What is Tesla’s ‘sentry mode,’ and how to activate it
Former FBI special agent Nicole Parker shreds vandalism against Tesla on ‘The Bottom Line.’
Tesla owners can activate a security measure on their vehicles called “sentry mode,” which can help deter or even bust threats in the wake of widespread vandalism targeting Elon Musk’s electric car company.
Sentry mode, when enabled, keeps the cameras and sensors of the vehicle powered on and ready to record suspicious activity that happens nearby.
“Think of Sentry Mode as an intelligent vehicle security system that alerts you when it detects possible threats nearby,” according to the Tesla Model 3 owner’s manual.
Tesla vehicles with sentry mode activated will pulse the headlights, sound the alarm and display a message on the touchscreen saying that cameras may be recording as a warning to those outside the vehicle if a threat is detected or if its sensors pick of “jerky movement” like being towed or shaken.
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A Tesla Model 3 at the company’s dealership in Palo Alto, California, on Jan. 28, 2025. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)
Sentry mode also sends the vehicle owner an alert on the Tesla mobile app and saves footage of the event to a USB drive, if installed in the vehicle.
Tesla security has been spotlighted after nationwide incidents targeting the electric vehicles, dealerships, storage lots and charging stations in protest of Musk, who President Donald Trump tapped to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE was tasked with slashing wasteful federal spending and has laid off tens of thousands of federal employees as part of its cuts.
People participate in a protest against Elon Musk outside a Tesla dealership in Pasadena, California, on March 8. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via / Getty Images)
Since January 2025, Tesla electric vehicles have been targeted in at least nine states, according to the FBI, which says the incidents involved arson, gunfire and vandalism, including graffiti expressing grievances against those the perpetrators perceive to be racists, fascists or political opponents.
Five Tesla vehicles were set on fire and shot at in what police are investigating as a “targeted attack” at a repair center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Hal Sparks via / Storyful)
So far, three individuals have been charged in federal cases after using Molotov cocktails to attack Tesla properties around the country. Each faces charges that carry a minimum penalty of five years and up to 20 years in prison.
Former Republican presidential candidate Larry Elder fires back at Democrats downplaying attacks against Teslas on ‘The Evening Edit.’
“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Thursday. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
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