How To Turn Off And Power Down Your Tesla

First Look at Tesla's Indirect TPMS in Standard Models December 19, 2025 By Karan Singh @diywrapclub

With the launch of the Standard Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla made some subtle changes to the basic features of the vehicles that many might not immediately notice. One of the changes is the removal of the Bluetooth-enabled direct Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) in favor of an indirect monitoring system.

With the Model 3 and Model Y Standard vehicles finally arriving in customers' hands, we get to see exactly what the new UI looks like and how the new Indirect TPMS feature works.

Direct vs Indirect

For years, every Tesla vehicle has come equipped with Direct TPMS. This system uses physical pressure sensors mounted inside the valve stem of each wheel. These sensors beam real-time data to the car, allowing you to see the exact PSI of every tire on your screen.

The new Standard Model 3 and Model Y ditch these physical sensors entirely. Instead, they use Indirect TPMS.

This system relies on the vehicle’s ABS and wheel-speed sensors. It works on a simple principle of physics: a deflated tire has a slightly smaller diameter than a fully inflated one. Because it is smaller, it must spin faster to keep up with the other tires. The car’s computer detects this discrepancy in rotational speed and triggers a Low Tire Pressure alert.

New UI

The most immediate difference owners will notice is in the Controls > Service menu. There, you won’t find PSI numbers on the screen, but simply four indicators for the tires on the vehicle model. The indicators remain black when the tire is reporting correct wheel speeds, and turn yellow or red when low pressure or a flat occurs.

Tesla also provides a new option to manually calibrate tire pressure based on your wheels, a simple but manual process required every time your tires are topped up or changed, or after significant driving due to tire wear. The procedure also notes that there is limited support for non-OEM wheels and tires.

You can read more about the procedure here.

Pros & Cons

While this is clearly a cost-cutting measure for Tesla in order to hit the lower prices that the Standard variants are offered at, there are some trade-offs for owners.

Pros: You no longer need to purchase expensive Bluetooth sensors for winter tire sets or replacements, potentially saving ~$300 per set.

Cons: You lose the ability to check exact tire pressure from the Tesla App or in-vehicle display. Furthermore, indirect systems are generally less sensitive, meaning you likely won’t notice a slow leak until the pressure drops significantly.

We recently took a look at the major features removed from the Standard edition models. We also have a feature comparison between the Premium and Standard editions.

Follow Follow Follow