Front and Rear Seats

Correct Driving Position

The seat, head support, seat belt and airbags work together to maximize your safety. Using these correctly ensures greater protection.

Person sitting in the driver's seat, seat belt on, hands on steering wheel

Position the seat so you can wear the seat belt correctly, while being as far away from the front airbag as possible:

Sit upright with both feet on the floor and the seat back in an upright position.
Make sure you can easily reach the pedals and that your arms are slightly bent when holding the steering wheel. Your chest should be at least 10 inches (25 cm) from the center of the airbag cover.
Place the shoulder section of the seat belt mid-way between your neck and your shoulder. Fit the lap section of the belt tightly across your hips, not across your stomach.

Model 3 seats include integrated head supports that cannot be adjusted or removed.

Adjusting the Front Seats

Three adjustment knobs on the side of the seat

Move seat forward/backward and adjust the seat’s height and tilt angle up/down.
Adjust backrest.
Adjust lumbar support (if equipped).

CAUTION

Do not move a front seat's backrest fully forward when the seat is also in the fully forward position. Doing so can cause the top of the seat to hit, and potentially damage, the sun visor.

Warning

Before adjusting a front seat, check that the area around the seat is free of obstacles (people and objects).

Warning

Do not adjust seats while driving. Doing so increases the risk of a collision.

Warning

Riding in a moving vehicle with the seat back reclined can result in serious injuries in a collision, as you could slide under the lap belt or be propelled into the seat belt. Ensure your seat back is reclined no more than 30 degrees when the vehicle is moving.

Calibrating Seats

You can calibrate the driver seat. This is useful if you find your seat range limited or your driver profile does not automatically adjust the seat for you. Navigate to Controls > Service > Driver Seat, Steering & Mirrors Calibration and follow the instructions on the touchscreen.

Warning

Ensure nothing is behind or underneath the driver seat during calibration. Failure to do so may cause serious injury.

Folding Rear Seats

Model 3 has a split rear seat that can fold forward.

Note

Driving with the rear seats folded forward can increase the amount of perceived noise and/or vibration coming from the rear of the vehicle (trunk, suspension, etc.).

CAUTION

Before folding seats all the way down, ensure the seat belt is unbuckled and there are no objects remaining on the seat.

Before folding, remove items from the seats and the rear footwell. To allow the rear seat backs to fold completely flat, you may need to move the front seats forward.

Two arrows each pointing to a button on the outside of the rear seats

To fold a rear seat, pull the corresponding lever and fold the seat forward.

One rear seat folded forward with arrow pointing down

Warning

Do not remove the rear seats for the purpose of storing or placing items. Doing so exposes the low and high voltage connections, which can cause vehicle damage or serious injury.

Raising Rear Seats

Before raising a rear seat, make sure that the seat belts are not trapped behind the backrest.

Pull the seat back upward until it locks into place.

To confirm that the seat back is locked in the upright position, try pulling it forward.

Warning

Always ensure the seat backs are locked in their upright position by pushing it forward or rearward. Failure to do so increases the risk of injury.

Head Supports

The front seats and the second row outboard seats include integrated head supports that are not adjustable.

The rear center seat includes an adjustable head support that can be raised, lowered, or removed. When occupied by a passenger that is not seated in a child safety seat, the head support should always be lifted and locked into position (so that the center is aligned with the center of the occupant's head).

Note

Depending on market region and country of manufacture, your vehicle may not be equipped with head supports than can be adjusted or removed.

Person sitting in a seat with a dashed blue line from the middle of her head to the center of the head support

Warning

To minimize the risk of severe injury or death in the event of a collision, ensure that head support is positioned correctly before sitting in, or operating, Model 3. Always lift and lock the head support in position before sitting in the rear center seat.

Warning

When installing a seat belt retained child safety seat in the center seating position in the second row, you must lower the associated head support (described next).

Raising/Lowering the Rear Center Head Support

To raise the head support, lift it until you hear it click into place. Push down on the head support to ensure that it is secure.

To lower the head support, press and hold the button on the outer base of the right post and press the head support down.

An arrow pointing to a button on the head support base, with an arrow pointing down on the head support cushion

Removing/Installing a Head Support

To remove the head support:

Raise the head support as described above.
Press and hold the button on the outer base of the right post.
Insert a short, flat object (such as a small flat-head screwdriver) into the opening on the inside base of the left post and pull the head support upward.

To re-install the head support:

With the front of the head support facing forward, insert both posts into the corresponding holes on the seat back.
Press down on the head support until it clicks into place.
Pull up on the head support to ensure that it is secure.
Warning
Ensure that the head support is correctly installed before seating an occupant. Failure to do so increases the risk of injury or death if a collision occurs.

Seat Heaters

The front and rear seats operate at three levels from 3 (highest) to 1 (lowest). To operate the seat heaters, see Operating Climate Controls.

Warning

To avoid burns resulting from prolonged use, individuals who have peripheral neuropathy, or whose capacity to feel pain is limited because of diabetes, age, neurological injury, or some other condition, should exercise caution when using the climate control system and seat heaters.

Seat Covers

Warning

Do not use seat covers on a front seat. Doing so could restrict deployment of the seat-mounted side airbags if a collision occurs. Also, if the vehicle is equipped with an occupant detection system that is used to determine the status of the passenger front airbag, seat covers may interfere with this system.