“I think generally all input is error,” said Tesla CEO Elon Musk when he explained the Model S Plaid’s Auto Shift feature. Tesla removed the stalks when reinventing the Tesla Model S Plaid’s design. “If you have to do something that the car could have done already, that should be taken care of; the software should just do it,” Musk remarked.
This approach was evident in the Model S Plaid’s Auto Shift feature, which uses software to determine if the vehicle should be in Drive, Park, Neutral, or Reverse. The new Tesla Model S manual goes further into detail about Auto Shift and the vehicle’s gears.
Touchscreen Gear Shift
For drivers who would still prefer shifting gears manually, the new Model S has a gear strip available on the car’s touchscreen under “Controls.” The gear strip will be displayed on the left side of the touchscreen when a driver presses the brake pedal while parked.
- Drive – Swipe up on the gear strip on the touchscreen. Drivers can only shift into “D” when the Model S is stopped or moving less than 5 mph or 8 km/h in Reverse.
- Reverse – Swipe down on the gear strip. Drivers can only shift into “R” when the Model S is stopped or moving less than 5 mph or 8 km/h in Drive. Drivers can manually close the park assist view on the touchscreen by touching the “X” in the upper corner.
- Neutral: To shift into Neutral, drivers should touch the “Controls,” then press and hold the Neutral icon until the Model S engages the “N” gear. When the Model S is traveling over 5 mph or 8 km/h and swipes up or down on the gear strip, a Neutral icon will appear at the top of the gear strip that drivers can engage.
Model S Park
The Park button is only displayed when the brake pedal is pressed. Shifting into Park is allowed when the vehicle’s driving speed is less than 5 mph or 8km/h.
The Model S will automatically shift to Park when it observes signs that drivers are about to exit the vehicle, like when the driver unbuckles his/her seat belt and the car is stopped. Other instances the Model S will shift into Park would be when the driver’s door is open or the vehicle hasn’t moved within one minute of shifting into Drive gear.
Auto Shift Out of Park
Auto Shift Out of Park allows the Model S to shift out of Park on its own, providing more convenience. In the Model S owner’s manual, Tesla notes that Auto Shift out of Park is a BETA feature and is disabled by default.
“When Auto Shift out of Park is enabled, Model S is designed to use inputs from various sensors to automatically select a driving gear when you are ready to drive. The selected gear is displayed on the instrument panel when the driver’s door is closed, and the seatbelt is buckled,” said the manual.
Drivers can override the selected gear by pressing the brake pedal, then use the touchscreen to choose the gear they prefer. Drivers must always press the brake pedal to shift out of Park.
Tesla cautions drivers to follow the instructions on the panel before pressing on the accelerator after confirming their gear selection. The Model S will not shift out of Park if it is still plugged into a charging port.
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Model S in Drive Gear
The Model S automatically selects the driving gear when the following conditions are met:
- Auto Shift out of Park is enabled (touch Controls > Pedals & Steering > Auto Shift out of Park).
- The vehicle is in Park.
- The driver’s seat belt is fastened.
- The brake pedal is pressed.
- All doors and trunks are closed.
- The gear selector on the center console is not activated.
Emergency Gear Shift Controls
Drivers can use the gear selector on the center console in the unlikely event that the touchscreen is unavailable and the gear shift is unaccessible. The letters “P,” “R,” “N,” and “D” are displayed in the center console and can be activated when pressed. The frunk, trunk, and doors must be closed to select a gear in the center console.
Tesla notes that the gear selector in the center console activates when the touchscreen is unavailable or the Model S in Valet or Transport Mode. Otherwise, drivers must press the letter buttons to activate the gear selector.
“If you try to shift into a gear that the current driving speed prohibits, the instrument panel displays an alert, a chime sounds, and the gear does not change,” Tesla states in the manual.
As a side note, Tesla stated that drivers could also activate the gear selector by briefly pressing the scroll buttons on the yoke steering wheel simultaneously. Holding the scroll buttons for a longer time would activate the gear selector in the center console and restart the touchscreen as well.
Model S Owners Manual North America en Us by Maria Merano on Scribd
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Tesla has started to deploy the 2026 Summer Update to owners across its fleet, and among the biggest changes are improvements to Navigation, a new startup animation for the Model 3 and Model Y, Caraoke scoring, and new capabilities for Grok.
As the update has started making its way to some cars, we can now see a few of the features operating in real-time. We will show you what some of the new features look like in this article, along with some additional details on what changed.
Not all of the new features in the 2026 Summer Update have quite made an appearance, but some of them have, so we’ll show those here:
New Animation Screen for 3/Y
Tesla is rolling out a new startup animation for Tesla Model 3 and Model Y owners. This is present in Launch Edition and Performance Model 3 and Model Y, but other trim levels do not have anything like this.
The new animation screen on Model 3/Y with the 2026 Summer Update
Apparently color will also be customizable: pic.twitter.com/wSdwggtG3S
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 27, 2026
Owners can adjust the color associated with the startup animation to suit their preferences. It is a surprise that more automakers do not focus on this animation for their vehicles; it can be a great first impression piece and make the car immediately feel more luxurious.
Tesla has included this on more premium trims, but it is nice to see it on the Model 3 and Model Y.
Grok Improvements
Grok can now adjust more things in the car outside of the Navigation system. Now, drivers can adjust anything from climate to driving settings by simply speaking to the AI assistant in the car:
@Tesla‘s AI assistant (Grok) with its new vehicle commands in action.
Set the climate, your destination and vehicle settings all in one go! pic.twitter.com/0bBTqaAk6G
— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) July 28, 2026
You don’t even have to push a button, either. Instead, you can just say “Hey, Grok,” if you have it enabled. That feature rolled out with the 2026 Spring Update just a few months back.
This is a great feature, especially pertinent for the Robotaxi platform, as there will be no buttons inside the Cybercab when it eventually starts giving rides to the public. It also broadens Grok’s capabilities, which were relatively limited in terms of vehicle setting adjustments beforehand.
Tesla briefly offered one Robotaxi part in its Parts Catalog for your personal car, only to remove it just a short time after it was first noticed.
Tesla’s Robotaxi camera washer apparatus was briefly available for purchase on the company’s Online Parts Catalog. The camera washer was first noticed on Model Y Robotaxi vehicles about six months ago in Austin.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
First noticed by Not a Tesla App, the Camera Washer entries appeared for the new “Juniper” Model Y under a category called “Halo,” which has also now disappeared. Interestingly, Halo probably is related to Tesla’s internal “Project Halo,” which was a project that aimed to retrofit customer-owned Model Ys into functional Robotaxis.
This hardware addition would likely be required for the vehicle to operate as a Robotaxi, as the Camera Washer seems to be a non-negotiable part of the vision-based system Tesla utilizes for self-driving efforts.
However, this part has since been removed and is no longer visible on the EPC.
Now the true question lingers: Why would Tesla add this Camera Washer to the Model Y parts catalog? Is it planning to make it available for owners to utilize on their own cars for personal use, or will it become a prerequisite for Robotaxi operation in customer-owned cars?
While discussing the upgrade options for Hardware 3 vehicles during the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had said that the company could establish small, satellite shops that would upgrade cameras and self-driving computers. Perhaps this same strategy could be utilized for vehicles that want to be included in Robotaxi but do not have the correct hardware.
AI4 is currently represented as capable of unsupervised self-driving, and the same was said about HW3 at one point, only for Tesla to admit last quarter that it would, unfortunately, not be possible. Perhaps AI4 vehicles might need this camera washer as a prerequisite, just as HW3 cars will need that camera and computer upgrade.
This could be the first hint of that’s where we are headed.
Tesla has started rolling out a broader change to the ride experience for its Robotaxi fleet by silencing turn signals, but the change is certainly polarizing.
Tesla has generally made it clear that its purpose-built ride-hailing platform, Robotaxi, will cater to the rider in nearly every way possible. This includes having climate preferences, music, and other personal settings loaded up in the car as the rider enters.
But Tesla is taking it a step further by muting turn signal chimes altogether, a change that appears to be a way to make the ride more peaceful:
Tesla has finally turned off the blinker/turn signal noises in their Model Y Robotaxis.
This is a small update, but will definitely be noticeable for riders. It didn’t really make much sense to leave the turn signal sound on when it’s Unsupervised. pic.twitter.com/ITwx60PAMO
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 27, 2026
However, there are a handful of people who are not thrilled about this change. Turn signals are a conditioned part of the human mind for those who ride in a car regularly.
Taking a turn without one feels strange and odd, and not hearing it click while activated could set off some alarms for riders, who might use the noise as confirmation that other drivers know of their intention to turn.
I kind of like it being on, threw me off when riding with Zoox who has had it disabled
— Dan Burkland (@DBurkland) July 27, 2026
Turn signal noises are still audible in customer cars, so if you use FSD in your personal vehicle, you will still hear the turn signal.
The move is certainly one that is unique, but not one that separates it from other ride-sharing services. In a normal car, the clicking sound confirms to the driver that the blinker is active. In a fully driverless Robotaxi, that feedback serves no purpose for passengers, other than peace of mind.
Tesla unlocks in-car web conferencing to extend Google Meet, Teams and beyond
Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features
