January 26, 2023

Tesla voice control and voice commands

Tesla Model 3, Y, S and X are known to have no buttons inside, just a large screen. Tesla voice commands are available for those who do not want to search for all the functions in the menu.

We have summarized everything you can control with voice commands in your Tesla Model Y or 3 and will let you know exactly what you have to say for them to work.

How does Tesla voice control work?

To start voice control in your Tesla Model 3 or Y, all you have to do is briefly press the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel. You will then hear a tone and see the microphone icon light up on the screen. Now you can say your desired voice command.

On Model S and X, the button to activate voice control is on the top right of the steering wheel.

What can Tesla voice commands control?

Tesla's voice control does not understand as much as you are used to from Alexa, Siri and Co. This system is only a voice recognition for the vehicle functions and not a digital assistant. Nevertheless, the following functions in the Tesla can be controlled with your voice:

Air conditioner and heater

If you want to set the air conditioning and heating, use the following voice commands

Make it cooler/warmer
Turn on/off the driver's seat heater
Cool down the passenger
Direct airflow to my face
Sync climate
Increase/decrease the fan speed
Turn on/off rear defroster
Set the temperature/fan to…
Turn on recirculate

Windshield wipers

You can use the following voice commands to adjust the wipers:

Speed up the wipers
Increase/decrease windshield wiper speed by...
Turn on/off the wipers

Navigation

In the navigation, you can use voice commands both for navigating and for changing settings.

Where is [location]?
Drive to [location]
Navigate to [location]
Show nearby Superchargers
I'm feeling hungry/lucky
Stop navigation
Mute voice guidance

Vehicle operation

If you want to operate other functions of your Tesla Model S, 3, X or Y, you can also use your voice to access sentry mode, locking, mirrors, dog mode, charging port, glove box and other main functions. Use the following voice commands for this:

Sentry Mode on/off
Keep my car safe
Lock/unlock the doors
Turn on Dog Mode
Fold/unfold the mirrors
Open/close charge port
Start/stop charging
Open service settings
Open the glovebox

Phone Calls

Call Name/Number
Write text to [name]

Apps and media control

You can open apps and operate some of them using voice control

Open Netflix/Disney+/Spotify/Apple Music/Browser etc.
Do a Google search for Tesla Outfitters

If you don't want to control your music via the touchscreen, you can also use voice commands.

Listen to [song name]
Lower/raise the volume
Skip to next
Pause/play song
Change the source to [media source]

What languages does Tesla Voice Control support?

Tesla voice control is not available for all interface languages. The language can be adjusted in the settings. There you can also see whether the desired language is available. German and English are of course available.

You can find the right setting for this under Vehicle -> Display -> Speech recognition

Conclusion and funniest Tesla voice command

The Tesla voice control already offers access to many functions. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of room for improvement, because it does not understand the commands we give to Alexa and Co. However, Tesla is constantly working out new voice commands and sending the new versions to the fleet via over-the-air software updates. This is how your Tesla is constantly getting better.

We do hope to see Tesla implement an actual voice assistant in the future but would be surprised to see this anytime soon.

What is your favorite Tesla voice command? What function would you like to have? Let us know in the comments.

Funniest Tesla voice command: Saying "open the butthole" to the voice control will open the charging port.