Is Tesla’s Sentinel Mode a feature worth activating? Let’s see what it is used for, its consumption, its advantages and disadvantages.
In response to a wave of vandalism near San Francisco, Tesla decided in 2019 to make available a kind of dascham improved: sentry mode. Now well known to Tesla owners, this feature, as atypical as it is useful for some, remains a source of questions. Between the legality of filming public roads, vampire consumption and the real need to monitor the surroundings of your electric car, let’s examine in detail what there is to know about Tesla’s sentinel mode.
Sentinel mode: surveillance of the surroundings of the vehicle
If you’re unfamiliar with Tesla’s Sentinel Mode, a little catch-up session is in order. You are probably aware that Tesla are connected cars, with multiple cameras placed around the vehicle.
Originally intended for driving assistance, cameras began to be used as dash cam at the end of 2018, allowing drivers to record portions of videos in the event of an accident in particular. In the course of 2019, after numerous vandalized Teslas in California, owners’ clubs had reported to the parent company the need to monitor the surroundings of their car while it was parked. Sentinel mode was born.
In practice, this means taking advantage of the front, rear and side cameras of your Tesla Model S, Model 3, Model X or Model Y to record events that are happening near the vehicle. This can be a way of reassuring owners, in case they return to their car and notice a deterioration: in theory, the sentinel mode will have recorded it.
In the event of an intrusion detected in the vehicle, the Tesla application will send a notification to the drivers’ smartphones to warn them that the alarm has been activated. What’s more, when the sentry mode is active, music is played at maximum volume, in order to frighten the possible criminal trying to steal the personal effects left on board the cabin.
Many Unwarranted Tesla Sentinel Mode Triggers
For many, sentry mode is a simple way to not worry about what might happen next to their new car. A knock on the door, a shopping cart rubbing too closely against the bodywork, or intentional vandalism are classic cases that can be spotted by the sentry mode in the absence of the owner.
Unfortunately, everything is far from perfect with this sentinel mode. First of all, very many unjustified trips can occur. In fact, all it takes is a slight breeze on trees placed right next to the vehicle to trigger a sentinel event with each movement of the leaves.
This therefore has the opposite effect of the assumption: upon getting into the car and seeing that there have been 150 recorded events, the driver is unlikely to go through each recording to try to find out what is potentially important which is a false positive.
What’s more, when the sentry mode starts recording an event, the screen on board the cabin will light up showing a message and the exterior headlights will turn on. If a person simply passes by your car, they are bound to be surprised, which can have the opposite effect of that expected, as long as it is not discreet.
We can even go so far as to say that the more time passes, the less the relevance of the sentinel mode is felt. When you have just taken possession of your car, it can be fun to check each event systematically, but it fades very quickly. Well, that was before Tesla offered to view camera feeds remotely…
Premium connectivity to the rescue
For free, sentinel mode is available in its simplest form at Tesla. Namely, you can activate it automatically as soon as you are parked, and the recorded events are visible on the main vehicle screen. To do this, a USB key for recording videos is supplied with the car, also allowing these videos to be viewed on a computer outside the cockpit.
This can be particularly useful if you need to attach proof to insurance, justice or law enforcement, although in the vast majority of cases such proof is not admissible. During a clash, however, it can help convince the other party to recognize their wrongdoings and write up the report accordingly, if you show them the video of the facts.
On top of that, premium connectivity subscribers ($9.99 per month) get the ability to view cameras remotely, as you can see below.
This can be considered a gadget, or on the contrary reassuring depending on the use case. It’s not the only addition of premium connectivity at almost 120 euros per year, but the extra cost is justified for those who see added value in being able to check what is near the vehicle directly from the application.
Be careful though: you can only use the view of the cameras on the mobile application for 15 minutes per day. Afterwards, a message indicating that you have exceeded your quota for the day appears, and you must wait until midnight to be able to use this feature again.
A vampire consumption that must be taken into account
What aficionados of the firm of Elon Musk call “vampire consumption”, it is in fact all that the vehicle consumes when it is not used. In practice, it is a few percent of battery that disappears after several hours without using it, and the sentinel mode can have a big responsibility vis-à-vis this vampire consumption.
A Tesla with active sentry mode never falls asleep, since it must constantly monitor the surroundings. The various measurements of the consumption of the sentinel mode reveal to us that it consumes around 200 to 250 watts, which corresponds to a loss of battery of 1%, every two to three hours at the very least.
So leaving sentry mode for 24 hours in a row often results in a 10% or more battery loss, something to consider if you plan to leave your Tesla parked and then get back on the road.
A trade-off between the possible security and additional tranquility provided by the sentinel mode, and the expected loss of battery due to its consumption is therefore to be made. No matter what, your Tesla will turn off sentry mode automatically when it gets to 20% battery. Likewise, it is not possible to activate it if you have less than 20% battery left, unless you are plugged in and charging.
Certain classic use cases of sentry mode mean that your battery will probably be below 20%: arrival at a fast charger or connection of the vehicle to a charging station during the night outdoors in particular. In these specific cases, it is fortunately possible to activate the sentinel mode as soon as your car begins to charge.
Should Tesla Sentinel Mode be left on?
The situations in which the sentry mode is reassuring exist, but it must be recognized that it is more of a gadget than an essential feature. Indeed, if you view an event live on the mobile application when you are hundreds of kilometers away, you will probably be as worried as you are helpless.
Unlike a home surveillance camera, which can get law enforcement on the fast track, you probably won’t notify the police of a trolley hit in your car that’s parked in the parking lot. an airport when you are on vacation.
However, this sentry mode can be useful for having a third party identified when a vandalism is declared to your car insurance. Imagine finding your degraded Tesla, and by consulting the videos of the sentry mode, you clearly note the license plate of the vehicle responsible for the degradations. When filing a complaint, it will then be easy to find the person responsible, which can save you from paying a deductible to your insurance.
Finally, cases in France have already taken place where the sentinel mode allowed the police to stop a series of damages that had lasted for several months, by identifying the person responsible. But keep in mind that the overwhelming majority of recorded events will simply be curious people wanting to look at your car, not malicious people who have been put off by all the surveillance.
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