Tesla Sentry Mode: What It Is, How to Use It and Battery Drain

Tesla's Sentry Mode captures videos from up to four cameras at once

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Tesla Sentry Mode is an intelligent vehicle security system designed to monitor and record potential threats around your parked Tesla. This feature utilizes the vehicle's cameras and sensors to detect suspicious activity, notify the owner through the Tesla mobile app, and save footage to a USB drive.

What is Sentry Mode

When enabled, Tesla Sentry Mode keeps the vehicle's cameras and computer powered on and ready to record potential threats while the car is locked and in Park. If a threat is detected, the system pulses the headlights, displays a message on the touchscreen, and may sound the alarm, depending on the situation. In addition, footage of the event is saved to a USB drive, and the owner will be notified via the app if the alarm goes off. Sentry Mode offers an extra layer of security for Tesla owners, helping to deter would-be thieves or vandals.

Cameras and Sound

While Sentry Mode is enabled, it will record from four of the vehicle's nine available cameras. The video recorded comes from one of the front-facing cameras, the fender camera on either side of the vehicle, and the rear camera. The other remaining front-facing cameras, B-pillar cameras, and the cabin camera do not record at this time.

Teslas do not contain any external microphones, so all Sentry Mode videos are silent. Although Teslas do contain internal microphones, Tesla does not capture audio from these microphones. In fact, even if you're viewing the interior camera in the Tesla app, you can not hear any audio from inside of the vehicle.

How to Turn On Sentry Mode

You can enable Sentry Mode by tapping Controls then tapping 'Sentry.' The Sentry Mode icon will turn red when Sentry Mode is enabled. You can also choose to turn on Sentry Mode automatically when the vehicle is parked or activate it using the Tesla mobile app. Voice commands like "Keep Tesla safe," "Keep my car safe," "Sentry on," or "Enable Sentry" can also be used to enable the feature.

Enable Sentry Mode from the Controls menu

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How Long Does Sentry Mode Stay On

Once Sentry Mode is enabled, it will remain on until you turn it off, or when your battery reaches 20%. If the battery falls below this level, Sentry Mode will turn off, and you will receive a notification via the Tesla app. Since Sentry Mode increases power consumption, Tesla turns it off automatically to leave you with enough energy to reach your destination.

Sentry Mode Battery Drain

Since your vehicle's computer needs to remain on to process video from its various cameras, there is additional power usage while Sentry Mode is enabled.

The actual amount of power consumed varies based on your vehicle's specific hardware, but tests have shown that the vehicle will consume about 250 to 300 watts while Sentry Mode is on. This is equivalent to losing about 1 mile of range for every hour Sentry Mode is enabled.

In a day, Sentry Mode may consume as much as 7.2 kWh, about 24 miles of range, or roughly equivalent to 7% to 14% of your battery, depending on your model and battery size.

Since Sentry Mode consumes so much energy, it's best to use it only when needed. Sentry Mode is not meant for when your vehicle will be parked long term, as it'll quickly drain your battery. Luckily, Tesla offers options to automatically enable Sentry Mode at specific locations and Sentry Mode is automatically disabled when the vehicle's battery falls to 20%.

Sentry Mode Options

You can customize Sentry Mode settings to fit your preferences and requirements. Some options available include:

Disabling sounds: If you want to silence the security alarm and audio system when the alarm is triggered, navigate to Controls > Safety > Disable Sentry Sounds. Sentry Mode will still send a notification through the mobile app and save the last 10 minutes of footage of any events that occurred.

Excluding specific locations: In Controls > Safety > Sentry Mode, you can choose not to enable Sentry Mode in particular areas, such as your home, work, or favorite destinations. This can be helpful if you want to conserve battery power or avoid unnecessary recordings in familiar areas.

Choosing the clip length: In some markets (Not available in the U.S. and Canada), you can select the length of Sentry Mode video clips, allowing you to customize how much footage is saved during an event. 

Disabling camera detection: If you prefer, you can disable camera detection so that Sentry Mode only activates when the car senses a physical intrusion. This can be helpful in situations where you want to minimize the number of false alarms or unnecessary recordings.

How to Set Up Sentry Mode

First, insert a compatible USB drive into the glove box USB port. If your car doesn't have a USB port in the glove box, you can use one in the center console. Note that not all Teslas have data-capable USB ports in the center console, so the glove box should be your first choice. Chances are that Tesla already included a compatible USB drive in the car for you. Tesla defines a compatible USB drive as one that is USB 2.0 compatible and holds at least 64 GB. This Samsung USB drive is a good choice for Sentry Mode because of its durability and size. It offers fast write speeds and 256GB of storage, 4x Tesla's recommendation.

Next, you can format the USB drive by going to Controls > Safety and tap on "Format USB Drive." Tesla recommends using a high-quality USB drive to ensure smooth recording and playback of Sentry Mode videos. You can also enable Dashcam recording. Navigate to Controls > Safety > Dashcam in your vehicle's menu and set it to Auto. This will allow your vehicle to automatically record footage while driving. Footage will automatically be recorded when an event is detected or when you tap the Dashcam icon under Controls > Dashcam.

How to View Sentry Mode Recordings

You can review your Sentry Mode video with the Dashcam Viewer app in the car

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To view Sentry Mode or Dashcam videos, use the Dashcam app in your vehicle. The Tesla system tags events with a red dot, making locating and reviewing footage easier. This feature allows you to quickly identify any incidents around your vehicle and gather evidence if necessary. Remember to regularly check your USB drive's storage capacity, as new recordings will overwrite the oldest ones when the drive is full. It's a good idea to back up important footage to a separate storage device for safekeeping.

Sentry Mode Live Access

You can view live footage from your vehicle in the Tesla app

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Sentry Mode Live Access lets you view your vehicle's cameras in real-time using the Tesla mobile app. This feature requires Tesla's Premium Connectivity. When using View Live Camera, your vehicle will periodically flash its exterior lights and displays a message on the touchscreen, notifying others that the area surrounding the vehicle is being viewed through the cameras.

To enable the View Live Camera feature, touch Controls > Safety > Sentry Mode > View Live Camera via Mobile App on the car's touchscreen. First, ensure no occupants are in the vehicle, and all doors are locked. Then, navigate to Safety > Sentry Mode > View Live Camera in the Tesla app. The live camera feed is fully encrypted and cannot be accessed by Tesla, ensuring your privacy. View Live Camera is limited to approximately one hour (or 15 minutes for some regions) of cumulative usage per day. Although Sentry Mode Live Access is widely available, it is not currently available in all markets.

If your vehicle is equipped with a pedestrian warning speaker you can press and hold the microphone button in the app to transmit your voice through the speaker, potentially deterring would-be intruders or vandals.

When Dog Mode or Sentry Mode are enabled, you can also switch the live camera view to see through the vehicle's interior camera. This can be useful if you want to check on your pet while away from the vehicle. Note that this feature is not supported in vehicles with Autopilot computer 2.0 or 2.5.

Tesla Sentry Mode is a valuable security feature that can help protect your vehicle from potential threats. By following the steps provided, you can set up, enable, and customize this feature to fit your needs. As a Tesla owner, using Sentry Mode can give you peace of mind, knowing that your car is actively monitoring its surroundings for potential threats. While no security system can prevent all attacks, Sentry Mode offers an added layer of protection that can help deter criminals and keep your vehicle safe.

Musk Shares Tesla FSD Roadmap: What's in the Next FSD Update

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In a flurry of posts on X following the recent sightings of driverless Robotaxis on the streets of Austin, Elon has laid out a fairly detailed roadmap of Tesla’s upcoming changes for FSD in the coming year.

Musk shared details on two distinct new versions of FSD that are currently in development - one of which is coming soon and another that promises another leap in FSD’s abilities.

It’s a new version of software, but will merge to main branch soon.

We have a more advanced model in alpha stage that has ~4X the params, but still requires a lot of polishing.

That’s probably ready for deploy in a few months.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025

FSD Increase Parameters By 4.5x

While the Robotaxis running around Austin are identical to new customer vehicles, they’re not running the same FSD build on customer vehicles. These Robotaxi Model Ys are running a newer FSD build.

While the exact version of FSD is unknown, Musk said that it’ll be released to customers soon. However, more interestingly, he also shared details on a newer version that’s coming next.

The newer version will include a 4.5 times increase in parameters and better memory usage. Earlier this year, Ashok shared details that the [amount of] on-board memory is restricting context size, so these memory improvements presumably allow Tesla to increase the context size in this latest version of FSD.

Musk said that this version will also arrive to customers later this year. This 4.5 times model appears to be in a relatively early alpha stage. This jump in parameters is even larger than the “3X increase” that’s detailed in the Upcoming Improvements of the FSD V13 changelog. Other improvements listed in the FSD v13 changelog were a 3x context length improvement, audio inputs, improvements to reward predictions and false braking, and support for destination options when arriving at the destinations. However, it’s not clear whether any of these others are included.

It’s a new version of software, but will merge to main branch soon.

We have a more advanced model in alpha stage that has ~4X the params, but still requires a lot of polishing.

That’s probably ready for deploy in a few months.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025

What Increased Parameters and Context Length Mean

The increase in parameters allows FSD to understand the world with greater nuance, which in turn means smoother and more human-like decision-making and path planning. It also means FSD will become more capable of handling edge cases or inclement weather, a stressor noted by Tesla’s Executive team during the Q1 2025 Earnings Call.

Increasing the context length allows the vehicle to consider a longer history when making decisions. Context length and responsiveness are closely linked: a shorter context length enables quicker reactions, while a longer context length provides more informed decisions but introduces latency. The context length in terms of FSD is measured in seconds, where the vehicle uses just the past few seconds of video data to make a decision.

Retraining FSD

~4.5X increase in params should be ready for wide release later this year.

Super frugal use of memory bandwidth, caching exactly what is needed & squeezing microseconds out of everything are needed to maintain the frame rate.

And the whole system needs to be retrained.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025

A more powerful AI model requires more computational power, and Elon provided some more insights into what exactly that means for the Tesla AI team. Frugally using memory bandwidth and squeezing every last drop of performance from AI4’s hardware is necessary to maintain its ability to keep up with the environment around it.

Musk says that this new, larger FSD version will require Tesla to retrain FSD from the ground up. Tesla is already planning on expanding its compute nodes with a second Cortex Supercomputer cluster. It takes an astronomical amount of data, time, and energy to train FSD, and with a major update on the horizon, it seems like Tesla has been putting the lion’s share of compute into this new build.

FSD Timeline

Musk laid out a relatively rough timeline for these new FSD improvements. Remember, with all things Elon, two weeks could very well be two months.

Soon: The current, tried and tested build that’s running on Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet in Austin will be merged into the main public FSD (Supervised) build. This build will be the next major build for customers. This could be FSD V13.3. It’ll be a step up, but not as large as the next version.

Late 2025: The new 4.5X parameter model is slated for a wider release several months from now. We’ll tentatively call this FSD V14 - because it sounds like an entirely new version being built from the ground up.

This is a much-needed update from Elon and Tesla on where FSD is headed and when. It’s been more than eight months since the last Autonomy Roadmap in October 2024, even if these updates are encoded in “Elon Time.” 

The streets will change very rapidly.

Autonomous cars will be very common throughout the world in 2 to 3 years.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025

Licensing FSD

Elon also touched on the ultimate goals and the long-term business plan for FSD. With FSD already being considerably safer than the average human driver, alongside its superhuman reflexes and precision, Tesla will be well-positioned to license FSD.

Tesla AI/Autopilot could probably beat the best human around a track already.

Eventually, it really won’t be a contest at all. Human reflexes cannot match machines.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025

As FSD and the Robotaxi network become widespread and other autonomy solutions fail to materialize in a financially prudent fashion, other companies will naturally turn to Tesla for autonomy. 

It’s Tesla’s golden moment to do all it can to implement the dream that it’s been striving for for over a decade. 

With a new FSD version on its way to customers and a fully rebuilt version on the horizon, there’s a lot for everyone to look forward to.

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Driverless Tesla Robotaxi Spotted on Camera in Austin [VIDEO]

@TerrapinTerpene

Today, @terrapinTerpene on X spotted a pair of interesting-looking Model Ys on the streets of Austin, Texas. The first black Model Y had a Robotaxi wordmark emblazoned on the front door of the vehicle.

The best part is that the lead vehicle didn’t have a driver in it. The second, trailing car did have a driver, likely a chase driver, but it didn’t have the same Robotaxi logo on the side. Tesla is likely conducting the final stages of testing where unsupervised vehicles are going from point A to point B, while still having a safety vehicle nearby.

HOLY CRAP ITS A #ROBOTAXI!!@SawyerMerritt @WholeMarsBlog @DirtyTesLa @niccruzpatane pic.twitter.com/slfAsu0AQl

— Terrapin Terpene Col (@TerrapinTerpene) June 10, 2025

This comes just as the City of Austin officially listed Tesla as a Known AV Operator on their Autonomous Vehicles website. That regulatory green light has now been translated into reality with the first sightings of Tesla Robotaxis on the streets of Austin - and we’re expecting to see even more of these vehicles in the next few days.

Several Tesla employees quickly chimed in as the video began circulating on X.

Employee Reactions

Tesla’s key members jumped up on X to respond to the sighting. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s VP of Autopilot and AI Software, responded with a simple message.

“Slowly at first, then…” - Ashok

Tesla’s stated plans for the rollout are to begin with a small fleet of just 10 Model Ys in Austin for the initial stages. This will allow for a controlled deployment while Tesla closely monitors and confirms that they’re within the safety envelope they’re looking for - much safer than a human driver. That number is then expected to increase over the coming weeks and months, with an expectation to hit over 1,000 Robotaxis in use by late 2025 as Tesla looks to expand their services to other cities.

Tesla is expected to launch the Robotaxi network to employees on June 12th, just two days away. A public launch, where anyone could use a Robotaxi, is expected to follow in late June or early July, 

Tesla’s Lead Engineer for the Robotaxi Program, Eric E, was even more direct on X.

“Its go time”. - Eric

Musk Confirms These Are Ordinary Model Ys

Elon also commented, stating that each of these vehicles used in the Robotaxi network are standard Model Y vehicles, coming directly from the factory, reinforcing the point that every new Tesla will be capable of Unsupervised FSD.

These are unmodified Tesla cars coming straight from the factory, meaning that every Tesla coming out of our factories is capable of unsupervised self-driving! https://t.co/n94ln0Uas6

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2025

This is what’s critical to Tesla. Unlike competitors like Waymo, who depend on bespoke vehicles with nearly another car’s worth of expensive LiDAR, Radar, and camera sensors mounted on top of an existing vehicle, Tesla is demonstrating that any Model Y equipped with its latest FSD computer, AI4, is capable of Unsupervised FSD. 

This is exactly what Elon means when he says millions of vehicles will become Robotaxis overnight. It takes just a flick of a software switch to enable Robotaxi for every AI4 Model Y out there today.

Tesla’s main account on X also doubled down on Elon’s statement, pointing out that it is really just a standard Model Y.

This is the same car you can currently buy btw https://t.co/OBoWBuD2AR

— Tesla (@Tesla) June 10, 2025

It’s Happening

After years of promises, testing, development, disappointment, excitement, and hype… Tesla’s golden moment is finally here. The appearance of real Robotaxis using FSD has finally arrived. This isn’t just an internal beta happening on factory roads or with safety drivers. The first Teslas are finally really driving themselves on public roads with no human supervision.

The next few days will no doubt be some of the most exciting days in Tesla’s history.

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