Your Tesla can now fart at other drivers and pedestrians on the road/sidewalk as its horn 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 rather endless, because in addition to the pre-loaded standard 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 could only end well.
How, you ask? Tesla is utilizing the external speaker mounted toward the front of the car that is normally used to emit a humming sound to alert pedestrians that a vehicle is nearby. Most EVs emit a space-like whir or low frequency sound at low speeds, but Tesla is the first automaker to apply extracurricular noises to this piece. Tesla began to install these speakers on its cars at some point in 2019, so you’ll need a newer Tesla to take advantage of this update.
Tesla owners will be able to activate their noises of choice by simply pressing the horn once they set it up in the car’s infotainment system. It’ll make these noises via the horn press when you’re at a standstill, but will sound the traditional horn when moving, for safety’s sake. After all, farting at a semi-truck moving into your lane on the highway probably won’t do much of anything.
Anybody on the side of the road or walking along near a stopped Tesla will be subject to whatever whimsy the driver decides to cook up. There is a mode you can select for continuous playing of a sound while driving, too. For example, you could play the ice cream truck sound via the speaker while driving through a neighborhood. And if you’re parked at a tailgate, you can play music via the speaker with your in-car media player. The possibilities are frighteningly endless, and we’re sure Tesla owners will explore them.
Federal regulation surrounding horn use in passenger cars is shockingly light for a safety feature. There’s no federal requirement for a horn or horn sound, though the placement of the horn button is regulated — it must be designated with a clear symbol/marking if it’s not activated by pressing the steering wheel. Things get murkier with state laws that vary state-to-state. The best collection of state horn laws can be found in this site dedicated to helping folks figure out if their train horns are legal or not. You’ll likely want to check out what the current law is in your state before you go driving around blasting a custom sound from your Tesla.
This update comes with a number of other features, too, photographed by Teslarati. They include improvements to the driving visualizer, cabin preconditioning when unplugged, Supercharger display enhancements and new games. The new games include The Battle of Polytopia, Cat Quest and Solitaire.
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