This is an older edition
This page covers the manual for software 2026.32. Tesla has put out a newer manual since then.
First, the good news
Your car didn’t change overnight. A new manual mostly means Tesla wrote down things. Some of the items below are real changes in what the manual says. Others are things the car has been doing for a while, and the manual is just catching up. Each item is labeled so you know which is which.
Which manual is this?
The 2025-and-later Model Y Owner’s Manual for North America, written for software 2026.32 (dated October 2026). It replaces the edition for software 2025.44 (December 2025). Page numbers below are pages of Tesla’s PDF.
The five changes
1. The turn signal won’t always cancel an FSD lane change
With Full Self-Driving (Supervised), the car picks its own lane changes and turns. Your turn signal now only “indicates your preference.” The manual adds a warning: once a lane change or turn has started, flicking the signal may not stop it.
What to do: to cancel a lane change, steer gently or use the brake. Don’t rely on the turn signal. Owners have noticed FSD paying less attention to the signal for a while, so this is mostly the manual catching up.
Manual, “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)”, p. 120.
2. If the driver stops responding, FSD pulls over
If the driver ignores repeated “pay attention” warnings, the car sounds a chime, turns on the hazard flashers, and “safely pulls over.” The old manual said it would slow to a complete stop in its lane.
Good to know: the plain Autosteer section of the same manual still describes slowing to a stop, so the two sections don’t fully agree yet. Either way, the answer is the same: keep your eyes on the road and respond to the warnings.
Manual, Self-Driving driver attention, p. 121 (Autosteer, p. 135).
3. Seat heaters may turn themselves off
A seat heater may switch off on its own “after approximately 30 minutes of continuous use.” The manual says this is normal, and nothing is broken.
What to do: if you still want the warmth, just turn it back on. The manual doesn’t say exactly when it kicks in, so you may or may not notice it.
Manual, seats and climate, p. 46 and p. 170.
4. The front camera may spray itself clean
On cars with a front bumper camera, the little washer “may activate automatically to clear built up dust, dirt, and debris at the beginning of your drive.” If you hear a quick spray as you set off, that’s it.
Nothing to do. Cars have been doing this for a while; the manual now explains it. You can still spray it yourself from the Camera app on the touchscreen.
Manual, cleaning the cameras, p. 227.
5. Supercharger fees: move once you’re done
At a busy Supercharger, a congestion fee can apply when the station is at capacity and your battery is above the congestion limit, or once your charging session has ended. The old “no fee if you move within five minutes” line is gone from the manual.
What to do: when charging finishes, unplug and move along so you aren’t charged extra. Fees after a finished session at a busy site aren’t new; the manual just spells them out now. (The new text still mentions “idle fees” in one spot, so the wording isn’t perfectly tidy.)
Manual, Supercharging fees, p. 202.
New names you may see
- “Autopilot” settings are now called Self-Driving (Controls > Self-Driving).
- “Dog Mode” is now Pet Mode.
- The steering-wheel “scroll wheel” is now called the scroll button.
If a menu on your screen doesn’t match the manual, trust the screen. Menus move between software updates.
Other editions
- Newest edition: software 2026.38.3 The seven changes in that edition
Read it yourself
- Model Y Owner’s Manual (2025+), official Tesla’s online manual; also on your car’s touchscreen under Manual
This page summarizes the manual; it isn’t from Tesla. Where they differ, follow Tesla’s manual and your car’s screen.