Most cars don’t have fancy software, but when it comes to Tesla’s this is the norm, with their cars getting several updates each year which continue to add new features and improve the car over time. Sometimes Tesla even throw in some fun features called Easter eggs.
In this article we list all the Tesla Easter Eggs discovered to date.
Model Xmas \ Model X Light Show \ Model X Dance
Your Model X will perform a light show using the headlights, fog lights and turn signals. Music will play loudly, more specifically, Wizards in Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The front doors and the falcon wing back doors will open and close in time with the music, without assistance. The side mirrors will also retract in time with the music.
How To Activate:
Press the Tesla “T” icon at the top of the touchscreen for 5 seconds. When a single water ripple away from the center of the “T” icon appears you can let go.
A text box appears, entering the word “ModelXmas” or the word “Holiday” and press “OK”.
A message will appear with the following instructions;
“The show will begin after you exit the car, close all doors and press the lock button on the key. The show requires 6 feet of space above and around the vehicle.”
Mario Kart Rainbow Road and Don’t Fear the Reaper/More Cowbell
The road on the touchscreen will change into a rainbow road like that seen the Mario Kart video games.
At the same time, the song (Don’t Fear)The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult plays. The version of the song that plays is taken from the Saturday Night Live skit, More Cowbell, in which music producer “The Bruce Dickinson”, encourages Gene Frenkle, played by Will Ferrell, to play his instrument, the cowbell, with zeal.
How To Activate: With autosteer engaged, push the right stalk behind the steering wheel down completely four times in rapid succession.
Rainbow Chargeport Light
This the most colourful of all the Tesla Easter Eggs!. The charge port light will cycle through all of the colours of the rainbow while the car is charging.
How To Activate: Plug in your Tesla, push the charge port control button on the charger handle 10 times quickly.
Mars, Mars Rover and Starship
The map on the screen changes from the surface of the Earth to the surface of Mars the surface of Mars.
The arrow representing your vehicle on the GPS map is replaced by a depiction of a Mars rover.
The surface moves and turns as your car travels.
The “About Your Tesla” menu, accessed by pressing the Tesla “T” icon at the top left of the touchscreen changes to the SpaceX Interplanetary Spaceship design.
How To Activate: Press the Tesla “T” icon at the top of the touchscreen for 5 seconds. When a single water ripple away from the center of the “T” icon appears you can let go.
A text box appears, entering the word “Mars” and pressing “OK”. You have now activated the Mars, Mars Rover and Starship Easter egg.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The name of the car is changed to “Life, the Universe, and Everything”. This is a nod to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where the number 42 is determined to be the “Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything”.
How To Activate: Set the name of your Tesla as the number 42 and press “Save”. You have now activated The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Easter egg.
Monty Python
The Foot of Cupid will immediately slide down from, the top of the screen. The foot is accompanied by the sound of flatulence. The foot will then disappear.
When you next open Theatre Mode, a new Monty Python option will appear. This takes you directly to the Monty Python YouTube channel.
How To Activate: Rename you Tesla to “Patsy”, “Rabbit of Caerbannog”, “Mr. Creosote”, “Biggus Dickus” or “Unladen Swallow” and press “Save”.
Santa Mode
Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry or Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer will play inside of the vehicle.
A snow effect shows in the screen.
When in park the image of the car is replaced by Santa Claus on his sleigh.
The turn signal sounds changes to the sound of Sleigh bells.
How To Activate: Use the Voice command “Ho Ho Ho” for Run Rudolph Run or “Ho Ho Ho Not Funny”for Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.
Back to the Future Mode
This Easter egg occur only works in the Tesla mobile app.
Once activated, a pop-up message displays “Time Circuits Off” and “Be sure to reset your clock to account for temporal displacement”.
Vehicle Name becomes “OUTATIME”.
Charging scheduled changes to “Time Circuits On”.
“121 miles” changes to “1.21 GW”.
The “Charging” tab changes to “Fuel Chamber” with “Current Output: 300R” listed below. Whilst it hasn’t been confirmed, this is believed to refer to the number of Back to the Future replica cars being made each year by DeLorean Motor Company.
Vehicle Location is set to “1600 S Azusa Ave Rowland Heights”, one of the filming locations of the BTTF movies.
A Service Appointment appears to be scheduled for November 5, 1955,
How To Activate: With the vehicle at exactly 121 miles (or 121 km) of range, touch the battery icon inside the Tesla mobile app to launch the Easter egg.
James Bond – Lotus Esprit submarine
Only applies to Model S and Model X
In the controls menu, under the suspension tab, the image of your Tesla is replaced by the submarine version of the Lotus Esprit that James Bond drove in the movie The Spy Who Loved Me.
A new “Depth (Leagues)” drop down menu appears next to the Esprit. The air suspension will raise and lower depending on the selected depth.
How To Activate: Press the Tesla “T” icon at the top of the touchscreen for 5 seconds. When a single water ripple away from the center of the “T” icon appears you can let go.
A text box appears, entering the text “007” and press “OK”. The Lotus Esprit submarine Easter egg is now active.
Activating the Easter egg a second time will result in the submarine fins being replaced by wheels.
Sketchpad
Allows you to draw or sketch on the touchscreen and submit your masterpiece to Tesla. When the “submit” button is pressed, a prompt will appear asking “Are you sure you want Tesla to critique your artistic masterpiece?” As a nod to The Matrix, a metaphorical Red pill and blue pill option is given in the form of two buttons at the bottom of the same text box. The blue button reads “No, the world isn’t ready for my art” while the Red button states “Yes, I am an artist!”
In the past, Elon Musk has featured sketchpad submissions on his Twitter feed and has suggested that the sketchpad may support animation in a future update.
How To Activate: In the Easter Egg Drawer, which appears automatically shortly after the “About Your Tesla” menu is accessed, tap the drawing of Starman in space, this is the SketchPad icon.
Performance Mode
Only applies to Model S and Model X Vehicles
Activation: A prolonged (5 second) press of the Tesla “T” icon at the top of the touchscreen display results in a graphic which appears as a single water ripple away from the center of the “T” icon. Once the “T” is released, a text box is revealed along with a keyboard for entering text. The text box says “please enter access code” with a text entry field below and button options “OK” and “Cancel” below that. This text box is mainly used by service centers and showrooms for purposes such as service mode and showroom mode, but does also allow access to certain Easter eggs. Entering the word “Performance” and pressing “OK” will activate the Performance Mode Easter egg.
Description: A drop-down menu is added to the “About Your Tesla” menu, which allows one to choose any version of the car that has ever been made. It is unclear if the Performance Mode Easter egg changes the car’s behaviour or display in any way beyond the menu itself. The “About your Tesla” menu can be accessed by tapping the Tesla “T” at the top of the touchscreen display.
Spaceballs and Ludicrous+
Only applies to Model S and Model X Vehicles. Vehicle must have the ludicrous mode option.
The screen will go black for a short time. A star field will swiftly appear and zoom forward, resembling a jump to ludicrous speed from the movie Spaceballs.
Ludicrous+ was added in a later software update. The star field zooms forward in the same way as the original Spaceballs easter egg, the screen then turns white and a prompt appears with the following text “Are you sure you want to push the limits? This will cause accelerated wear of the motor, gearbox and battery”.
As a nod to The Matrix, a Red pill and Blue pill option is given. The blue button reads “No, I want my Mommy” while a red button reads “Yes, bring it on!”.
Upon choosing “Yes, bring it on!” the car will prepare itself by heating the battery to the optimal temperature. The display in front of the driver changes to give a purple indicator for battery temperature, to show the front and rear motors on the car graphic, and to give a table with values including peak longitudinal acceleration.
How To Activate: In the controls menu, switch the software-controlled acceleration from “sport” to “ludicrous” and then tap and hold on the “ludicrous” text for 5 seconds.
Rick and Morty – Sentry Mode Activation
Using the voice commands “Keep Tesla Safe” or “Keep Summer Safe” enables sentry mode.
These voice commands are a nod to a scene from Rick and Morty Season 2 Episode 6 – The Ricks Must Be Crazy. In the scene Rick instructs his vehicle to keep Morty’s sister, Summer, safe while Rick and Morty venture into Rick’s microverse car battery.
Elon Musk notably wore a Butterbot T-shirt to the 2018 Tesla Annual Shareholder’s Meeting indicating his interest in the show.
How To Activate: Voice command “Keep Tesla Safe” or “Keep Summer Safe”
Spinal Tap
Only applies to Model S and Model X Vehicles
This is one of the most basic Tesla Easter Eggs and doesn’t require any special tricks. As a nod to the movie This is Spinal Tap, the volume settings go up to 11.
Cybertruck in Camp Mode screensaver
When camp mode is enabled for more than 10 minutes an animated screensaver of a campground appears on the screen. Several months after the release of camp mode, a partly obscured Cybertruck was noticed in the background.
How To Activate: Enable “Camp Mode” in climate control settings. After 10 minutes the Camp Mode animated screensaver will appear. You can see the Tesla Cybertruck in the background of the animation.
Marilyn Monroe Happy Birthday Mode
Description: On March 7, 2018, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk stated on twitter that the Model X would “Do a cover of Happy Birthday by Marilyn Monroe”. Unfortunately this has never made it into the list of Easter eggs in any of Tesla’s vehicles, or it has at least not be discovered yet! We still hope to see this one sometime in the future.
We love all of these Tesla Easter Eggs and are glad that a car company can add some fun to it’s vehicles. We think these are great fun for both adults and children alike and are always a talking point. The Model Xmas is probably my favourite but the whoopee cushion always makes the kids laugh!
What is your favourite and which one do you get asked about most?
