Tesla’s mind-blowing power may be impressive, but it’s not created for your everyday driving experience—which is why Tesla chill mode exists to modify your acceleration speed.

For Teslas, preserving battery power where you can is important—and just like with gas-powered engines, accelerating quickly burns more energy and drains the Tesla’s battery faster. That’s where chill mode comes in handy. Released in a 2017 software update, Tesla chill mode keeps your lead foot in check and saves battery power by monitoring your acceleration rate.

If you’re curious about how to use chill mode—or why you should use chill mode—check out this handy guide from

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What is Tesla chill mode?

Tesla’s chill mode enables the car to accelerate slowly from a full or moving stop to preserve the battery’s power. This is opposed to the standard option, which allows you to gun your Tesla from the get-go, showing off the car’s impressive zero-to-60 time. This type of driving, however, drains the battery power.

Chill mode is Tesla’s way of overriding your instinct to slam the gas pedal the second the light turns green. Tesla’s motors are super powerful, so the same amount of pressure you would use for a gas-powered vehicle could be startling to the passengers and other drivers. Using chill mode to ease into acceleration will conserve the battery’s power and make the Tesla feel less like a rocket and more like a faster sedan.

Chill mode could also have a positive impact on your car insurance rates, too. If your provider

offers a discount

for having trackers to report your driving habits, regularly monitoring your acceleration in your Tesla could help earn you a lower premium.

How to turn on Tesla chill mode

To enable chill mode in your Tesla, just follow these steps:

Touch Controls, then Pedals & Steering

Choose Acceleration to see the different acceleration mode options

Pick chill

Once you’ve selected chill mode, “Chill” will be displayed on your instrument panel above driving speed.

How long can you leave Tesla chill mode on?

Tesla’s chill mode will stay enabled until you go back to Controls to manually turn it off by selecting a different acceleration mode.

How does Tesla chill mode impact the battery?

We’ve mentioned that chill mode can conserve a bit of power, but the amount of power it saves will vary per model.

However, one Tesla owner performed his own experiment to find out how much energy chill mode saved. The driver measured watt-hour per mile over the span of 20 drives—10 in chill mode and 10 in standard mode. He found that chill mode saved about 4% more energy than standard mode.

MORE:

What is the maximum Tesla Model Y range?

Which Teslas have chill mode?

Chill mode is an option on every Tesla model, so whether you drive a Model 3 or a Model X, you can get to chilling right away.

MORE:

Everything you need to know about the Tesla self-driving car

How to optimize your Tesla insurance

Owning a Tesla gives you more than just cool factor—it also brings efficiency, from chill mode to saving money on gas.

If you’re looking for more ways to introduce efficiency into your life, start with the

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