Parking & Staying In Car: Shutting Off Headlights, etc.

[Todd Burch]

I often take a ferry to work. After driving onto the ferry, I park the car, but since I stay in the driver's seat the DRLs and headlights stay on--I believe for 10 minutes.

I can turn off those lights manually through the touchscreen...or by tapping the button to turn the car off. But is there a better way? I don't want to turn the car off because I want my music to keep playing.

 

[Doug_G]

Turn the car off. The music will keep playing if you are in the seat.

 

[cinergi]

Turning lights off is also temporary - it reverts to auto next time you get in (not sure of the exact trigger). So that could work well too.

 

[Todd Burch]

Turn the car off. The music will keep playing if you are in the seat.

I guess I didn't notice that...but the screen goes off so I immediately need to "wake" it again.

 

[dtich]

turn the car off with the control page (neutral, then engage parking brake--same button with a pause in between), the music will continue and screen stay on, turn off lights with control page. they will revert to auto at next startup. seems involved at first, but actually after two or three times doing it it's very quick and easy. imo.

 

[Todd Burch]

Just tried turning the car off via the "Power off" button. Screen and music went off until I tapped the screen again. Dtich I will try your method later.

To really turn the lights off, you'd have to shut both the headlights and DRLs off. Pain. Maybe I'll just put the car in park, manually turn off the headlights, and leave the DRLs on. I'm not doing this to save batteries, but to avoid shining lights in people's eyes when it's dark out.

 

[NigelM]

To really turn the lights off, you'd have to shut both the headlights and DRLs off. Pain.

Maybe you could have one of the ferry employees do it for you? :wink:

OK that's a joke, but in all seriousness why is it such a issue just to tap the touchscreen? You're sitting there with nothing to do anyway and it takes 2 seconds. Am I missing something?

 

[Todd Burch]

Maybe you could have one of the ferry employees do it for you? :wink:

OK that's a joke, but in all seriousness why is it such a issue just to tap the touchscreen? You're sitting there with nothing to do anyway and it takes 2 seconds. Am I missing something?

It's not that much of an issue. 3 taps to turn off (controls, DRL, then headlights to off) and 3 to turn back on (controls, DRL, then headlights to auto). Just was wondering if there was an easier way. I still don't quite understand what "Power Off" really means...and how that would compare to a sleep mode, for instance. The manual did not make it clear, IMHO.

 

[NigelM]

The manual did not make it clear, IMHO.

You're right and I wonder if Tesla has noticed how many questions there are on this site alone which could all have been answered with a comprehensive manual....

 

[SigGuy]

It seems like there is a very obviously missing function in the car. When you put the car in Park, the dome lights come on and the headlights stay on until you exit. Why not have "double tap" on the Park button turn off the dome lights and headlights for the extremely regular occurrence of wanting to stay in the car without all the lights on?

 

[Todd Burch]

It seems like there is a very obviously missing function in the car. When you put the car in Park, the dome lights come on and the headlights stay on until you exit. Why not have "double tap" on the Park button turn off the dome lights and headlights for the extremely regular occurrence of wanting to stay in the car without all the lights on?

Good idea. Something like this would be perfect.

 

[Cyberwelly]

This might not be the same issue but how can I turn everything off except the radio? I take the family to the local drive-in movie theater and want to keep the radio on to get the movie sound but everything else off to save the battery. They are double-features and my previous ICE car and my wife's hybrid both had issues in the middle of the 2nd movie - battery low warning lights!

 

[eelton]

I was thinking about the drive in movie issue as well. In other ways, the Model S is the ideal drive in movie car, since you could keep the climate control on if it's too hot or too cold out. But if you can't turn off the 17 inch screen and the instrument panel screen, and still listen to the sound, that's a problem. (I guess you could dim it all the way down and cover the dashboard with a blanket or something.)

I wouldn't think the battery would be a problem in the Tesla, unless it's the 12V battery (and that's supposed to recharge from the big battery, right?)

This might not be the same issue but how can I turn everything off except the radio? I take the family to the local drive-in movie theater and want to keep the radio on to get the movie sound but everything else off to save the battery. They are double-features and my previous ICE car and my wife's hybrid both had issues in the middle of the 2nd movie - battery low warning lights!

 

[neroden]

turn the car off with the control page (neutral, then engage parking brake--same button with a pause in between), the music will continue and screen stay on, turn off lights with control page. they will revert to auto at next startup. seems involved at first, but actually after two or three times doing it it's very quick and easy. imo.

OK, please explain this in detail. I'm going to be taking this car to the drive-in. It would be *really* obnoxious if the headlights or DRLs came on at any time -- including when I get out of my seat and go down to the refreshment stand. It would also be really obnoxious if the car radio shut off at any time. What is the correct procedure?

I asked Tesla about taking the car to the drive-in, and of course they assured me that it would work fine. I don't trust them, due to the fact that their salespeople don't seem to know anything.

Is there some way to turn the super-flaky Auto headlight thing off entirely and permanently?

- - - Updated - - -

I was thinking about the drive in movie issue as well. In other ways, the Model S is the ideal drive in movie car, since you could keep the climate control on if it's too hot or too cold out. But if you can't turn off the 17 inch screen and the instrument panel screen, and still listen to the sound, that's a problem. (I guess you could dim it all the way down and cover the dashboard with a blanket or something.)

I can deal with covering the dashboard with a blanket, but this would indeed be annoying.

And it's annoying that this is a use case which *was reported to Tesla before production started*. By me. Which is easy enough to fix, by simply having the car *not be too smart for its own good*. I know when I want the lights on and I know when I want them off, thank you very much.