Tesla Sentry Mode: What It Is, How to Use It and Battery Drain

Tesla's Sentry Mode captures videos from up to four cameras at once

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Tesla Sentry Mode is an intelligent vehicle security system designed to monitor and record potential threats around your parked Tesla. This feature utilizes the vehicle's cameras and sensors to detect suspicious activity, notify the owner through the Tesla mobile app, and save footage to a USB drive.

What is Sentry Mode

When enabled, Tesla Sentry Mode keeps the vehicle's cameras and computer powered on and ready to record potential threats while the car is locked and in Park. If a threat is detected, the system pulses the headlights, displays a message on the touchscreen, and may sound the alarm, depending on the situation. In addition, footage of the event is saved to a USB drive, and the owner will be notified via the app if the alarm goes off. Sentry Mode offers an extra layer of security for Tesla owners, helping to deter would-be thieves or vandals.

Cameras and Sound

While Sentry Mode is enabled, it will record from four of the vehicle's nine available cameras. The video recorded comes from one of the front-facing cameras, the fender camera on either side of the vehicle, and the rear camera. The other remaining front-facing cameras, B-pillar cameras, and the cabin camera do not record at this time.

Teslas do not contain any external microphones, so all Sentry Mode videos are silent. Although Teslas do contain internal microphones, Tesla does not capture audio from these microphones. In fact, even if you're viewing the interior camera in the Tesla app, you can not hear any audio from inside of the vehicle.

How to Turn On Sentry Mode

You can enable Sentry Mode by tapping Controls then tapping 'Sentry.' The Sentry Mode icon will turn red when Sentry Mode is enabled. You can also choose to turn on Sentry Mode automatically when the vehicle is parked or activate it using the Tesla mobile app. Voice commands like "Keep Tesla safe," "Keep my car safe," "Sentry on," or "Enable Sentry" can also be used to enable the feature.

Enable Sentry Mode from the Controls menu

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How Long Does Sentry Mode Stay On

Once Sentry Mode is enabled, it will remain on until you turn it off, or when your battery reaches 20%. If the battery falls below this level, Sentry Mode will turn off, and you will receive a notification via the Tesla app. Since Sentry Mode increases power consumption, Tesla turns it off automatically to leave you with enough energy to reach your destination.

Sentry Mode Battery Drain

Since your vehicle's computer needs to remain on to process video from its various cameras, there is additional power usage while Sentry Mode is enabled.

The actual amount of power consumed varies based on your vehicle's specific hardware, but tests have shown that the vehicle will consume about 250 to 300 watts while Sentry Mode is on. This is equivalent to losing about 1 mile of range for every hour Sentry Mode is enabled.

In a day, Sentry Mode may consume as much as 7.2 kWh, about 24 miles of range, or roughly equivalent to 7% to 14% of your battery, depending on your model and battery size.

Since Sentry Mode consumes so much energy, it's best to use it only when needed. Sentry Mode is not meant for when your vehicle will be parked long term, as it'll quickly drain your battery. Luckily, Tesla offers options to automatically enable Sentry Mode at specific locations and Sentry Mode is automatically disabled when the vehicle's battery falls to 20%.

Sentry Mode Options

You can customize Sentry Mode settings to fit your preferences and requirements. Some options available include:

Disabling sounds: If you want to silence the security alarm and audio system when the alarm is triggered, navigate to Controls > Safety > Disable Sentry Sounds. Sentry Mode will still send a notification through the mobile app and save the last 10 minutes of footage of any events that occurred.

Excluding specific locations: In Controls > Safety > Sentry Mode, you can choose not to enable Sentry Mode in particular areas, such as your home, work, or favorite destinations. This can be helpful if you want to conserve battery power or avoid unnecessary recordings in familiar areas.

Choosing the clip length: In some markets (Not available in the U.S. and Canada), you can select the length of Sentry Mode video clips, allowing you to customize how much footage is saved during an event. 

Disabling camera detection: If you prefer, you can disable camera detection so that Sentry Mode only activates when the car senses a physical intrusion. This can be helpful in situations where you want to minimize the number of false alarms or unnecessary recordings.

How to Set Up Sentry Mode

First, insert a compatible USB drive into the glove box USB port. If your car doesn't have a USB port in the glove box, you can use one in the center console. Note that not all Teslas have data-capable USB ports in the center console, so the glove box should be your first choice. Chances are that Tesla already included a compatible USB drive in the car for you. Tesla defines a compatible USB drive as one that is USB 2.0 compatible and holds at least 64 GB. This Samsung USB drive is a good choice for Sentry Mode because of its durability and size. It offers fast write speeds and 256GB of storage, 4x Tesla's recommendation.

Next, you can format the USB drive by going to Controls > Safety and tap on "Format USB Drive." Tesla recommends using a high-quality USB drive to ensure smooth recording and playback of Sentry Mode videos. You can also enable Dashcam recording. Navigate to Controls > Safety > Dashcam in your vehicle's menu and set it to Auto. This will allow your vehicle to automatically record footage while driving. Footage will automatically be recorded when an event is detected or when you tap the Dashcam icon under Controls > Dashcam.

How to View Sentry Mode Recordings

You can review your Sentry Mode video with the Dashcam Viewer app in the car

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To view Sentry Mode or Dashcam videos, use the Dashcam app in your vehicle. The Tesla system tags events with a red dot, making locating and reviewing footage easier. This feature allows you to quickly identify any incidents around your vehicle and gather evidence if necessary. Remember to regularly check your USB drive's storage capacity, as new recordings will overwrite the oldest ones when the drive is full. It's a good idea to back up important footage to a separate storage device for safekeeping.

Sentry Mode Live Access

You can view live footage from your vehicle in the Tesla app

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Sentry Mode Live Access lets you view your vehicle's cameras in real-time using the Tesla mobile app. This feature requires Tesla's Premium Connectivity. When using View Live Camera, your vehicle will periodically flash its exterior lights and displays a message on the touchscreen, notifying others that the area surrounding the vehicle is being viewed through the cameras.

To enable the View Live Camera feature, touch Controls > Safety > Sentry Mode > View Live Camera via Mobile App on the car's touchscreen. First, ensure no occupants are in the vehicle, and all doors are locked. Then, navigate to Safety > Sentry Mode > View Live Camera in the Tesla app. The live camera feed is fully encrypted and cannot be accessed by Tesla, ensuring your privacy. View Live Camera is limited to approximately one hour (or 15 minutes for some regions) of cumulative usage per day. Although Sentry Mode Live Access is widely available, it is not currently available in all markets.

If your vehicle is equipped with a pedestrian warning speaker you can press and hold the microphone button in the app to transmit your voice through the speaker, potentially deterring would-be intruders or vandals.

When Dog Mode or Sentry Mode are enabled, you can also switch the live camera view to see through the vehicle's interior camera. This can be useful if you want to check on your pet while away from the vehicle. Note that this feature is not supported in vehicles with Autopilot computer 2.0 or 2.5.

Tesla Sentry Mode is a valuable security feature that can help protect your vehicle from potential threats. By following the steps provided, you can set up, enable, and customize this feature to fit your needs. As a Tesla owner, using Sentry Mode can give you peace of mind, knowing that your car is actively monitoring its surroundings for potential threats. While no security system can prevent all attacks, Sentry Mode offers an added layer of protection that can help deter criminals and keep your vehicle safe.

Tesla Included FSD V12.6.1 and V13.2.4 in the Same Update: What Caused This and What It Means

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Tesla launched two FSD updates simultaneously on Saturday night, and what’s most interesting is that they arrived on the same software version. We’ll dig into that a little later, but for now, there’s good news for everyone. For Hardware 3 owners, FSD V12.6.1 is launching to all vehicles, including the Model 3 and Model Y. For AI4 owners, FSD V13.2.4 is launching, starting with the Cybertruck.

FSD V13.2.4

A new V13 build is now rolling out to the Cybertruck and is expected to arrive for the rest of the AI4 fleet soon. However, this build seems to be focused on bug fixes. There are no changes to the release notes for the Cybertruck with this release, and it’s unlikely to feature any changes when it arrives on other vehicles.

While this update focuses on bug fixes, Tesla’s already working on bigger features for FSD V13.3, which we have already confirmed to include improvements to highway following and speed control.

FSD V12.6.1

FSD V12.6.1 builds upon V12.6, which is the latest FSD version for HW3 vehicles. While FSD V12.6 was only released for the redesigned Model S and Model X with HW3, FSD V12.6.1 is adding support for the Model 3 and Model Y.

While this is only a bug-fix release for users coming from FSD V12.6, it includes massive improvements for anyone coming from an older FSD version. Two of the biggest changes are the new end-to-end highway stack that now utilizes FSD V12 for highway driving and a redesigned controller that allows FSD to drive “V13” smooth.

It also adds speed profiles, earlier lane changes, and more. You can read our in-depth look at all the changes in FSD V12.6.

Same Update, Multiple FSD Builds

What’s interesting about this software version is that it “includes" two FSD updates, V12.6.1 for HW3 and V13.2.4 for HW4 vehicles. While this is interesting, it’s less special when you understand what’s happening under the hood.

The vehicle’s firmware and Autopilot firmware are actually completely separate. While a vehicle downloading a firmware update may look like a singular process, it’s actually performing several functions during this period. First, it downloads the vehicle’s firmware. Upon unpacking the update, it’s instructed which Autopilot/FSD firmware should be downloaded.

While the FSD firmware is separate, the vehicle can’t download any FSD update. The FSD version is hard-coded in the vehicle’s firmware that was just downloaded. This helps Tesla keep the infotainment and Autopilot firmware tightly coupled, leading to fewer issues.

What we’re seeing here is that HW3 vehicles are being told to download one FSD version, while HW4 vehicles are being told to download a different version.

While this is the first time Tesla has had two FSD versions tied to the same vehicle software version, the process hasn’t actually changed, and what we’re seeing won’t lead to faster FSD updates or the ability to download FSD separately. What we’re seeing is the direct result of the divergence of HW3 and HW4.

While HW3/4 remained basically on the same FSD version until recently, it is now necessary to deploy different versions for the two platforms. We expect this to be the norm going forward, where HW3 will be on a much different version of FSD than HW4. While each update may not include two different FSD versions going forward, we may see it occasionally, depending on which features Autopilot is dependent on.

Thanks to Greentheonly for helping us understand what happened with this release and for the insight into Tesla’s processes.

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Nvidia’s Cosmos Offers Synthetic Training Data; Following Tesla’s Lead

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At the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show, Nvidia showed off its new consumer graphics cards, home-scale compute machines, and commercial AI offerings. One of these offerings included the new Nvidia Cosmos training system.

Nvidia is a close partner of Tesla - in fact, they produce and supply the GPUs that Tesla uses to train FSD - the H100s and soon-to-be H200s, located at the new Cortex Supercomputing Cluster at Giga Texas. Nvidia will also challenge Tesla’s lead in developing and deploying synthetic training data for an autonomous driving system - something Tesla is already doing.

However, this is far more important for other manufacturers. We’re going to take a look at what Nvidia is offering and how it compares to what Tesla is already doing. We’ve done a few deep dives into how Tesla’s FSD works, how Tesla streamlines FSD, and, more recently, how they optimize FSD. If you want to get familiar with a bit of the lingo and the background knowledge, we recommend reading those articles before continuing, but we’ll do our best to explain how all this synthetic data works.

Nvidia Cosmos

Nvidia’s Cosmos is a generative AI model created to accelerate the development of physical AI systems, including robots and autonomous vehicles. Remember - Tesla’s FSD is also the same software that powers their humanoid robot, Optimus. Nvidia is aiming to tackle physical, real-world deployments of AI anywhere from your home, your street, or your workplace, just like Tesla.

Cosmos is a physics-aware engine that learns from real-world video and builds simulated video inputs. It tokenizes data to help AI systems learn quicker, all based on the video that is input into the system. Sound familiar? That’s exactly how FSD learns as well.

Cosmos also has the capability to do sensor-fused simulations. That means it can take multiple input sources - video, LiDAR, audio, or whatever else the user intends, and fuse them together into a single-world simulation for your AI model to learn from. This helps train, test, and validate autonomous vehicle behavior in a safe, synthetic format while also providing a massive breadth of data.

Data Scaling

Of course, Cosmos itself still requires video input - the more video you feed it, the more simulations it can generate and run. Data scaling is a necessity for AI applications, as you’ll need to feed it an infinite amount of data to build an infinite amount of scenarios for it to train itself on.

Synthetic data also has a problem - is it real? Can it predict real-world situations? In early 2024, Elon Musk commented on this problem, noting that data scales infinitely both in the real world and in simulated data. A better way to gather testing data is through real-world data. After all, no AI can predict the real world just yet - in fact, that’s an excellent quantum computing problem that the brightest minds are working on.

Yun-Ta Tsai, an engineer at Tesla’s AI team, also mentioned that writing code or generating scenarios doesn’t cover what even the wildest AI hallucinations might come up with. There are lots of optical phenomena and real-world situations that don’t necessarily make sense in the rigid training sets that AI would develop, so real-world data is absolutely essential to build a system that can actually train a useful real-world AI.

Tesla has billions of miles of real-world video that can be used for training, according to Tesla’s Social Media Team Lead Viv. This much data is essential because even today, FSD encounters “edge cases” that can confuse it, slow it down, or render it incapable of continuing, throwing up the dreaded red hands telling the user to take over.

Cosmos was trained on approximately 20 million hours of footage, including human activities like walking and manipulating objects. On the other hand, Tesla’s fleet gathers approximately 2,380 recorded minutes of real-world video per minute. Every 140 hours - just shy of 6 days - Tesla’s fleet gathers 20 million hours of footage. That was a little bit of back-of-the-napkin math, calculated at 60 mph as the average speed.

Generative Worlds

Both Tesla’s FSD and Nvidia’s Cosmos can generate highly realistic, physics-based worlds. These worlds are life-like environments and simulate the movement of people and traffic and the real-life position of obstacles and objects, including curbs, fences, buildings, and other objects.

Tesla uses a combination of real-world data and synthetic data, but the combination of data is heavily weighted to real-world data. Meanwhile, companies who use Cosmos will be weighting their data heavily towards synthetically created situations, drastically limiting what kind of cases they may see in their training datasets.

As such, while generative worlds may be useful to validate an AI quickly, we would argue that these worlds aren’t as useful as real-world data to do the training of an AI.

Overall, Cosmos is an exciting step - others are clearly following in Tesla’s footsteps, but they’re extremely far behind in real-world data. Tesla has built a massive first-mover advantage in AI and autonomy, and others are now playing catch-up.

We’re excited to see how Tesla’s future deployment of its Dojo Supercomputer for Data Labelling adds to its pre-existing lead, and how Cortex will be able to expand, as well as what competitors are going to be bringing to the table. After all, competition breeds innovation - and that’s how Tesla innovated in the EV space to begin with.

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