Several months ago, Tesla infamously started turning off power to its 12V sockets in its vehicles when someone wasn’t in the vehicle. This affected all vehicles, including the ever-popular Model Y. The reason provided for the removal was inappropriate modification of vehicles to use high-power devices, which could potentially cause dangerous situations.
This left many accessories, such as vehicle fridges, inoperable since they relied on power staying with Sentry Mode.
In its current state, your vehicle disables the rear 12V cigarette lighter-style sockets inside the center console and USB ports, when no one is detected inside the vehicle. The only current workaround to keeping these outlets with power is to use Camp Mode, but this has disadvantages such as the climate system staying on and walk-away locks being turned off.
This change also impacted USB power provided over any of the vehicle’s USB ports. This made it difficult for users to run sub-trunk fridges or other accessories that would continuously draw power, as Camp Mode consumes quite a bit of energy to maintain the vehicle’s internal temperature.
Update: Both the Model Y and Model X include a 12V socket in the rear left pillar of the vehicle, which is located under a flap, alongside a 12V socket in the front of the vehicle. The Model S and Model 3 only include USB ports and a 12V socket in the front.
The Cybertruck is Tesla’s only vehicle with 110V sockets at this time.
New Accessory Power Feature
Now, in a surprise move, Tesla is restoring access to the 12V sockets when the vehicle is powered off if users enable a new option called “Accessory Power.”
Tesla states that power is available whenever the vehicle detects a user is available or when the Keep Accessory Power On is enabled.
Turning on this new option will enable power across the entire vehicle, including the 12V socket, 12V (max 16A) rear plug (if equipped), and the vehicle’s USB ports. This will let users charge devices or use vehicle accessories, even when they’re not in the vehicle.
This is actually an improvement over the original way to keep these plugs powered without a user present, which required leaving Sentry Mode enabled, which uses a significant portion of energy itself.
The new Accessory Power option will be able to be turned on in your vehicle under Controls > Charging > Keep Accessory Power On.
Limitations
Similar to Sentry Mode and other features, accessory power is only enabled while the option is on and the vehicle’s battery remains above 20%, at which point, it’ll be turned off.
Tesla also warns that keeping the new accessory option on will cause the vehicle to consume additional energy, even if devices are not plugged into any of the outlets, so this should be an option that should be used selectively, when needed.
Release Date
It looks like this feature was supposed to make it out in the 2025.8 update, but to our knowledge, it hasn’t been enabled in any vehicles yet. Our best guess is that it’ll be enabled in a future 2025.8 update, or in the upcoming Spring Update, which will likely add other exciting features — at least if it’s anything like Tesla’s 2024 Spring Update.
We reported back in October that Tesla was looking for alternatives to keep accessories powered on without users present, so we’re super happy to hear this news, as it really shows that Tesla listens to its customers. It’s exciting to see Tesla restore a feature that had a lot of user support behind it, and we’re sure users will be thrilled to be able to use their fridges and accessories again.
If you’re a major user of accessory power, tell us what your primary use case is. Is it charging a laptop while you’re away from your vehicle, or is it running a sub-trunk fridge during your road trips?
We’d love to see some additional input on how Tesla can continue to improve this feature, so let us know in our forums or social media.
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Three months after launching the Refreshed Model Y in North America, Tesla has finally ended the Launch Edition of the new vehicle. In addition, Tesla has also launched a new paint color for North America.
April has been the month of a lot of positive news, and it is great to see Tesla going beyond the Launch Edition of the Model Y and making it available to more customers immediately.
Launch Edition
The Launch Edition of the Model Y included the following extra features, bundled into the package cost.
Any paint choice (up to $1,500 USD value)
20” Helix 2.0 wheels ($2,000 USD)
Tow package ($1,000 USD)
Any interior color ($1,000 USD)
FSD ($8,000)
Acceleration Boost ($2,000)
The Launch Edition Model Y also included some other subtle changes like Launch Edition badging and trim, which you can read about here. Everything but the badging and Launch Edition trim can be bought for other Model Y trim levels.
Updated Pricing
The pricing has changed quite a bit from the Launch Edition, and it turns out the Launch Edition was also a pretty good deal if you were planning to buy most or all the extra features, which could save you almost $5,000 US. This is in sharp contrast to the Foundation-Series Cybertrucks, where there was very little to no difference in terms of price between a Foundation-Series truck and the AWD version with all the paid extras. Of course, not everyone may be interested in all features of the Launch Edition, so waiting for the AWD Model Y will save most people some cash.
Here’s a chart with the launch pricing and the updated pricing. Of note, the Refreshed Model Y Long Range AWD is $1,000 USD ($1,000 CAD as well) more expensive than the first-gen Model Y.
Model Y LR AWD
Price (USD)
Price (CAD)
Launch Edition
$59,990
$84,990
AWD Model Y
$48,990
$69,990
AWD Model Y With Paid Options
$64,490
$90,790
Interestingly, at least for now, Tesla is still including the Mobile Connector with the Model Y. We’re not sure how long that will last, but that’s a pretty nice little boost since Tesla stopped including the Mobile Connector with vehicles back in 2022.
New Paint Color
Last, but not least, Tesla has brought a brand new paint color into the fold. Last month, we heard Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s Chief Vehicle Designer, discuss paint colors - and the possibility of a new paint color on the horizon.
This has materialized with the launch of the brand new Diamond Black color option, which is replacing the old standard Black that Tesla used to offer. Diamond Black is a premium paint option and will cost $1,500 USD.
Diamond Black is a multicoat black paint with embedded sparkles and flakes, giving it a very fresh and unique look. We’re excited to see it in person, as it looks like a big step up from the solid black paint that Tesla was previously using. Several years ago, black was the standard color included in most new Teslas, so it’s also fairly common.
Paints like the new Diamond Black tend to glimmer and slightly shift colors based on the angle, so this one will be an eyecatcher, just like Quicksilver.
For now, Diamond Black is only available in the United States - it isn’t available in Canada or Mexico just yet. Since both countries receive vehicles from Giga Texas and Fremont, we expect this color to be made available in the coming days.
Tesla has been making steady progress on adding the second of FSD’s “senses” — hearing. Since some FSD updates in late 2024, Tesla has been collecting audio input to help FSD recognize and respond to emergency vehicle sirens. Tesla’s VP of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, previously confirmed that improved handling of emergency vehicles would be coming to a future FSD update.
Now, it looks like Tesla is also introducing a feature to alert drivers when the vehicle detects an emergency vehicle. This change was found by @greentheonly in a production version of update 2025.8, which means that it may not be long before it’s enabled for everyone.
Emergency Siren Detection
In a future update, Tesla will enable the vehicle to alert the driver whenever it detects an emergency vehicle, either through sirens or visually. This is assuming the owner has given the vehicle permission to use the internal microphone. While the new Model Y features multiple internal microphones for better noise isolation, most Teslas only feature a single internal microphone, which is used for features such as voice commands and talking through Bluetooth.
Since the vehicle can see in all directions and is actively paying attention, it will likely detect an emergency vehicle even before the driver, so this is much more than a feature for FSD.
According to Green, Tesla included text in the vehicle software that describes the new emergency vehicle detection as:
“Automatically detects and alerts the driver to nearby sirens, helping you or Autopilot recognize and yield to approaching emergency vehicles. When a siren is detected, the media volume lowers, and an alert appears on the display. Sound detection data stays within the car and is not saved or transmitted unless data sharing is enabled.”
While on FSD, the in-vehicle microphone can help to detect and allow the vehicle to yield to approaching emergency vehicles. In addition, whether you’re using FSD or not, your media volume will be lowered, and an alert will be displayed on your vehicle’s display.
We’re not exactly sure what this alert will look like, but it could look similar to today’s “Keep your eyes on the road” alert, which displays over the center of the display with a blue hue over the screen to catch your attention.
This is an eye-catching alert, and in combination with the media volume being lowered, this should help to grab the attention of a driver in a safe and unobtrusive way.
We love these types of updates that not only improve FSD but also improve safety when drivers don’t have Autopilot enabled.
While Tesla hasn’t enabled this feature just yet, we should expect it soon since it lies dormant in update 2025.8. It could be enabled through a server-side configuration or in Tesla’s upcoming 2025 Spring Update.
