vehicle by simply pressing the braking pedal and it automatically switches on.

2. Installation Works

When you’re installing accessories such as modes, the obvious way to do it is when the Tesla is turned off, and therefore, in this case, it’d be reasonable to switch it off manually.

3. Unresponsive Touchscreen

Finally, if the touchscreen is unresponsive, then it may be time to restart the system by first shutting it down manually.

When Not to Turn Off a Tesla Manually?

Although turning off your Tesla manually can seem like a brilliant flex especially given that we also normally do so for gas-powered vehicles, this step is not really crucial. Actually, there’s not much battery you’ll save by switching it off manually, so it's not such an important process. 

Also, you don’t really have to turn it off to charge, as it actually charges faster when on. So, unless you’re facing issues such as those we highlighted in the previous section, your Tesla will always turn off when necessary without your input.

What to do After Shutting Down the Tesla?

Once you’ve shut down your Tesla and you probably aren’t required to use it until the next day, you can consider plugging it into a power supply to charge overnight. Also, it is imperative to keep track of the vehicle’s power consumption so as to detect any radical changes to its battery. 

You can conveniently do the battery monitoring via the Tesla App so you don’t have to necessarily be in the car. If you detect a phantom drain (excessive battery drain even while the vehicle is packed), then it may be time to contact Tesla for a diagnosis of what could be causing the problem

Also important is to disable modes that could consume the battery overnight such as the Sentry Mode and the Cabin Overheat Protection. In addition, it would be advisable to precondition the cabin before setting out to drive your Tesla for comfort when you get in the car. This can be done via the mobile app.

How to Reboot the Tesla if it Doesn't Turn off?

What can you do when your Tesla is on and doesn’t turn off despite following the turn-off processes we’ve highlighted in this guide? Well, if you experience such an issue, just don’t fret because there are a lot of methods to bail you out. 

But before we look at the technique, here’s a rebooting recommendation from Tesla: Always ensure that you’ve unplugged all USB devices from the car’s system before initiating the reboot process. Also, it is imperative to always perform reboots when the vehicle is off, although, for some of the techniques, it's still viable to reboot while on.

Tesla Scroll Wheel Reboot

Simply press the scroll wheels on either side of the steering wheel for about 10 seconds until the system indicates that it's rebooting on the touchscreen.

This method will work perfectly for all Model S, Y, and 3 Tesla, although there’s an exception for pre-2021 MS and MX. For these two, you’ll have to press the two buttons long above the scroll wheel for about 10 seconds, and the car will reboot, similar to the above technique.

Configuration Reset

A Tesla failure to reboot can also be initiated by ca ar config issue, and this may prompt some of the controls to actually disappear from the touchscreen. Often, such an error is probable after a software update. 

Hence, ideally, you can fix the issue by altering the wheel size/design on the menu, allowing a reconfiguration of the car’s system. After the reboot, it is advisable to revert the wheel size/design to the original form. Another way of performing this reset is through changing the language.

Hard Reboot/Power Cycle

This is the typical power cycle process we described earlier, and it's quite straightforward to carry out.

Start by engaging the ‘Park’ Mode in your car.

Next, click ‘Controls’ on the touchscreen and select ‘Safety’ and then ‘Power Off’ to initiate the shutdown.

Note after the shutdown, allow the car to stay in off mode for at least 2 seconds before touching the touchscreen or applying the brakes.

After this period, click the touchscreen or apply the brakes to initiate the Tesla start.

Conclusion

Your Tesla doesn’t need to be necessarily shutdown manually because it has a mechanism of going off anytime you leave the car or you engage the parking mode. However, as highlighted in the guide, there are times when a shutdown is actually necessary, such as when there’s an extensive software glitch, when performing electrical installations, and if the touchscreen is unresponsive. That’s all for now, and hopefully, you’ll get the best service from your Tesla.