Tesla may be working on a ‘dog mode’ to help let people know that pets in one of its cars are safe.
The suggestion for the feature came from Twitter user Josh Atchley (@nynex), who responded to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s tweet about a more affordable Model 3.
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2018
Atchley asked if Musk could create a ‘dog mode’ that plays music and runs the AC so it doesn’t get too hot. Additionally, Atchley suggested adding a message to the Model 3’s dashboard display that says “I’m fine, my owner will be right back.”
Musk responded to the tweet with a simple “Yes.”
Another user inquired about displaying the car’s internal temperature on the display as well, to which Musk replied “Exactly.”
Exactly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2018
It’s worth noting that Tesla added a ‘Cabin Overheat Protection’ feature in 2016 specifically to protect children and pets.
Likely this ‘dog mode’ will be a pet-centered extension of the existing Cabin Overheat Protection designed to assuage fears of passers-by.
Often, people who see a pet in a car on a hot day will work to rescue it. This could let people know everything is okay.
However, it could cause more confusion as the ability to maintain a specific cabin temperature even when the engine isn’t running is unique to electric vehicles. Until they’re more commonplace, people may not understand how the pet is safe.
Musk went on to acknowledge some other upcoming features on Twitter as well. The CEO suggested there could be a leaderboard for the built-in Atari games. He also hinted at support for using your smartphone as a controller.
Overall, it’s fantastic to see Tesla working to develop intelligent, useful features like this — and fun features like phone-as-a-controller support.
Part of what makes Tesla vehicles so compelling is that they continue to improve through tasteful software upgrades like this.
