TeslaLighting

Tesla Model S License Plate LED Swap: 5-Minute DIY

Replace the yellowish halogen license plate bulbs on a Tesla Model S with bright LEDs: two Phillips screws (or go in from the trunk), swap the bulb, and test before you fully tighten.

Replace the yellowish halogen license plate bulbs on a Tesla Model S with bright LEDs: two Phillips screws (or go in from the trunk), swap the bulb, and test before you fully tighten. This 4 min guide covers the License plate light bulbs on the Tesla Model S (John's car came with halogen bulbs) with tools, parts links and the.

Overview

John was surprised his Tesla Model S came with halogen license plate bulbs, which have a dim, yellowish color. Swapping them for LEDs is easy. All you need is a Phillips screwdriver: remove the screws on the light housing from outside, or open the trunk if you don't have enough clearance. Pull the light, take off the clear shroud, swap in the LED bulb and push the housing back in. Leave it loosely in place first and check that it turns on, since LEDs can be polarity-sensitive. Then screw it in. With the new LED on the left and the stock halogen on the right, the difference is huge: the LED is far brighter and diffuses more evenly across the plate.

Vehicle & fitment

Product
LED license plate bulbs (festoon-style replacement for the halogen bulbs)
Shown on
Tesla Model S (John's car)

Always confirm fitment for your exact year and trim with the seller before buying.

Tools & parts

Tools

  • Phillips screwdriver

Parts

  • LED license plate bulbs (pair)

Step by step

  1. 1

    Why swap▶ 0:00

    The Model S came with halogen license plate bulbs, which give a dim, yellowish light.

  2. 2

    Stock look▶ 0:23

    With the parking lights on, you can see the halogen color.

  3. 3

    Remove the housing▶ 0:35

    Undo the screws with a Phillips screwdriver. If there isn't enough clearance, open the trunk and work from there.

  4. 4

    Swap the bulb▶ 1:12

    Take off the clear shroud, put the LED in and seat it.

  5. 5

    Test before tightening▶ 1:56

    Push the housing back in loosely and turn the lights on to make sure the LED works before screwing it in.

    Tip: If an LED doesn't light, flip it around. Many are polarity-sensitive.

  6. 6

    Compare▶ 2:12

    The LED (left) is far brighter than the stock halogen (right) and diffuses more evenly across the plate.

Wiring notes

FAQ

What vehicle does this install fit?

It is shown for the License plate light bulbs on the Tesla Model S (John's car came with halogen bulbs). Check the bulb type in your car before ordering; the listing comes in several sizes and colors Always confirm your exact year, trim and factory audio with the seller.

How long does the install take?

John's full video is 4 min. Plan on that much time for a careful DIY install, plus extra if you are new to dash work.

What tools do I need?

Tools called out in the guide: Phillips screwdriver.

Where do I get the parts?

Use the buy links on this page for the unit and any harnesses John used. Some links are affiliate links.

Is this beginner-friendly?

The guide breaks the job into 6 steps with timestamps into the video. If you can remove trim panels carefully, you can follow along.

Full transcript

Show the full transcript (42 lines) +

0:00Oh, it's lame. Now these are the lights I'm going to be installing on my Tesla because for some reason

0:06they decided

0:17Oh you want some of this back of the car let me turn on...

0:23the parking lights hopefully they stay on and kind of how it looks you can kind of see it

0:31That's pretty easy to install you can either just do it right here. There's some bolts

0:37Use a Phillips head all you need is a Phillips

0:41But if you don't have enough clearance you can also

0:45Open your trunk

0:47All right, so once you have those two screws

1:03It is hot so good thing we turn it off

1:06And you can see that housing. It's pretty basic

1:10You have this clear a shroud

1:14And then you have the bulb and then there's two prongs that kind of hook it up to there and pretty simple

1:21So we're just gonna swap in the new

1:25but it does hold in place and the main clamping force is going to be the

1:32Not this part. It's kind of holds into place, but it's going to be the

1:37Actual trunks that hold it and you can see the two prongs. That's what's gonna power it

1:41I'm gonna give it most inhabits hold

1:44So I'm just gonna set it. I

1:46Might just push it in here

1:51There you go, then you want to angle it depending on how you would like to see it

1:56Now you can pop this bad boy back in

1:59I'm gonna have it loosely in so he has a diffusion

2:00so it has that diffusion, but not fully screw it in because I want

2:04to make sure it turns on.

2:12Oh jeez it is significantly brighter.

2:22Alright so I'm going to show you the difference between the new LED which is on the left side

2:26and then.

2:27And the stock halogen bulb, I can't believe they even came with this but uh yeah.

2:36And you can the can tell right off the bat it isn't even close of course this, I have a

2:40paper plot thing right now so it is kind of not exactly flat but it's basically

2:47the same on this side it's not

2:56not flat but you can see the amount of what's really nice is it diffuses nicer so I guess I'm not sure why the halogen it just isn't

2:59diffusing as nice and there you guys have it so we had these LEDs installed if

3:02you guys were looking to get some LEDs or if this was helpful for you I'll put

3:07down in the links description where you can find these LEDs. They're really nice

3:11and they're very very bright. So if you're looking for bright LEDs this is blinding

3:17me right now. Other than that I also have my referral code so if you guys have

3:22you know I've just kind of helped you out finding your Teslas and you're

3:24modifying it and blah blah blah blah. Hit that referral and get me and you

3:29some free supercharging.

3:37Thank you for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.

Machine-transcribed from the full-length video and lightly cleaned (product names fixed). Watch the video for exact wording.

Next step

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