One of Elon Musk’s design principles is to make products that people love and are passionate about. If you talk to any Tesla owner, Musk has clearly succeeded at this, and with the 2021 Holiday Software Update he has taken what was considered by many an annoying but mandated feature and made it fun.
The new Tesla Boombox Megaphone feature allows you to use the car’s internal microphone to project your voice to nearby pedestrians through the external speaker.
Unfortunately the feature only works when the car is parked, but there will still be lots of creative opportunities to scare strangers and your loved ones.
In late 2019 Tesla began adding an external speaker to be used as a Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) due to new regulations for electric vehicles (EVs). The speaker would play a humming sound at low speeds to let pedestrians know you are approaching.
Many owners preferred the silence of their Tesla, and actively looked for ways to disconnect the speaker. They are probably trying to reconnect it right now.
This isn’t the first time Tesla has used the PWS for fun. Earlier this year they released the ability to use your mobile device to project your voice with Sentry Mode Live Camera Access.
NEW Tesla Megaphone feature. This is crazy! These cars haha… pic.twitter.com/OB8oI3wwhH
— Ryan Shaw (@ryanshawtech) December 24, 2021
Talk through your Tesla with Boombox Megaphone 📢 pic.twitter.com/8xMO2bHP7L
— Tesla (@Tesla) December 24, 2021
