Elon Musk’s Twitter feed is a bit of a lottery these days. When he isn’t announcing exciting SpaceX and Tesla news, he’s throwing damaging and unfounded allegations at a guy who helped rescue children from certain death.
Thankfully, today’s tweets fit the former category, with the announcement of a new “party and camper” mode for his fleet of Tesla electric vehicles.
In a tweet, Musk said the feature is coming to the Model S, Model 3 and Model X cars soon and will enable drivers to maintain air flow, temperature and some lights. They’ll also be able to play music and power devices like smartphones (or even kettles) for more than two days while the car is parked.
As Musk points out with his “big batteries rock” tweet, Tesla cars offer battery lives that can be sustained for up to 300 miles, and some of that is available for use while the car isn’t moving.
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We could imagine this being useful if Tesla drivers are parking up somewhere for a shindig, want to play music and illuminate the scene without completely draining their battery when miles from a charging station. It could also be handy while tailgating sporting events, for example.
We’re adding a “party & camper mode” soon to S/3/X, so your car can maintain air flow, temp, selective lights, music & power devices for 48 hours or more while parked. Big batteries rock …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 31, 2018
If Tesla divers have had a few too many beverages to drive home, they’ll be able to set up camp in the car and still experience some of the joys of temperature control and airflow. Hopefully this new mode can be customised sufficiently, depending on whether you actually need the lights and HVAC systems.
This appears to be an official version of the unauthorised third-party Camp Mode application, which optimises the cars systems to aid sleep (via Bloomberg). The tool, which effectively tricks the car into keeping some systems operational, was built as Tesla drivers began using all of that back seat and boot space as a makeshift bed, accentuated by those lovely panoramic moon roofs.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
