How To Check The Tire Pressure On Your Tesla

‍‍‍How To Check The Tire Pressure On Tesla

Checking the tire pressure on a Tesla is not as straightforward as you think. The display option has changed with a software update.

Before, on your display panel, you’d be able to swipe underneath the image of your car and the tire pressures would appear. Now, Tesla has gone tabular with their updates, and forces you to dig into the system to display tire pressure.

To see the tire pressure of the wheels on your Tesla, click on “Controls”, then “Service”. Tire pressures will display near the picture of the Tesla on your touch screen display. The numbers should line up with the relative tire.

For example, if the number 32 psi is by the left front tire, this means that the left front tire has 32 psi for your tesla model. Low tire pressure is important to keep track of since it can cause many problems like tire failures and tread separation.

If your tire is low, a tire pressure indicator light will appear, or a tire pressure warning light will show, but your tire can start to lose air before this light can come on.

Tire pressure data on a Tesla is very accurate and can let you know if your Tesla’s tire pressure can be off by just a couple of pounds of pressure. You may want to calibrate your Tesla’s tire pressure checker by using an accurate tire pressure gauge.

Tesla’s use tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) in order to check tire pressure on a consistent basis. Tire pressure sensors are constantly checking the pressure of the tire and sending a signal to the vehicle’s computer. This is how the vehicle can display tire pressures as all times.

The recommended tire pressure for your Tesla model should be stamped on a sticker inside your driver’s side door jamb or driver’s center door pillar. It’s usually around 40-45 psi. This is substantially higher than gasoline vehicles who usually use around 32psi in order to inflate their tires.

Benefits Of Properly Inflated Tires

Having properly inflated tires is an important maintenance task a Tesla owner should regularly perform. The main reason tire pressure is so important for Tesla’s is because it increases the vehicle’s range.

Tesla likes to keep the air pressure in the tires high because it increases the vehicle’s range by decreasing rolling resistance. The more inflated a tire is, the less rolling resistance it gets. This may be dangerous, because steering and handling may be diminished if over inflated by any more than 45psi.

Having a properly inflated tire allows your Tesla to travel further on a single charge so its in your best interest to keep the tires inflated to the exact specification specified by Tesla. The range will decrease if the tire is underinflated yet the handling will suffer if the tire is over inflated.

Another benefit of having properly inflated tires on your Tesla is your vehicle’s handling. The amount of horsepower a Tesla creates is substantial. So you’re going to need every bit of handling you can get.

With a properly inflated tire, you can be sure you're operating your Tesla at its peak performance in terms of handling and steering, allowing your vehicle to maneuver across even the toughest of windy terrains.

Tire Pressure Tricks

Get in the habit of checking your tire every morning.

It's a good idea to keep an eye on your Tesla’s tire pressure, especially in cold weather. In the cold weather tire pressure decreases. This can cause a tire pressure light to come on or cause some vehicle range issues.

To combat cold weather air pressure loss keep a portable air compressor in your vehicle. This will give you the capability of adding pressure to your tires despite your location or timeframe.

With a portable air compressor you can remove the valve cap and set the tire to its proper pressure all from the convenience of your driveway. Keeping your vehicle’s tire inflated through the use of compressed air is crucial for tire maintenance and performance.

To make sure the tire pressure systems on your vehicle are operating correctly, you can confirm with a tire pressure gauge. Hook up the gauge to the car and record each wheels tire pressure on a pencil and paper.

With your vehicle’s tire pressure recorded go into your tire pressure display on your touch screen and confirm whether the tire pressure numbers are correct or not. If the numbers mismatch try a new gauge. If the new gauge confirms a mismatch you may have a TPMS issue.

Sometimes TPMS sensors can go bad and they can give off the wrong readings. This would be a horrible failure you’ll want to fix right away because TPMS sensors can prevent blowouts.

Installing New TPMS Sensors

Getting new TPMS sensors installed in a Tesla will be expensive. When you replace one sensor due to old age it's best to replace all four at the same time. At $75 per sensor the task of replacing all sensors can rack up.

If one sensor is broken due to blunt trauma it’s advisable to replace just the one. But if the battery in one sensor goes it's time to replace all the sensors. And since these little tpms devices are life saving devices, it's important to replace them as soon as possible.

Installing the sensors will be a process that needs to be done at the tire shop since it requires a tire machine to complete the process. Each tire must be removed from the wheel in order to install the TPMS sensors.

With the tire removed a TPMS kit is installed along with the new sensor and then the tire is reassembled. Once placed back on the car the wheel is then torqued down. Then a special machine takes the radio frequency of each sensor then registers the sensor with the vehicle’s computer.

After this process is done you will be able to see the tire pressure displayed on your Teslas dashboard.