Tesla's Camp Mode: A Comprehensive Guide

Tesla's Camp Mode allows you to maintain USB ports powered and keep the climate running

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Say you’re cruising down a deserted highway in your Tesla and you’re starting to get sleepy, or you’re taking a road trip through a national park and the nearest hotel is too far away… so you pull out your mattress from your trunk, fold your backseats down and get ready to spend the night in the comfort of your car. The next thing you do is turn on Camp Mode.

When your Tesla is in Camp Mode it will maintain the optimum temperature and airflow inside the cabin (which you can adjust to your convenience). Your lighting setup will also be maintained, and even the music if you want to listen to some chill tunes while you relax inside your car.

Camp also keeps your low voltage outlet and USB ports powered so that you can charge or use your electronic devices.

The touchscreen also remains on so you can play music, browse the internet, play games in the arcade, or watch shows in Tesla Theater (requires Premium Connectivity or Wi-Fi).

Sentry Mode and Alarm

While Camp Mode is active, Sentry Mode and the vehicle alarm system are disabled, as well as auto lock (so you don’t have to constantly lock and unlock the car as you come and go). Because of this it might be a good idea to manually lock the car when you go to sleep.

How to Turn Camp Mode On

To enable camp mode, set your car to park, tap the temperature icon at the bottom of the screen and then tap on ‘Camp’.

You can also enable it using the Tesla app. Tap the Climate section, slide up the bottom drawer and select the ‘Camp’ option.

Turning Camp Mode Off

To turn Camp Mode off simply shift the vehicle out of Park or disable the mode either via your smartphone or by tapping on the temperature icon at the bottom of your screen and selecting a different mode.

Some drivers recommend creating a Camp driver profile, which automatically sets your preferences for when you're ready to crash for the night. Make any necessary modifications, such as moving the seats all the way forward, and then select your chosen temperature.

How Much Power does it Drain?

In an eight-hour period, the typical battery consumption of Camp Mode is roughly 10% of the charge. The battery will be consumed more quickly if it is really cold or there is bad weather, simply because the car will have to work harder to maintain the interior temperature you've selected.

Even at low temperatures for an eight-hour period, you're looking at a 15 percent usage rate.

Tesla’s vehicles equipped with heat pumps like Tesla Model Y or the 2021 Model 3 should be slightly more efficient while in Camp Mode.

The power drain of Camp Mode, however, is not an exact science, and it will vary greatly depending on many factors such as outside temperature and in-cabin settings - don’t risk depleting your battery.

If you’re staying at an RV park it is good to remember that many of them offer an option to charge your electric vehicle, which would be the ideal condition to run Camp Mode in.

What Happens if the Battery Gets too Low?

You cannot use Camp Mode if the battery percentage goes below 20%, in order to save the battery from depletion and allow you to reach the nearest charging station.

Which Models have Camp Mode?

All current and past Tesla vehicles have Camp Mode as a standard feature. It is also not required to have access to Tesla's Premium Connectivity in order to receive notifications regarding Camp Mode, or to enable it from your smartphone.

Also be sure to check out our in-depth look at Dog Mode if you haven't already.

For a comparison of how Dog Mode compares to Camp Mode and Keep Climate On, check out our article on the feature comparison between the three climate modes.

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Tesla Cuts Newly Formed Content and Ads Team, Musk says Ads Were “Too Generic”

Tesla eliminated a newly formed marketing team of about 40 employees as part of its global layoffs, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning. On X, Elon Musk said the ads created by the team were “far too generic” adding that they would apply to “any car”.

Exactly. The ads were far too generic – could’ve been any car.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2024

The team was led by Alexander Ingram who joined Tesla in August 2019 as Communication lead for Automotive. After a few different roles connected with content and social media, Ingram was promoted last December to Senior Manager of Global Growth Content. In the new role, he was leading a global team of creatives focused on Tesla's first ads, as well as social media.

Ingram put out some excellent behind-the-scenes videos on Tesla’s technological advancements such as the one below explaining Tesla’s single casting.

Tesla’s Advertisement Strategy

At Tesla’s 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, Elon Musk said that the company would “try a little advertising and see how it goes”. Since then, Tesla ads have been seen in Google search results and on YouTube.

In Tesla’s proxy statement filed last week, it is seen that the automaker has spent around $200,000 on X-advertising through February 2024.

“As part of a multi-platform advertising campaign, Tesla also directly or indirectly purchased advertising on X, which totaled approximately $0.2 million through February 2024”

Bloomberg’s source added that Tesla still has a smaller marketing team in Europe.

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Tesla Is Ending Its Current Referral Program; New Version Will Arrive in “A Few Months”

Tesla's Referral Program

Not a Tesla App

Tesla shared on X that it’s ending its current referral program globally by the end of April. It’ll be replaced by a new one, but that is still “a few months away”, according to CEO Elon Musk.

When Musk was asked if the current credits would be lost, Musk responded by saying “No, just that new credits would not be earned until we launch a future referral program.” That means there’ll be a gap of a couple of months when owners will not be able to earn referral credits.

Tesla was always famous for relying on its community to promote its vehicles rather than spending millions (or even billions) in ad campaigns.

Through Tesla’s referral program — which started back in 2015— customers have been earning referral credits by having friends use their referral link when ordering a Tesla product or taking their first demo drive. At the time, it started with a direct $1,000 prize for the referrer but later evolved to a more complex system with different tiers and points.

Prizes have changed a lot over the years

In its latest version, scheduled to end by the end of the month, Tesla models (S, X, and Y), along with Powerwall, solar panels, and solar roofs, are available for purchase using a referral link. In this version, owners can redeem credits from merchandise to software upgrades for their vehicles. They can even redeem credits for several months free of Premium Connectivity or FSD.

Our current referral program benefits will end after April 30 in all markets

— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) April 20, 2024

The Evolution of the Referral Program

Tesla’s first referral program was released in July 2015 where customers who referred new buyers would receive $1,000 for every new Tesla Model S delivered. For those who were able to accrue 5 or 10 referrals for the US automaker, Tesla raised the bar and offered invitations to the opening of its Giga Factories or even a fully loaded Model X.

Over the first 2 years, Tesla significantly increased the value of the prizes and even offered free or discounted Roadsters with enough referrals. However, in 2019, Elon Musk decided to stop amid cost concerns.

The referral program was re-launched in late 2019 offering new buyers free supercharging for a period of time, FSD access, premium connectivity, or $500 off a new vehicle.

What’s Next

Given the considerable gap of “a few months” between the current program and the next one, it is expected that Tesla will bring a new structure with updated awards focused on minimizing Tesla’s cost while increasing the brand’s awareness.

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