Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Sound at high power

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Have a performance 85.

When radio off and I gun it, at high power consumption I get a soft tone noise in cabin. Video shows it (sounds a bit louder in real life)

Unsure if it existed when I got car as music usually blasting. Lol

Will link to YouTube in few
 
Have a performance 85.

When radio off and I gun it, at high power consumption I get a soft tone noise in cabin. Video shows it (sounds a bit louder in real life)

Unsure if it existed when I got car as music usually blasting. Lol

Will link to YouTube in few
Actually, that's just an auditory hallucination caused by subjecting your brain to dangerously high levels of electromagnetic radiation.



:tongue: Just kidding!
 
That's a completely normal sound. Wait until you're flooring it at about. 120mph. Also have a P85. Mine sounds exactly the same. You will hear a very faint sound. It's not completely silent. I personally like the sound it makes. Sort of sounds like a tiny jet engine on take off. The tesla jet.
 
Also noticed that 95% of the cars thrust is in the first 75% of the pedal push, from 75-100% (when I hear the 'jet noise") not much difference in acceleration. You guys notice this too?

Yes. It has to do both with mapping for the accelerator pedal and with physics (as you are already accelerating hard, adding another say 25% of power will not increase acceleration by 25% - i.e. it's not linear as the laws of physics dictate)
 
So, after driving my buddies Tesla (identical car- both p85). There is a difference.

Both cars have that electric tone as you gun it, but mine has a bell like soft whistle at high high power. Listen carefully to hear it on this video (sounds more profound live)

Not sure if the jet sound people are mentioning is the electric sound, or the other pitched background noise I am experiencing.

Tesla sound 2: Tesla sound 2 - YouTube
 
Mine started with the balloon releasing air squeal today. Naturally I was at lunch with two passengers and my Tesla was the butt of several jokes. I hope they fix it because its not good advertising, if nothing else. Tesla picks up my car on Thursday to check the alignment and they added this to the "list" to check on. So far I haven't seen any solutions posted on the forum. I'll post whatever they tell me they think is the cause of my sound.
 
This is a video with sound - but the picture is black because I put the camera in the back seat while driving to get it closer to the sound source. The sound I'm talking about is heard at two places - about 11 seconds in and 17 seconds in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mine started with the balloon releasing air squeal today. Naturally I was at lunch with two passengers and my Tesla was the butt of several jokes. I hope they fix it because its not good advertising, if nothing else.
I've got it as well. The exact sound and when it happens have morphed a little over the 20,000 miles.

I really don't understand the anxiety over a small electric squeal. That tiny noise causes jokes? My ICE car makes noise even at idle and has this horrendous engine noise when I floor it, but the dealer says it's totally normal.
 
Well, I guess if Tesla says "yeah, that's just the flux capacitor, don't worry about it", then it won't be a big deal! But I'd never heard it until the day before yesterday, and I worried that something was wrong with my car. I think that's rational, isn't it?

My co-workers kid me about my car - it goes back to 2011 when I bought a Volt. I'm the only one at the office who is an electric car fan, so I get ribbed alot.

I already feel alot better now that you and several others report your cars do the same thing. That tells me its not a big deal, most likely. I hope Tesla does tell me a little about what it is, and officially confirms its a non-issue though.
 
Last edited:
And be aware, it does seem to change over time. It may change in pitch, volume, and even when it happens to kick in. I'm not sure if the changes are as things break in or related to external temperature or something else.

If it gets obnoxiously loud or happens continuously (rather than just when flooring it), definitely let Tesla know, but as long as it stays in the "balloon squeal" realm then it's normal.
 
This is what was printed on the service invoice about the noise:
"Under hard acceleration, the main contactors inside the HV battery might vibrate as large amounts of current flow from the battery to the motor. These vibrations might result in a squealing sound. Depending on ambient temperature and the age of the battery, these vibrations might happen at different power levels over time. Both the vibrations and the squealing sound have been validated by Tesla Motors to be normal characteristics of operation, and do not indicate any kind of fault, problem, or defect in the safe and reliable operation of the Model S power train. The system is operating as expected, and no repairs are necessary."