“Goat honks” are exactly what you’d think they are.
If recent tweets from the typically overeager and overpromising Tesla CEO Elon Musk are to be believed, new versions of his electric cars could bleat to alert the next car over.
“Definitely coming,” Musk said for newer Model S, X, Y, and 3 vehicles. Back in October he’d assured his followers of the same thing. So we’ll see if the new sounds materialize. At least while you wait, you can make fart sounds inside your Tesla.
Also definitely coming haha. Will only be on relatively recent cars, as we didn’t have an outside speaker until about a year ago. Can change inside sound easily.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2020
There’s also relief coming for drivers with a more serious update. Soon Teslas will notice bad roads with an automated detection feature. Musk said Tesla’s autonomous system will label problem areas like big bumps or potholes. The label will prompt the car to automatically respond with a slow-down or steer-around move.
Yes! We’re labeling bumps & potholes, so the car can slow down or steer around them when safe to do so.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2020
Then there’s a Tesla feature that’s been a long time coming: two-factor authentication for the Tesla app. You can start the car, unlock the doors, and even move the car to and from a parking spot all through the app. But that form of access is not very secure, since it only requires your Tesla app log-in info.
Back in April, Musk said the extra layer of protection through an SMS or authenticator code would be “coming soon.” On Friday, Musk gave a more detailed update and an apology about the “embarrassingly late” feature.
Sorry, this is embarrassingly late. Two factor authentication via sms or authenticator app is going through final validation right now.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2020
There’s still no specific arrival time, but at least 2FA is apparently going through “final validation.” Let’s hope those goat honks get validated promptly, too.