Tesla Model Y: Traction Control

How It Works

The traction control system constantly monitors the speed of the front and rear wheels. If Model Y experiences a loss of traction, the system minimizes wheel spin by controlling brake pressure and motor power. By default, the traction control system is on. Under normal conditions, it should remain on to ensure maximum safety.

This yellow indicator flashes on the instrument panel whenever the traction control system is actively controlling brake pressure and motor power to minimize wheel spin. If the indicator stays on, a fault is detected with the traction control system. Contact Tesla Service.

WARNING: Traction control cannot prevent collisions caused by driving dangerously or turning too sharply at high speeds.

Disabling Traction Control

Under normal conditions, the traction control system should remain on. Turn it off only in circumstances where you deliberately want the wheels to spin, such as:

• Starting on a loose surface, such as gravel or snow.
• Driving in deep snow, sand or mud.
• Rocking out of a hole or deep rut.
• Driving off-road.

On Rear-Wheel Drive vehicles, turn off traction control and allow the wheels to spin by touching Controls > Pedals & Steering > Slip Start.

On All-Wheel Drive vehicles, you can choose one of these options, depending on the circumstances:

• Slip Start is designed to make it easier to dislodge Model Y when stuck in mud, snow, ice, etc. Turning on Slip Start allows the wheels to spin, making it possible to rock Model Y out of a situation in which the wheels are stuck.
• Off-Road Assist is designed to provide overall improvements when driving off-road. In addition to allowing the wheels to spin, Off-Road Assist balances the torque between the front and rear motors to optimize traction. Off-Road Assist improves traction on rough and soft surfaces where one side of the vehicle may lose traction while the other side still has traction. When Off-Road Assist is on, the accelerator pedal provides more gradual torque, which is useful for crawling at low speeds (for example, over rocky surfaces). When enabled, OFF-ROAD displays on the touchscreen above the driving speed.

After the circumstances that required you to turn on Slip Start or Off-Road Assist have passed, it is strongly recommended that you turn the setting off to re-enable traction control. If you leave these settings on, Traction Control automatically re-enables on your next drive.

When you turn on Slip Start or Off-Road Assist, the touchscreen displays an indicator light to indicate that the traction control system is no longer preventing wheel slip.

NOTE: Although you can use Slip Start and Off-Road Assist at any speed, it is less effective effective at higher speeds.

NOTE: Slip Start and Off-Road Assist are not available when you are actively using Autopilot.

NOTE: Engaging cruise control when Slip Start or Off- Road Assist is on causes the feature to turn off and traction control to be re-enabled.

NOTE: Automatic Emergency Braking and Lane Departure Avoidance do not operate when Off-Road Assist is turned on.

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