Secret Tesla ‘Elon Mode’ Uncovered By Hacker Enables Nag-Free Driving
Tesla is known for having tons of hidden features, including a Mario Bros ‘Rainbow Road’ easter egg, the ability to change the GPS map into one of Mars, or even a ‘Ludicrous’ mode that offers short-term performance boosts.
Now, a software hacker known as @greentheonly on Twitter has uncovered yet another secret—and this time, it’s a feature known as ‘Elon Mode’. The engineer found this feature after years of digging into the depths of the automaker’s codes.
because of FSD foolishness).
— green (@greentheonly) June 17, 2023
So I was more tolerant towards the constant flow of cars passing me on the right and merging in front of me.
It also helped that I did not need to watch for the dreaded nag.
Overall I spent a bunch of time thinking about it and came up with this: pic.twitter.com/TaPQgClRa9
When switched on, though the hacker didn’t specify how the function was activated, it appears the car’s driver-assist system started running without requiring any attention from the driver.
In short, the special AP was described as a “mode where there are no nags.” The engineer reported that the braking was “less intense,” and there were probably “some other changes under the hood” that has yet to be fully explored.
driving style. This also explains the barrage of people that claim the car works very good and they are happy - perhaps they like to drive slow, content with random lane changes and such.
— green (@greentheonly) June 17, 2023
If I was just reading some book/website - I'd not notice.
Although the hands-off drive took longer than it would with a fully-attentive driver, Green said that it allowed him to be more tolerant of the flow of cars passing and merging in front of the vehicle as he did not need to look out for the “dreaded nag.”
However, the hacker noted that the car still made “unnecessary lane changes” that could possibly attract road rage from other drivers on the road. Potholes and road debris could also be a problem, though Tesla is currently working on a solution.
And also when you kill one AP node, you retain some viz now, so now you can actually see which node does what.
— green (@greentheonly) June 17, 2023
Node A does road layout/signs
Node B does moving object detection as they still display with A dead.
Also viz dies at times so you get AP functionality, but empty viz pic.twitter.com/Ldfi7cCPWh
[via NDTV and CleanTechnica, cover image via Boggy | Dreamstime.com]
