Traction Control

What It Is

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.

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This yellow indicator flashes on the touchscreen 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.
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Warning
Traction control cannot prevent collisions caused by driving dangerously or turning too sharply at high speeds.

How It Works

Touch Controls > Dynamics to access traction control settings.

  • Slippery Surface distributes traction evenly across all tires to provide more traction and stability during slippery conditions, such as rain, snow, or ice.

    To enable, go to Controls > Dynamics > Slippery Surface.

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    Note
    Even when this setting is off, Model Y continuously detects characteristics of the current driving surface and automatically adapts Traction Control.
  • 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.
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    Note
    Off-Road Assist cannot be used if Speed Limit Mode is already enabled.

After the circumstances that required you to turn on Off-Road Assist have passed, it is strongly recommended that you turn the setting off to re-enable traction control. If you left on, traction control automatically re-enables on your next drive.

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When you turn on Off-Road Assist, the touchscreen displays an indicator light to indicate that the traction control system is no longer preventing wheel slip.
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Note
Although you can use Off-Road Assist at any speed, it is less effective at higher speeds.
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Note
Off-Road Assist are not available when you are actively using Autopilot.
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Note
Engaging cruise control when Off-Road Assist is on causes the feature to turn off and traction control to be re-enabled.
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Note
Automatic Emergency Braking and Lane Departure Avoidance do not operate when Off-Road Assist is turned on.