Short press vs long press of "Park"

[rpiotro]

I don't know if there is a definitive answer for this. A short press indicates that you are in park. A long press adds a red "P" icon to the screen. What is the difference?

I understand that one or the other or both may use a common parking brake setup on the rear wheels. ICE powered cars use a pawl in the transmission and optionally a separate parking brake. Mechanically or electrically activated. Manual transmissions of course are treated differently.

My concern is this. In the past I would always use the parking brake on my driveway. It is a little steep. Not sure that I needed to do this but why not. Keep it exercised. The only exception would be is if it was rainy or otherwise wet and then forecast to get very cold. In the past I have had my parking brake freeze solid and would take some coaxing to get it free. I want to avoid this.

 

[Braumin]

The long press is parking brake but since the car already puts the parking brake on when you put it in park there's not really any difference. Likely a requirement from regulations saying cars have to have a way to enable the parking brake or something even though it's done automatically.

 

[EVEnergy]

What I've been told is that when the car is in "P", like an ICE car, the transmission holds the car. When you long press and get the "P circle", the parking brake is set which relieves the press on the transmission

 

[Pluglife]

When I long press my parking brake I hear a loud click/clonk. What is this? I initially thought it was a pawl engaging in the gearbox, like other cars as discussed but I’m pretty sure our gearboxes don’t have this feature. I guess it’s some kind of additional solenoid lock in the brake calliper mechanism?

As I also park on a steep slope I am keen to understand how a long press differs functionally from just a regular quick park press. And will this cause any additional wear to the components?

 

[Msjulie]

What I've been told is that when the car is in "P", like an ICE car, the transmission holds the car. When you long press and get the "P circle", the parking brake is set which relieves the press on the transmission

Except of course no real tranny

Parking pawl integrity

88xxx here. QUESTION: Does anyone know how robust the parking pawl is on Tesla drivetrains? Coming from hilly Northern VA, I learned, and convinced my wife and children, to ALWAYS use the parking brake. "Make it a habit, to protect the transmission."...("uhh...unless...well...unless you've...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[Apprunner]

Except of course no real tranny

Parking pawl integrity

88xxx here. QUESTION: Does anyone know how robust the parking pawl is on Tesla drivetrains? Coming from hilly Northern VA, I learned, and convinced my wife and children, to ALWAYS use the parking brake. "Make it a habit, to protect the transmission."...("uhh...unless...well...unless you've...

teslamotorsclub.com

I read through the thread. A poster took off the wheels and confirmed a separate parking brake in the rear so long-press P will activate this parking brake. Short press P is just he hydraulic brakes. Nice to know.

 

[Braumin]

I read through the thread. A poster took off the wheels and confirmed a separate parking brake in the rear so long-press P will activate this parking brake. Short press P is just he hydraulic brakes. Nice to know.

That's not actually what it says though. It just confirms that the parking brake is applied both when you press park, and again a second time if you hold the button. So there's no real advantage.

This thread explains it a bit better and quotes the owners manual:

Your helpful guide to the Tesla Model 3 parking brake

These three things are true: 1. Whenever the car is put into Park (P), the parking brake is applied. You can call this "automatic parking brake" 2. If you press and hold the right stalk end-button for 3-4 seconds it will apply the parking brake if it is not already applied. If already applied...

teslamotorsclub.com

Basically, if you press and hold the park button the car will engage the park brake which can be used in an emergency if your hydraulic brakes failed. That being said, with the regen braking you can slow down a lot even without having hydraulic brakes at all so it is definitely not as critical as it would be on a ICE car.

Putting the car in park and then manually enabling the parking brake is not necessary.

 

[lolder]

There is no transmission lock parking brake.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

• Hold uses the brake pedal to apply temporary braking force thru the main hydraulic system, it simply mimics your foot.
• Park uses motors in the rear calipers to apply a permanent braking force
• Parking Brake delivers more power to those motors for a more secure hold at the expense of increased noise/wear.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I don't know if there is a definitive answer for this. A short press indicates that you are in park. A long press adds a red "P" icon to the screen. What is the difference?

I understand that one or the other or both may use a common parking brake setup on the rear wheels. ICE powered cars use a pawl in the transmission and optionally a separate parking brake. Mechanically or electrically activated. Manual transmissions of course are treated differently.

My concern is this. In the past I would always use the parking brake on my driveway. It is a little steep. Not sure that I needed to do this but why not. Keep it exercised. The only exception would be is if it was rainy or otherwise wet and then forecast to get very cold. In the past I have had my parking brake freeze solid and would take some coaxing to get it free. I want to avoid this.

Long press applies more power to the same motors. Both of them work by using a screw drive motor that is applied to the rear brakes.
A reference is here to proof of that, but there were other threads where there was long argument about it.

Your helpful guide to the Tesla Model 3 parking brake

I participated in a different thread a long time ago on this same topic. The consensus of that thread (which I didn't search and find to link here) was that the long press of the parking brake button engages the parking brake "tighter" than the normal short press parking brake. It was generally...

teslamotorsclub.com

No idea however about freezing, I will let other chime in as I'm not in a climate where the brakes would freeze.

 

[jrweiss98020]

When I long press my parking brake I hear a loud click/clonk. What is this? I initially thought it was a pawl engaging in the gearbox, like other cars as discussed but I’m pretty sure our gearboxes don’t have this feature. I guess it’s some kind of additional solenoid lock in the brake calliper mechanism?

As I also park on a steep slope I am keen to understand how a long press differs functionally from just a regular quick park press. And will this cause any additional wear to the components?

I have not found any official documentation that indicates the parking brake is any different from a short or long press, if you are parking the car normally. If anyone has found any official Tesla documentation to the contrary, please post.

OTOH, the noise you hear on the second or long press may be the doors unlocking, if you do not have "Unlock on Park" set. Owner's Manual p. 12:

"You can also unlock the doors by pressing the Park button on the end of the drive stalk a second time. Pressing this button once engages Park and pressing it again unlocks the doors."

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

The owner's manual describes the "parking brake" as something different than "park". That's all the official documentation you're going to get.

There are no physical door locks on a Tesla, only virtual locks which exist silently in a cloud somewhere.

 

[stopcrazypp]

I have not found any official documentation that indicates the parking brake is any different from a short or long press, if you are parking the car normally. If anyone has found any official Tesla documentation to the contrary, please post.

OTOH, the noise you hear on the second or long press may be the doors unlocking, if you do not have "Unlock on Park" set. Owner's Manual p. 12:

"You can also unlock the doors by pressing the Park button on the end of the drive stalk a second time. Pressing this button once engages Park and pressing it again unlocks the doors."

You won't find official documentation, but officially long press shows the park symbol and short press doesn't.

Also there is emperical evidence that a long press does something different, namely that it applies the brake a second time and at a higher voltage.

Difference Between park & PARK

teslaownersonline.com

I think that's pretty definitive, although of course whether that results in any significant difference in actual brake force has not been tested.

 

[sightman]

• Hold uses the brake pedal to apply temporary braking force thru the main hydraulic system, it simply mimics your foot.
• Park uses motors in the rear calipers to apply a permanent braking force
• Parking Brake delivers more power to those motors for a more secure hold at the expense of increased noise/wear.

Based on this I read it to mean the long press is akin to the emergency brake. Say hydraulic brakes are damaged and you need full braking on a moving vehicle.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Yes, by holding the park button you can apply the "emergency brake" at any speed. Give it a try - it doesn't just instantly lock the rear wheels and send you into a spin like you might think but it does engage reasonably quickly/firmly and disengage reasonably quickly when you let go.

 

[jrweiss98020]

Based on this I read it to mean the long press is akin to the emergency brake. Say hydraulic brakes are damaged and you need full braking on a moving vehicle.

Sightman, there is no documentation to substantiate Gauss Guzzler's post regarding "more power to those motors for a more secure hold at the expense of increased noise/wear". The Owner's manual merely says "When you manually apply the parking brake using the touchscreen, or by pressing and holding the button on the end of the drive stalk when in Park, the red parking brake indicator lights up on the touchscreen" (p. 60).

However, the manual DOES say that you can use the Parking Brake as an emergency brake when moving (p. 58). Note, though, that the Parking Brake works on the rear wheels only, so it will be nowhere near "full braking".

 

[TexasTezla]

There are no physical door locks on a Tesla, only virtual locks which exist silently in a cloud somewhere.

Of course there are physical locks on the doors! What is a virtual lock??

 

[GtiMart]

I can't say if the "...more secure hold at the expense of increased noise/wear" part of the statement is true. What I can say is that we clearly hear electrical motors set the rear brakes when we put the car in Park. AND we can hear those same electrical motors squeeze those same rear brakes when we hold the button after already being in Park. Does that add more pressure or the same, I cannot say for sure. To me, hearing them a second time means they've moved something further, which makes me think there's more pressure.

Pressing that button when driving does apply the "emergency brake" but that's a different topic.

 

[medphys3]

Of course there are physical locks on the doors! What is a virtual lock??

As far as I can tell, there is no true mechanical locking mechanism in the doors. Pressing the lock/unlock icon on the screen doesn't make any sounds in the doors, only a software controlled "beep." The car will either let you open the door or it will not. So in a sense, the locks are virtual.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Correct. The door locks only exist in the car’s imagination.