An Ultimate Guide To Disable A Tesla!

Last updated on September 12th, 2023 at 03:03 am

You can turn off every electrical appliance when not in use. So also, your Tesla. For other cars, you must have been accustomed to using a key to start and stop the car.

There is no engine in a tesla, so there is no engine to turn off. Sometimes, you still have to put it off when not in use. 

There are steps you should follow to disable a tesla. It goes beyond just turning off the vehicle. You will need to turn off your vehicle to start a charge or stop it from working.

To disable your Tesla, shift into park mode by holding the button at the end of the drive stalk. You can also disable the Tesla by imputing some commands on the touch screen. For example, tap on the controls, follow the prompt to safety and click on power off. These procedures automatically disable the car from within.

This article will highlight all the details you need to disable your Tesla. It also tells you how to disable a stolen tesla.

You will also find out how to remotely disable your Tesla. I will also respond to frequently asked questions about disabling the Tesla.

How Do You Disable a Tesla?

There are three ways in which your Tesla can be disabled, here are three of such ways:

• Powering off with the key fob
• Powering off in park mode
• Powering off from the control panel

#1. Powering Off With the Key Fob

You can disable your Tesla when your key fob is inserted in the RFID port behind the cup holders. 

To get your Tesla disabled in this manner, you shift your car into park mode by long pressing the button on the tip of the drive stalk.

When you have activated the park mode, insert your key fob into the Radio Frequency Identification knob behind the cup holders.

Once your RFID acknowledges your key fob, it switches the car off automatically. The key fob acts like a multipurpose key that has numerous control functions.

Aside from disabling the car, the tesla key fob can open doors, switch on the car wash mode, and open the car trunk.

#2. Powering Off In Park Mode

In other cases, once your Tesla is parked for up to 30 minutes or more, it becomes automatically disabled.

For your car to become disabled in park mode, you should not touch any control buttons. Once you attempt to give the car instruction from within, it may not be disabled.

After some time, you can restart the car by pushing the start button or tapping any of the keys in the vehicle.

The power-off feature in park mode is essential in preserving the life of the batteries. In addition, this feature ensures that the car charges are preserved when you are not making the motion.

#3. Powering Off from Control Panel

You can power off your Tesla from the control panel. However, before you enable the control panel, make sure you shift into park mode.

The control panel may not disable the car if you are still active on the wheels. 

For example, the control panel does not activate when you step on your brake pad, use the headlights, or drive the car.

Once you shift your car to drive mode, tap the touch screen. When the touch screen comes on, tap on the safety menu.

On the safety menu, tap on power off to disable the car. Then, you can restart the car by tapping the brake pad or long pressing the key fob.

In this table, you will find a summary of how and where to disable your Tesla.

How to Disable Your Tesla	Where Can You Get This Done
Powering off with a key fob	From within the car
Powering off in park mode	From within and outside the car
Powering off from the control panel	Within the car
Disabling in valet mode	Remotely

Can You Disable a Tesla from Outside?

You can disable a Tesla from a remote location. You can find this feature on the Tesla app. To access this feature, you must have installed and activated the app.

The Tesla app allows you to access the vehicle from anywhere, provided your phone is connected to your car.

Once you download the app, you must sign up using your details. After completing the necessary registration requirements, you can connect with your vehicle.

You can enable mobile access from the car’s control panel by tapping the safety menu and then the mobile access menu. 

Once you connect your app to the car, you can remotely disable the car from anywhere. onneTo gain access to the app, your vehicle must be associated with your Tesla account.

Ensure you keep the app’s details because you cannot access your Tesla without the login details.

Other devices could disable your Tesla from the outside. These devices include your keycard, key fob, and your phone key.

These devices would work in consonant to keep your Tesla safe and secure.

Can You Disable a Stolen Tesla?

You can disable a stolen Tesla remotely by accessing the tesla app. Once your details to log into the app are intact, you can find and disable your Tesla.

Once your car is stolen, and your phone and tesla app is with you, you can immediately track the car’s location. 

The mobile app has a feature that enables you to track the location and get honest time feedback on the location of the car.

Aside from tracking the location, you could enable the valet mode or the speed limit mode to slow down the car or grind it to a halt.

You can find the valet mode in the control panel of the app. When you tap on the driver profile icon, activate the valet mode on the dropdown menu.

The app will ask you to change the password to secure the car.

In the valet mode, you can enable other functions that will slow down your car and disable it if stolen. 

With the valet mode, you can:

• Reduce the speed limit
• Lock the front trunk and glove box
• Disable voice commands
• Disable autopilot
• Allow mobile settings
• Disable driver profile
• Reduce touchscreen display
• Disable WIFI and Bluetooth
• activate the pin-to-drive feature.

How to Deactivate a Tesla from App?

Here is a step-by-step guide on deactivating your Tesla from the app:

• On the top, the left button is a sidebar menu.
• The sidebar menu has other features that are not on the primary control menu.
• This menu includes the valet mode, the calendar mode, the notifications mode, and sign out the menu.
• On activating the valet mode
• Also, activate the pin-to-drive option.
• On the app, use the valet mode to deactivate the Tesla.

FAQs