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Key Takeaways

  • Tesla's Easter eggs, like Rainbow Road on the infotainment screen, showcase the company's dedication to fun and unique details in their cars. It's a tribute to Mario Kart that will impress your friends.
  • Back to the Future fans will love the Easter egg that transforms the Tesla app into a homage to the film when the range is exactly 121 miles. The Model X is featured, and the range changes to 1.21 GW.
  • Simple yet enjoyable, the rainbow charge port light Easter egg is a delightful surprise that adds to the amusement of owning a Tesla. Just insert the charging connector and press it several times for a light show.

Tesla is known for making some of the best electric vehicles that you can buy, but the automaker is also notorious for hiding fun Easter eggs in its cars. It's always great to see a company that gives its engineers the freedom to implement awesome little details like these Easter eggs, and Tesla leads the way in this respect.

Let's check out some of the coolest Tesla Easter eggs you'll find in your car!

1. Rainbow Road on Your Infotainment Screen

If you're a Mario Kart nerd, you'll appreciate Tesla's awesome tribute to the game's famous Rainbow Road track. If you're feeling funky and want to go for a spin down Rainbow Road, all you have to do is enable the Autosteer feature and then push the gear stalk down four times in rapid succession. Once you've completed these steps, you'll notice a small Tesla appear on your infotainment screen that is traveling down Rainbow Road instead of the usual plain road.

You'll also be treated to the SNL (Saturday Night Live) version of "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, which is exactly what you need if you can't get enough cowbell. This Easter Egg is sure to impress your friends, especially if they are SNL-loving Mario Kart fans.

2. Back to the Future Theme on the Tesla Mobile App

If you love Back to The Future, you'll enjoy this Easter egg. When your Tesla is showing exactly 121 miles (or kilometers) of range, you can tap on the battery icon from the Tesla app's home screen, and the entire app will transform into one huge reference to Back to the Future.

Immediately after tapping the battery icon, you'll be greeted by a pop-up message saying "Time Circuits On. Ensure plutonium fuel is inserted into reactor chamber" and "press 'Yes' to continue." This particular Easter egg is very elaborate and has tons of obvious nods to the film, and hardcore Back to the Future fans will almost certainly be able to find even more hidden references than the casual observer. One of the most prominent changes you'll notice on the home screen is that your range has changed from 121 miles to 1.21 GW, which is the amount of energy the film's time machine requires.

Another funky detail is that the vehicle displayed on the home screen is now a Model X, regardless of which Tesla you own. The Model X was obviously chosen due to its falcon wing doors, which reference the DeLorean time machine's gull wing doors. The vehicle's name also changes to "OUTATIME", another reference to the film.

3. Rainbow Charge Port Light

This Easter Egg is very simple but still a fun little surprise that you'll enjoy. All you have to do is open your Tesla's charge port door and insert the charging connector. Once the status lights indicate that the vehicle is charging properly, you'll press the connector several times, and you'll be treated to a rainbow light show from the charge port's LED status light.

Skipping the gas station is one of the biggest advantages EVs have over traditional vehicles, and charge port Easter eggs like these are definitely awesome bonuses that could keep you amused while you wait for your Tesla to top up its battery.

4. Santa Mode

Tesla's Santa Mode is a holiday-themed Easter Egg that's available on all Tesla models. Santa Mode changes the visual representation of your vehicle on the infotainment screen into a Tesla-inspired Santa sled. In order to activate Santa Mode, you'll have to navigate to the car's Toybox menu and select Santa. Once you've opened the Santa submenu, you can activate Santa Mode by sliding the toggle labeled Jingle All the Way, which also plays Run Rudolph Run by Chuck Berry (rather loudly).

You can also activate Santa Mode via voice command by saying "Ho, Ho, Ho!" With Santa Mode enabled, you'll notice that your vehicle is now a sled on your screen, and you'll also see other vehicles represented as reindeer. The turn signal sound is also substituted for holiday-themed bells, which is great if you really want to first entertain and then start annoying your passengers during the holidays.

5. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Reference

Tesla founder Elon Musk is a huge fan of the science fiction novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and there's an Easter Egg available on all Teslas that pays homage to this.

If you rename your Tesla to "42" and press save, you'll notice that the vehicle's name has changed to "Life, the Universe, and Everything". This is a reference to a supercomputer in the book that came up with the number 42 as the answer to the question of the meaning of "Life, the universe, and everything".

You won't want to miss this particular Easter egg if you're a fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

6. Emissions Testing Mod

This particular Easter egg is already famous among Tesla owners and non-owners alike. Emissions Testing Mode, which can reproduce various fart sounds, can be found by opening up your Tesla's Toybox and navigating to Emissions. Tapping on it will open up a menu with a variety of different emissions that range from Short Shorts Ripper to Ludicrous Fart.

You can even activate these "gassy pranks" (as Tesla jokingly refers to them) via your Tesla's turn signal controls. This is one of the coolest (and most unnecessary) Easter eggs Tesla has come up with, and it's already a classic at this point.

7. James Bond Submarine in the Suspension Menu

Elon Musk famously purchased the Lotus Esprit submarine that starred in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and the iconic vehicle makes a cameo in your Tesla's infotainment screen in the form of a clever Easter egg.

If you own a Tesla equipped with air suspension (Model X or S), you can navigate to the Software menu and then long-press on the image of the model's name at the top of the screen. You'll see a pop-up prompting you to type in an access code, and, of course, the code you need to type in is "007"!

Once you've typed in the code, you can navigate to the suspension menu, and you'll notice that your vehicle's avatar has changed to an image of the famous James Bond white Lotus Esprit submarine car. This Easter egg is awesome; the only downside is that it only works on Tesla's two flagship models, the Model S and X, since they are the only ones with air suspension.

8. Matrix Headlights Projecting the Word Tesla

Most Tesla owners are familiar with the famous Tesla light show, which you can activate in your vehicle's Toybox menu, as well as the accompanying music. The light show itself is super cool, but if your vehicle is equipped with matrix headlights, you will also see the words "Tesla" projected from your vehicle's headlights (it's best to park your vehicle in front of a light-colored wall to enjoy this feature to its fullest).

Matrix headlights allow exceptional control of each LED bulb, which in turn unlocks the potential for really cool features like spelling out Tesla on your garage door.

9. Sentry Mode Rick and Morty Reference

Sentry Mode is one of the coolest Tesla security features, and you can turn it on via voice command, which is a convenient way to interact with the feature. You can also activate Sentry Mode by using "Keep Summer Safe" as a voice command.

This is a neat reference to the show Rick and Morty. In one of the episodes, Rick needs to fix a problem with his ship, which in turn leads to the famous line "Keep Summer Safe", when Rick instructs the ship to keep his granddaughter safe while he travels into the ship's microverse battery with Morty to fix the problem.

The ship acts like a sentry and keeps Summer safe, going to extreme lengths to do so. The show is awesome, and this particular episode is one of the best, so it's definitely worth checking out.

You can change your Tesla's navigation screen view to show it driving on the surface of Mars, with your car's avatar turning into a Mars rover. This feature isn't very useful because it doesn't show traffic, but it's still bound to impress your friends, especially those who are fans of astronomy.

Tesla’s Easter Eggs Set It Apart From the Competition

Tesla's Easter eggs capture the company's essence perfectly, especially its dedication to doing things differently than traditional competitors. Even though there are still many reasons you might not want to get a Tesla, the visionary EV maker is still at the top of the electric vehicle game thanks to its unwillingness to play by traditional automotive rules.