New Tesla voice command will let your car fart

By Clint Payne
Tesla's Emissions Testing Mode
Tesla's Emissions Testing Mode

Coming soon to all Tesla models equipped with an external speaker is a new feature that will allow your car to make loud farting sounds outside the vehicle. This new feature addition has been confirmed by Elon’s recent tweet earlier in March.

According to Elon's tweet, the fart sound, which is currently a feature within Tesla’s Toybox, will require you to say “Fart in their general direction.”

Emissions Toybox feature

Currently, the Toybox feature is housed within the Entertainment section of the car's infotainment system.

One of the features available in the Toybox is Emissions Testing Mode. It lets the car play random fart noises through its speakers.

You can choose which individual speaker the sound comes from, giving the impression that the fart sound is coming from a specific individual or seat.

You can also have your car do things like play the Holiday Show, switch on Mars Mode, which puts the vehicle in a Martian landscape, and even turn on Romance Mode, which allows you to cozy up with your loved ones by the virtual fireplace.

How does Tesla play sounds on the exterior of the vehicle?

With Tesla continuing to enhance the entertainment features of the vehicle, the new fart feature will utilize the vehicles Pedestrian Warning System (PWS), which plays media externally on cars. When Tesla first started including the PWS speaker in cars back in 2019, it was only designed to play a low humming sound while at low speeds when either in drive or reverse. It was added to cars to comply with US regulations.

With this new feature, Tesla likely will also let the sound play on the internal speakers if your vehicle is not equipped with a PWS.

Voice Commands

Tesla has added various voice commands to enhance the driver’s experience, but this will be one of the few voice commands that are Toybox specific. Another popular voice command tied to a Toybox feature is "Enable Santa Mode, " which will start Santa Mode.

Most Tesla owners take advantage of the Climate Control voice commands and the media commands while driving, but we also have our list of the top five voice commands, or you can choose to view all the available voice commands.

Will this be allowed while in drive?

No. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA), Tesla faced a software-based recall that Elon Musk blames the “fun police.” The NHSTA is unhappy that Tesla allowed drivers to play sounds like a fart noise on an external speaker. Federal officials said it’s a huge safety issue for pedestrians who might not interpret those “fun” sounds as a proper warning system or alert to pedestrians.

Tesla has since released a firmware update to disable the Boombox feature while driving. As of update 2022.8, you can no longer use Boombox while in drive if you're in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

When this feature is released, it’ll be a great addition to the Emissions Toybox feature and, most importantly, make owning a Tesla even more entertaining. Stay tuned for the new fart feature in an upcoming update.

Giga Small Haus - A Demo Home Powered by Solar and Powerwall 3

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla recently showed off Giga Small Haus, an interesting new display project hosted at Giga Berlin. The small new house is located just outside the main entrance of Tesla’s Giga Berlin factory, with a Quicksilver Model Y parked inside.

Giga Small Haus is powered only by solar and Powerwall 3 - disconnected from the local grid and from Giga Berlin itself. It serves as a live demonstration of Tesla Solar and Tesla’s Powerwall battery backup.

Giga Small Haus

The centerpiece of the display is a Model Y in Quicksilver - a beautiful pick for a beautifully lit house. However, that’s not the real focus here - it's the Powerwall and Gateway on the wall.

The Powerwall is the focus of Giga Small Haus, and there’s a display with some additional information on the wall. Part of the display also includes a screen that displays the current output of the Powerwall itself versus the consumption of Giga Small Haus, as well as the input from solar.

The interior exhibit of Giga Small Haus
The interior exhibit of Giga Small Haus
Not a Tesla App

The text on the exhibit is divided into several sections. Here’s a translated and edited version of what we can see from Tesla’s images. Some additional text is obscured. If someone visits Giga Small Haus, let us know.

Powerwall

Powerwall is a home battery system that stores energy from solar panels, the electrical grid, or during off-peak hours and powers your home during the day or during a power outage. 

With Powerwall, you can use self-generated solar energy during the day and night, thus avoiding high electricity costs. You can also store excess energy produced during sunny periods for use during times of low production or power outages.

Key Features

Energy Storage: Powerwall stores excess energy from solar panels or the grid for later use or during power outages.

Backup Power: In the event of a power outage, Powerwall automatically switches to battery power to ensure continuous power supply.

Integration: Powerwall can be seamlessly integrated with existing solar systems and other power sources.

Scalability: Multiple Powerwalls can be installed to meet higher energy storage needs.

Smart Energy Management: Powerwall works with Tesla's software to optimize energy consumption and reduce costs.

How Powerwall Works

Storage: During the day, when solar panels produce more energy than needed, the excess is stored in Powerwall.

Usage: At night or during times of low solar production, the stored energy is used to power the home, reducing reliance on the grid.

Backup: During a power outage, Powerwall automatically provides power to critical circuits, ensuring continuous operation of essential appliances.

Benefits

Cost Savings: By storing and using solar energy, you can reduce your electricity bills.

Reliability: Provides backup power during outages, ensuring your home remains powered.

Sustainability: Promotes the use of renewable energy by storing excess solar production for later use.

Overall, Giga Small Haus is an interesting real-life demo of what Powerwall and Solar can accomplish. It would be neat if Tesla built more of these displays - perhaps near major Delivery and Service Centers and at Giga Texas, Fremont, Giga Shanghai, and other facilities. Many Tesla owners have yet to learn about and experience some of Tesla’s Energy products.

Tesla Adds Acceleration Boost Option for 2024 Model 3

By Karan Singh
Not a Tesla App

Tesla has added the Acceleration Boost option to the Tesla store for owners of the 2024 Model 3 Long Range - specifically owners in Australia and China. Acceleration Boost is an upgrade that provides a significant performance boost, drastically narrowing the performance gap between the Long Range and Performance versions of the same model.

This upgrade will likely become available in Europe, Canada, and the United States in the next few days as Tesla updates its shops globally.

Acceleration Boost

This new Acceleration Boost is retailing for $3,000 AUD, or approximately $2,000 USD. That’s the same price for current owners of older Model 3 or Model Y Long Range vehicles, which all have the option to purchase Acceleration Boost through the shop.

The boost provides improved 0-100km/h (0-60mph) performance, bumping the 2024 Model 3 LR from 4.4s to 3.8s. The 2024 Performance version comes in at a blazing fast 2.9 seconds, so while it isn’t equivalent to just buying a performance variant in the first place, it is still a noticeable and significant upgrade.

Performance variants also come with a different front fascia vent for cooling, performance drive units, sport seats, adaptive suspension, 20-inch wheels, and Track Mode V3. That’s a significant number of additional features in the $10,000 USD price difference between the Long Range and Performance versions.

Should You Buy It?

If you’ve purchased a Long Range model and are itching to go just that little bit faster at every red light, this is the upgrade for you. It previously came with the cost of slightly reducing vehicle range, but the Tesla store doesn’t make a note of reduced range this time around. The 2023 Model 3 and Model Y Long Range models had an efficiency loss of about 5% due to the additional always-available acceleration and cooling. 

You could drive in Chill mode to mostly negate that efficiency loss, but what’s the fun in driving in Chill when you just got Acceleration Boost? Anyhow, the shop listing for the 2024 variant doesn’t include this detail, so it's possible Tesla may have worked some more engineering magic.

Overall, if you’ve got the $3,000 AUD burning a hole in your pocket, some Tesla referral credits sitting around, or just want to go faster, it's definitely an upgrade many users find valuable.

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