Your Tesla can now fart like horn other drivers and pedestrians on the road / sidewalk with a new “Boombox” feature. It can also make sounds like a baaing goat, applause, “La Cucaracha” and a number of others. The list is pretty endless, as in addition to the preloaded default sounds, Tesla allows you to upload up to five custom sounds into the system. Knowing how mature and courteous we humans are (read: sarcasm), this can only end well.
How, you ask? Tesla uses the external speaker mounted on the front of the car, which is normally used to make a buzzing sound to warn pedestrians that a vehicle is nearby. Most EVs emit a space-like buzz or low-frequency sound at low speeds, but Tesla is the first automaker to apply extracurricular sounds to this piece. Tesla started installing these speakers on its cars sometime in 2019, so you’ll need a newer Tesla to take advantage of this update.
Tesla owners can activate their favorite sounds by simply pressing the horn once they have set it up in the car’s infotainment system. It makes these sounds through the horn press when you are stationary, but for safety, sounds the traditional horn while driving. After all, farting at a semi-truck entering your lane on the highway probably won’t do much.
Anyone walking by the side of the road or passing a stopped Tesla will be subject to the whimsy the driver decides to cook. There is also a mode you can select to play a sound continuously while driving. For example, you could play the sound of the ice cream truck through the speaker while driving through a neighborhood. And if you are parked at a tailgate, you play music through the speaker with your media player in the car. The possibilities are frighteningly endless, and we’re sure Tesla owners will explore them.
Federal regulations surrounding the use of car horns are shockingly light for a safety feature. There is no federal requirement for a horn or horn sound, although the placement of the horn button is regulated – it must be indicated with a clear symbol / mark if not activated by pressing the handlebars. It gets darker with state laws that differ from state to state. The best collection of state horn laws can be found on this site that aims to help people find out if their train horns are legal or not. You will probably want to know what the current law is in your state before driving around with a modified sound from your Tesla.
This update also comes with a number of other features photographed by Teslarati. They include improvements to the driving visualizer, cab pre-conditioning when unplugged, improvements to the Supercharger display and new games. The new games include The Battle of Polytopia, Cat Quest and Solitaire.
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