The yellow warning light win
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The little yellow tyre-pressure light has been giving me the side-eye for a few days. Yesterday I went and did something about it.
Tap into the Tesla's tyre-pressure widget and there it is: 38 psi all round, against a recommended 42. Four psi down on every wheel, all at once. That's not a slow leak — that's cold air doing what cold air does. The rough rule is about 1 psi for every 5–6°C the temperature drops, and Melbourne autumn has dropped a lot more than that since the last top-up.
So, out came the digital tyre inflator from its sub-trunk box, target dialled to 42, and one wheel at a time. The first one's gauge read 36, not 38 — gauge variance is real, neither system is "wrong" — and the inflator ticks up to 42 in about a minute per tyre. Quick job. Garage stayed warm.
The Tesla doesn't refresh its tyre-pressure readings until the car has actually moved — and that drive warms the rubber slightly too. After a short loop: 44, 43, 44, 44. A bit above the 42 cold target, because they're now slightly warm tyres rather than cold ones. They'll settle overnight.
Why bother? A few psi soft on every wheel quietly costs you range. Rolling resistance goes up, the battery does more work for the same trip, and the dash range number creeps down without anything obvious changing. Cheapest range upgrade I'll do all month, and it cost about ten minutes.
And the yellow light hasn't come back on since.
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- Last time we needed the pump — our first flat tyre Our first flat tyre — part 1 18 Dec 2025
The August top-up typically lasts until summer.
- without the warning as it's annoying.
Tyres will otherwise wear the centre 1/3 more than the outer edges **particularly** if you don't cane the beegeezus out of it.
FYI - always best to drive it as hard as you can for even tyre wear