How to Lock a Tesla: An In-Depth Guide to Securing Your Vehicle

Your Tesla has various options when it comes to locking and securing your vehicle

Not a Tesla App

In today's world, the security of your vehicle is more important than ever. Tesla, a pioneer in electric vehicles, has implemented advanced security features and locking mechanisms to help protect your investment. This guide will delve into the various ways to lock a Tesla, auto-locking options, and the process of locking doors from inside and outside, providing you with the knowledge to secure your car confidently.

Introduction to Tesla Locking Mechanisms

Tesla offers multiple methods to secure your vehicle, including auto-locking options, manual locking from the inside, and locking from the outside using the Tesla app or key card. Each option provides different levels of convenience and security to meet your individual preferences and needs.

Auto Locking Options

Auto-locking mechanisms on Tesla vehicles add a layer of security and convenience to your driving experience. Here are some key features:

Walk-Away Door Lock

Tesla's walk-away door lock feature automatically locks your car, whether you're using a phone key or key fob, as you move away from it. This ensures that your vehicle is secure when you're not around. As you walk back towards the car, it will automatically unlock, allowing for a seamless entry. If you keep your phone close to where your vehicle is parked, such as a bedroom above an open garage, your vehicle may unlock because your phone key is nearby. If you use the Tesla app, you can disable passive authentication on your Tesla app to prevent the vehicle from unlocking when your phone is nearby.

Exclude Home

Tesla allows you to exclude your home location from the auto-lock feature. This means your car will not auto-lock when parked at home, providing added convenience. You can input your home address in the vehicle's navigation system to set up this feature.

It's important to note that Tesla will recognize a location as being your home if it's within approximately 1,640 feet (500 meters) of your saved address. This means that if you leave your car in a nearby parking spot or outside of your garage, the vehicle will not lock if you have auto-lock turned off for your home location.

How Walk-Away Door Lock Works

The walk-away door lock feature utilizes your phone's or key fob's proximity to the car. The doors lock automatically when you move a certain distance away (approximately 10 feet). This distance can vary depending on your phone's signal strength or key fob battery life.

Camp Mode and Walk-Away Door Lock

When Camp Mode is activated, the walk-away door lock feature is disabled. This is to ensure that the car remains unlocked and accessible during camping or extended stays in the car. Camp Mode lets you maintain climate control, interior lighting, and USB power while parked.

Driver Door Unlock Option

You can choose to have only the driver's door unlocked when you approach the vehicle. This adds an extra layer of security by limiting access to the car. To enable this option, navigate to the "Locks" menu in your vehicle's settings.

Lock Confirmation Sound

Tesla allows you to enable or disable the lock confirmation sound, a helpful audible cue to know your vehicle is secure. This feature can be toggled on or off in the car's settings. If you decide to turn off the confirmation sound, you can check if the vehicle is locked by looking to see if the mirrors are folded.

Unlock Notifications

You can receive notifications if your car is left unlocked or if any doors are left open. This keeps you informed about the security status of your vehicle. To enable notifications, navigate to the "Safety & Security" menu in the car's settings and select the desired options.

Locking Doors from Inside

To lock a Tesla from the inside, follow these steps:

Tap the lock icon at the top of the screen. In a Model 3 or Model Y, there's also a lock icon on top of the vehicle visualization if the vehicle is parked. The doors will automatically lock, and the icon will change to indicate the locked status.

Locking Doors from Outside

You can lock your Tesla from outside using the Tesla app, key card, or touchscreen:

Locking Using the Tesla App

Open the app and look for the quick action icons. If the icon is white and unlocked, tap it to lock the car. If the icon is gray and locked, the car is already locked. Remember, quick actions are customizable, so if the lock icon is missing, you can add it back by customizing your quick actions. To customize quick actions, you can long press on any of the icons and drag the desired icons to the quick action bar.

Lock Using the Key Card

To lock your Tesla with a key card, simply tap the card on the designated area of the driver's side door pillar. The card uses RFID technology to communicate with the car, allowing for keyless entry and locking. Keep your key card safe, as it is an essential backup for accessing and starting your vehicle if your phone or key fob is unavailable.

Lock Using the Screen

Open the door, press the lock button on the center touchscreen, and then close the door. This method ensures that the car is locked even if you don't have your phone or key fob with you. As you close the door, the vehicle will recognize that the command came from inside and lock the doors accordingly.

Additional Tips for Securing Your Tesla

In addition to locking your vehicle, consider these tips to ensure your Tesla remains safe and secure:

Update Your Tesla App and Vehicle Software

Keep your vehicle's software and the Tesla app up to date to benefit from the latest security enhancements and features. You can check for updates in the car's settings under "Software."

PIN to Drive

To add an extra layer of security, enable the PIN to Drive feature, which requires entering a unique PIN before the car can be driven. This prevents unauthorized use of your vehicle, even if someone gains access to your key card or phone. You can enable PIN to Drive in the "Safety & Security" menu.

Activate Sentry Mode

Sentry Mode is a security feature that monitors the environment around your car when parked. If a potential threat is detected, the car will activate cameras and alarms to deter malicious activity. Sentry Mode cameras can also be viewed remotely in many regions.

Use a Strong Password

It is connected to your vehicle and its features. Make sure to use a strong, unique password and enable two-factor authentication to protect your account from unauthorized access.

Be Cautious With Car Access

While many third-party accessories and services are available for Tesla vehicles, be cautious when choosing products that may compromise the car's security, void its warranty or give access to your vehicle. Stick to reputable services and vendors and read reviews before making a purchase.

Tesla offers several options for locking and securing your vehicle, providing security and convenience. Familiarize yourself with these features and follow the additional tips mentioned above to ensure your Tesla remains safe and secure at all times. By taking advantage of these advanced security features, you can enjoy peace of mind while driving and parking your Tesla.

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Tesla Launches FSD V12.6.2, Finally Available for HW3 Model 3

Not a Tesla App

Last night, Tesla released software update 2024.45.32.5, which includes updated versions of FSD for HW3 and HW4 vehicles. More specifically, this update includes FSD V12.6.2 for HW3 and FSD V13.2.5 for HW4 models (how to check if you have HW3 or HW4).

While there aren’t new features in this update and the FSD release notes remain the same, it does include bug fixes, which should help these FSD updates go to a wider audience.

HW3 Model 3

What’s most interesting about this update is that it’s the first time a version of FSD V12.6 is going out to the Model 3 with HW3. Previously, it was only available for the redesigned Model S, Model X, and Model Y. The Cybertruck has only ever been available with HW4, which makes the Model 3 the lone vehicle left out of the FSD 12.6 release for unknown reasons.

The FSD hardware for the Model 3 and Model Y is identical, but the camera placements shift slightly due to the different vehicle body shapes, so it’s possible that played a role.

After a long wait, Model 3 owners are finally getting a chance to try out End-to-End on the Highway, as well as many other improvements.

FSD V12.6.2 Improvements

FSD V12.6.2 shares the same changelog as V12.6.1 - so we’re not expecting major changes besides bug fixes on this particular release, at least for vehicles coming from V12.6.1. Instead, it seems the primary focus of this update is to address compatibility for the Model 3.

V12.6 is a big step upwards from V12.5.4.2 - and we did an in-depth comparison of V12.6 and V13 here. V12.6 brings End-to-End on Highway, improved behavior on City Streets, Smoother and More Accurate Tracking, as well as Speed Profiles on high speed roads and highways.

Overall, V12.6 is far closer to V13 than it is to V12.5.4.2 - and it really does feel that way. It is an impressive feat from Tesla to make such big and positive changes for a platform that they’ve admittedly been having some difficulties in obtaining better results. However, this really underlines the fact that they’re still committed and trying very hard to achieve Unsupervised FSD even on HW3.

In fact, in an upcoming FSD update, HW3 vehicles will gain the ability to shift into and maneuver in reverse. This should also add other FSD V13 features such as three-point turns.

The other bit of good news is that this latest FSD update is based on update 2024.45.32.x, which means that it will be available to all vehicles. While Tesla has released the next major update, version 2025.2, it’s currently only available internally. If you’ve been thinking about subscribing to FSD, now may be a good time, since you’ll qualify to receive the latest HW3 or HW4 FSD version once it rolls out widely.

Legacy Model S and Model X

While the update has begun to roll out to Model 3’s for the first time, at this point in time, we haven’t seen any legacy Model S or Model X vehicles included in this update. Those vehicles, for now, are still on FSD V12.5.4.2. 

However, we do expect Tesla to add support for these vehicles. The question is whether that’s included in this update or whether it’ll be a future release.

When Does It Arrive?

This update has barely started rolling out - the first vehicles started receiving the update last night in a small batch. However, we will hopefully see more waves in the coming days that will progressively get larger. Expect this update to take at least two weeks to go out to the majority of HW3 vehicles if major issues aren’t found.

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A Closer Look at the New 2025 Model Y Juniper Refresh

@tslachan on X

Now that the Model Y Juniper refresh has officially been announced in the Asia-Pacific markets, the initial vehicles from Giga Shanghai are starting to make their way to showrooms throughout the region.

And that means lots of new pictures. Let’s take a look at some of the latest close-up shots of the 2025 Model Y.

Light Bar Close-Up

Our first up-close look at the new front end of the new Model Y. This car is likely en route to a showroom prior to the start of Tesla’s big sales push for the Chinese Lunar New Year, and this is one of the closest and cleanest shots of the new front end.

The sharp new front of the Juniper

@DriveGreen80167 on X

The new front light bar is very visible, even when it’s off. It’s more than a thin strip of lights. The headlights are located directly below the light bar at either end. You can also see the new squared-away sharp lines - starting from the lightbar gaps and going up the hood. The new design looks far more aggressive and sharp when viewed at this angle.

Wheels

And the new wheels are pretty interesting, too - especially since they don’t seem to have full aero covers on them. We’re wondering if Tesla intends to introduce aero covers for these wheels later - or if they’ll just stay uncovered. They look pretty good - but the black hubcap in the center stands out against the rest of the wheel. Time will tell whether the clean black finish holds up with use.

We're a big fan of these new fan-blade wheels

@DriveGreen80167 on X

Either way, they’re pretty good looking - but we’d prefer to see them in an all black finish - similar to the Shadow Gemini’s that are currently available. Hopefully, once the Model Y refresh arrives in North America and Europe, that option will be available in addition to the Crossflow wheels.

Videos

Here is one of the first videos showing off the rear light bar.

$TSLA
The close-up rear lamp of the new Model Y has been shown to the camera. pic.twitter.com/LOtLw8oMLM

— Tsla Chan (@Tslachan) January 23, 2025

Another video below shows how the trunk will open:

A little show of the interior + trunk
#Tesla #ModelY $tsla @zhongwen2005 @TeslaNewswire @Teslarati @sprit420_69 @niccruzpatane @WholeMarsBlog pic.twitter.com/Ipbz36rYUT

— DriveGreenLiveGreen (@DriveGreen80167) January 23, 2025

Interior

The refreshed Model Y also brings a ton of changes to the interior. In addition to the Launch Edition exclusive dash, we also get a good shot of the new ventilated seats, as well as the return of the turn signal stalk.

The best interior shot we've seen so far

@DriveGreen80167 on X

The new Model Y also has the same new center console as the Model 3 Highland - with the two-part slider. For now, it seems like the Launch Edition will include rubber pedal covers - nothing fancy like the metallic ones available on the Performance variants yet.

Rear End Close-Up

On the rear end of the vehicle, we get a close-up view of the new reflective light bar. Tesla claims this is an industry-first, and it does look very cool. The actual light is located on the inside edge of the piece that overhangs the reflective portion. The reflective portion itself is painted to match the vehicle - and isn’t a glossy surface, but rather matte.

Gotta love that new reflective light bar

@DriveGreen80167 on X

In the next image, we can also see that the rear camera is mounted in a new location. It doesn’t have the camera lip that the 2024 Model Y has been shipping with, as the camera is now mounted on the very edge of the new raised bumper. This also means the camera is much higher up than it previously was. This location change likely means that the new Y will require some additional training time for both FSD and Actually Smart Summon, as well as the new front bumper camera.

This is going to be an interesting change - we’re not sure how this new camera location will handle snow, rain, and road muck, but this is likely the main reason for it being moved up and away from the road.

The updated camera positioning is noticeably higher

@zhongwen2005 on X

We’re excited to see the new Model Y in person. This refresh has been a long time coming and there are many details that are still waiting to be discovered.

Customer deliveries are supposed to begin in just a couple of months - May at the earliest - in the Asia-Pacific region. We’re hoping to see the refresh arrive in Europe and North America by summertime and then see the launch of the Performance variant shortly thereafter.

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