Tesla Update Turns Cars into Boomboxes, Adds Three In-Car Videogames and Customizable Honking (electrek.co) 83
Engadget reports:
Electrek notes that Tesla has released its promised holiday update, and the centerpiece appears to be a Boombox mode that pumps media outside as long as you have a recent-enough EV with a pedestrian speaker system, like later Model 3 production runs...
Other updates include a smarter Scheduled Departure that preconditions the battery and cabin without plugging in, larger driving visualizations (helpful for Autopilot) and at-a-glance views of the number of open stalls at Superchargers.
Electrek's report highlights some additional features: Earlier this week, we reported that it included 3 new in-car video games, but we now have the full release notes with all the details... "You can also customize the sound that your car makes when you press the horn, drive the car or when your car is moving with Summon. Select an option from the dropdown menu or insert your own USB device and save up to five custom sounds."
Other updates include a smarter Scheduled Departure that preconditions the battery and cabin without plugging in, larger driving visualizations (helpful for Autopilot) and at-a-glance views of the number of open stalls at Superchargers.
Electrek's report highlights some additional features: Earlier this week, we reported that it included 3 new in-car video games, but we now have the full release notes with all the details... "You can also customize the sound that your car makes when you press the horn, drive the car or when your car is moving with Summon. Select an option from the dropdown menu or insert your own USB device and save up to five custom sounds."
Comments on Driving (Score:5, Funny)
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Or just a few macro buttons.
"Think about how that horn will sound after it's been shoved 5 feet upstream from your descending colon"
"Get out of the left lane if you're not going to pass"
"Think about what kind of reception you'll get with that cell phone after it's been shoved 5 feet upstream from your descending colon"
"If you don't want a [gun | abortion | crooked politician], don't ask for one"
"Try the pedal on the right, see if that does anything"
"Your honor student blew half the starting lineup last nigh
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Several of those deserve funny mods. Sorry, can't help.
Re: Comments on Driving (Score:1)
Next up: Death sentence for distractING driving. ;)
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But can it change the sound played when moving to the clip-clop of a horse pulling a carriage? A team of horses?
Or how about the whine of a '70s STP racer? (oops, dated myself again . . .)
Ooh, or baseball cards in bicycle spokes . . .
A speedboat?
And will it grow a separate horn button, so that you can have one for safety warnings, and another for illegal expressions of anger?
Re: pumps music outside the car? (Score:2)
Well, regardimg freedom, the rule is simple:
Your freedom ends where my freedom begins.
That applies to speech aswell.
I'd not be free to not listen to that music, if somebody blasted it on the street in front of my home.
It would enter my ears and brain against my will, fire neurons, release chemicals (mostly adrenaline), trigger memories and feelings (mostly those draining into the pain center) and ultimately, actions.
Like, if he's lucky, suing the music blaster. Or, if he's not, making sure he gets real cri
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I doubt you have any good legal stance on such an argument.
The freedom of how much noise someone makes isn't up to you to decide. It is up to the local zoning regulations, in which you can be participants into what would be an acceptable level. I live in a right to farm area, that means my neighbor has a rooster which I hate, but I cannot do anything legally about. They are large truck and I am nearby a train tracks, that also make a lot of noise. People can play music on their property, and that music
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I don't think it does this while it is driving. Only when it is parked. I could see it handy for those who are working in their garage, or at a party.
Being an electric car, such silly features are possible, because of the large battery size, means you can have your infotainment running, without draining that 12 volt battery that you need for important things like starting your car. You could run your ICE car to play the radio, but that is expensive energy, plus you will need to be sure you have enough v
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Oh goody (Score:3)
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Fortunately I think it's illegal here. The horn and pedestrian warning sound are both safety features and are regulated for things like volume.
Re: Oh goody (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, a horn must be recognizable as such.
It's not a ringone. People might die.
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I wasn't thinking ringtone.
I was thinking laser pew pew pew sounds.
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If you're in motion it makes the horn sound then plays the custom. If you're parked it just plays the custom.
Re: Oh goody (Score:1)
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I think it may be different type of horn sounds.
So you might have a Semi-Horn on your Model 3 that would get people attention. Or a tiny car friendly horn on a Cybertruck just to make people unsure what is happening in the world and be a little more alert.
I kinda always wanted horns to have a friendly honk, Like to say, turn on your headlights it is getting dark, or the light just turned green, you are free to go. Then a more aggressive honk, for when someone is about to turn into your lane, or is doing
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I question your legal chops.
tesla, one of the richest companies around, has lawyers that miss such obvious (to you) requirements?
how much do you charge an hour? asking for a friend.
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Tesla isn't perfect, I don't think the debater was stating that. However Tesla is still working on their reputation to the public, as they are a lot of blind haters, just as they are Elon Fans. They are fighting hard to work around the different states laws, often based on outdated rules meant for ICE cars, and decade old technology. I am fairly sure changes will go threw legal just in case. That is why Autopilot feature, has warning and you need to keep your hand on the wheel, why they bothered with th
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Are you really so fucking stupid you'd trust Tesla's lawyers?
the sound emitted by any horn, other than a reversing alarm or a two-tone horn, fitted to a wheeled vehicle first used on or after 1st August 1973 shall be continuous and uniform and not strident
-- https://www.legislation.gov.uk... [legislation.gov.uk]
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You know Teslas are currently the safest cars on the road. With 5 Star Safety ratings.
However many of these safety rules are out of date, and really shouldn't apply to Electric Cars, or modern Ice Cars. Computers today are actually much more reliable than they were 20 years ago, they are also much cheaper too. So rules on mirrors, can be done with cameras in the US (It is legal in Europe) which also offer many safety benefits, as Mirrors have to be aligned perfectly with the driver, or they get a blind sp
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Some countries even have laws about changing safety features post purchase, only the original horn allowed. As for outside speakers, why build in Tesla customers are annoying arse holes on purpose. You want your cars to be seen and not heard. No wonder Tesla are having reliability problems, not focused on the boring stuff.
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"Some countries even have laws about changing safety features post purchase, only the original horn allowed. "
This is beamed to your car by Tesla, by definition they are ALL original horns.
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2020 What Car? Reliability Survey [whatcar.com]
Most reliable electric cars
1. Tesla Model 3 (2019-present)
Reliability rating 99.4%
What went wrong? Interior trim 5%
Tesla's newest model is not only the most dependable executive car, it's also the highest scoring electric car. Just 5% of cars suffered a fault, according to owners. All cars could still be driven and were fixed in a day or less at no cost to the owners.
Owner’s view "Everything about this car is superb, and I
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Tesla has problems that needs to be addressed. Granted they are a lot of little things, mostly cosmetic. However these are things that really bother customers because many of them are buying a much more expensive car than they are use to, and are expecting to see much more in terms of quality.
Tesla Trick towards keeping their cars popular and profitable. Is making sure it is in the luxury market. Comfortable Seats, a lot of gimmicky features which are rather cheap to produce and add to the car, which Tes
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I always find it amazing how it's people who DON'T have Teslas coming here to tell us how terrible the cars are, to those of us who actually DO own Teslas.
Hint: there's a reason why Tesla always tops consumer satisfaction surveys.
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Electric and hybrid cars are really quite, too quite. Many states and countries required electric and hybrid cars to have audible sounds at low speed.
I have a hybrid older model for this rule. I remember driving on a side road, where kids were playing basketball in the street. I was stopped for about 5 minutes, then when I saw a kid actually face my direction for a spit second, I honked my horn and all the kids were like How the heck did that car get there, it just appeared out of nowhere.
Also every Car
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The features don't exist in the European version of the update. Shame. I was going to drive around with ice cream truck music (with a La Cucaracha horn), dressed as Frank the Bunny and holding an ice cream...
Seriously, though, the outdoor sounds are intended as just a substitute for the legally-mandated low-speed noises required on EVs regardless. And honestly I don't understand why the boombox option would be missing in Europe. That's not for when you're driving, it's for when you're involved in an outd
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The rules in European countries tend to be quite comprehensive and restrictive on this kind of thing. For example no downlights when in motion. Honda was recently unable to have a lit badge on the front due to regs, couldn't even pass it off as daytime running lights.
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As if to remove any doubt that Elon Musk is an alpha douche. [ctvnews.ca]
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Now we get to be subjected to the Ooomph Ooomph coming from the cars of Tesla driving douches.
I know right. I mean previously people had car door and windows that they needed to keep closed which presented an insurmountable hurdle to making noise so no one evar did it. /s
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I had the displeasure of having to listen to a true DB in a Tesla play a bunch of crap. I hope the novelty wears of soon and they stop doing this. Otherwise there will need to be enforcement of laws against amplified sound without a permit.
No hydraulics? (Score:2)
Re: No hydraulics? (Score:1)
Not happy until it contains a toilet, a stove, a shower, a jakuzi, a masturbator, and the obligatory kitchen sink.
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Drop the masturbator, change the jakuzi to a shower and you've just described 99% of camping vans/trucks/trailers.
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So you are waiting for the Cybertruck than?
Where you can add all the to the back.
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Likely Illegal (Score:4, Interesting)
I know most of the states I have lived in forbid all but emergency vehicles to have Public Address capabilities.
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I know most of the states I have lived in forbid all but emergency vehicles to have Public Address capabilities.
It's not a PA system, it's a boom box. Am I splitting hairs? Maybe I secretly am a lawyer because god knows that's what they would do :-)
And in tomorrow's news ... (Score:2)
"A study just released shows that Tesla owners get cited for disturbing the peace more often than other car owners"
All this is going to do give the police a reason pull over Tesla's for tickets/citations that the officers know the driver will probably just pay off. You can argue a speeding ticket, but waking up everyone on your street at 1:00 am is harder to defend.
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This is getting bloody stupid (Score:2, Offtopic)
Basic requirements for a car:-
A wheel at each corner
Something to make it go
Something to make it stop
Something to steer it
Something to light the way in the dark
A transparent screen with something to clear the rain outside and condensation inside.
My 1990 Civic continues to perform all of these functions admirably and reliably, and is thoroughly enjoyable to drive.
There's nothing wrong with owning a battery powered vehicle, but why the hell anybody wants to buy one of these stupid computerised mobile jukeboxes
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
but why the hell anybody wants to buy one of these stupid computerised mobile jukeboxes is way. beyond my comprehension
Millenials.
Re: This is getting bloody stupid (Score:2)
That is a thought-terminating term.
What makes millenials tick the way they do? Especially having the good-bad polarity completely reversed for so many things where their choice is measurably worse. (Like fixie bikes with no brakes, for example.)
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Congratulations on having lived long enough to realize that stupidity and delusions of superiority frequently go hand-in-hand, and are truly trans-generational.
Re: This is getting bloody stupid (Score:2)
Simpler:
A comfy chair and box.
Something to accelerate it in an arbitrary direction (up/down not necessary).
The ability to see in that direction under any condition as clear and fast as your eyes can.
Ideally though, that should be the microkernel of a modular platform with standardized interfaces.
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Have a Snickers
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A wheel at each corner
Nonsense. There have been a number of three-wheeled automobiles over the years, and some [wikipedia.org] of them [wikipedia.org] have four corners.
Anyway, I have more things on my list than you have on yours. Most of them aren't strictly required in order to traverse from one place to another, but they make life more pleasant if you spend much time driving. So, in addition to your requirements:
Something to keep me warm when it's cold outside, and cool when it's hot outside.
Something to play the music I want to listen to.
Something that, on
None of this noise is good idea, should be illegal (Score:2, Flamebait)
None of this is a good idea. Customised horn sounds? So people can use them more to disturb other people more? And have other drivers less able to understand what they mean? Horn sound is something I recognise, star-trek-phaser-sound is not something I think is another car warning me of danger.
Playing music outside the car? So now people can park up and noise-pollute the local area without even having to pay for an aftermarket sound system? Screw that.
Fortunately, the custom horns will be illegal in the UK.
It's literally a joke now. (Score:3, Insightful)
Tesla - Pretend to Save the Environment While Looking Rich [youtube.com]
nails it.
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we'll consider your opinion carefully.
btw, were the grapes really sour?
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It is interesting because this used to be the place where people would complain about their car not getting the software bugs fixed, products they buy being abandoned after they buy it. :/
And now we have a car that gets software updates and new features(some useful features, additions to controls, preferences you can set, and some just for fun) years after you buy it. And people bitch and moan about that.
This seems to have become a place where people come to offload their negativity.
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Or maybe it's about a particular car maker that has bugs to fix that should never have been released in the first place, and that maker introducing new "features" that are completely worthless while parts fly off their cars on their first drive with the maker failing to make progress in improving those critical issues in favor of fart sounds and ring tones, all the while a group of tribal fanboys insisting that no other car company can hope to catch up with their technological lead. What's it's about is wh
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Yes, they did.
milking sheep (Score:3)
Always another reason to buy more crap. Is it a car or a gadget? You can't really be Agent Smart or Pee Wee Herman, but you can be a douche.
Its a wimpy pedestrian warning speaker system (Score:2)
Gotta keep the cult happy (Score:1)
This will make his members (not all Tesla drivers but a good number) very, very happy.
The Messiah is giving them a few crumbs of joy and will make Tesla's even more hated in parts of the USA.
Boom-boxes and customised horns are for those who have to say 'hey look at me. ain't I cool coz I drive a tesla'.
No, you ain't cool you moron. If you thought that Truck's 'coal rolling' you was bad, think again my friends, think again.
Meanwhile, Musk's wealth grows even more obscene each and every day while his cult mem
Meanwhile what I -actually- want is fast forward.. (Score:3)
Meanwhile I get this ridiculous junk.
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Leave my car alone! (Score:2)
Great. Thanks for making your car a security issue, software-wise. Really, games? What did you base the games off of? Will you update the games to keep them safe like the systems I'm working on? Do I need to reboot my car once a week?
Who wants this?
So, tickets out the wazoo? (Score:2)
Given the laws about idiot car alarms going off, this would fall under that. As would disturbing the piece.
As would my 2lb sledge into your hood.