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Force footwell lights on?

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bmah

Moderator, Supercharger Hunter
Global Moderator
Mar 17, 2015
5,974
13,736
Lafayette, CA, USA
I'm pretty sure what the answer is but...

Is there any way, with the car in motion, to force the footwell lights to come on?

The vehicle in question is a Model S 85D, April 2015 build, tech package with autopilot (and various other options that are probably not relevant) but no premium lighting. The use case for this is that we're on the road and a passenger drops something to the floor, and needs to use the footwell lights to find it.

"Dome" on the center console GUI doesn't do it. And because the car doesn't have premium lighting, there's no "Ambient", which I'm not sure would turn on the footwell lights anyway. Opening a door turns on the footwell lights, but is obviously not safe to do when the car is in motion.

Thanks for any insights!
 
Only way that I have figured is to open a door. I have to do that repeatedly when vacuuming the carpets in my garage because it is a black hole without the floor lights on. The domes stay on all the time with the door open. But the floor is timed for some reason.

Probably not the best idea while driving...
 
Even with premium lighting, the Ambient switch does not turn the lights on if you toggle it. Opening the door is the only way I know of to turn on the footwell lights.

I keep a small mag-lite flashlight in the glove box for these occasions, and general emergencies.