Elon Musk Just Hid a New Easter Egg in Tesla's Latest Software Update
Tesla often hides surprises-or Easter eggs-when it releases a new software update for its Model S and Model X vehicles. The latest, shared by CEO Elon Musk via Twitter, allows Tesla owners to turn their vehicle’s touchscreen into a sketchpad.
Once owners download the 8.1 software version, they can try out the new feature, which is enabled by double tapping the “T” on the vehicle’s center screen. The touchscreen-normally where the entire infotainment, including navigation and climate controls are displayed-turns white. A marker, pen, or eraser can be chosen as well as a color wheel to create a drawing. Users can also control the size of the drawing implement.
Once the drawing is complete, users can hit a publish button and are asked a question: “Are you sure want Tesla to critique your artistic masterpiece?” Users then hit one of two buttons: “Yes, I’m an Artist!” or “No, the world isn’t ready for my art.”
Musk shared his creations, which he posted on Twitter Wednesday evening. One drawing shows what magical resource might be powering Tesla vehicles-at least in Musk’s imagination; the other depicts Mona Lisa.
Made today on Tesla sketch pad pic.twitter.com/Z8dFP2NN41
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 30, 2017
Tesla began rolling out its latest software update on Wednesday to vehicles in North America. The update provided some improvements to older Tesla vehicles, a standard practice of the company. However, the bigger, or more anticipated release, was new Autopilot 8.1 software, an update that delivers new semi-autonomous driving capabilities to Model S and Model X vehicles built since October 2016, when Tesla started producing electric vehicles with a more robust suite of sensors, radar, and cameras called Hardware 2. The Easter egg was contained in the 8.1 software.
For more on Tesla, watch Fortune’s video:
The Autopilot software in Tesla’s Hardware 2-equipped vehicles will eventually-once it’s been properly vetted and meets regulatory approval-allow the cars to drive autonomously without human intervention.
