There’s nothing more stressful than running to the store to grab something, before realizing that you can’t take your beloved pooch in. It’s too hot to leave them in the car, and you’re worried that they might get stolen or escape if you open the window. You end up driving home, dropping the dog off, and then having to go back to the store. However, all of that may be a thing of the past thanks to Tesla’s epic new feature – dog mode.
Asking Elon Musk
Back in October 2018, one Twitter user asked Elon Musk if he could introduce a function that would enable their dog to keep cool in the car. It’s not the most conventional place to pitch ideas to a business owner, but it looks like it might have stirred something in the Tesla and SpaceX founder. Fast forward to February 2018, less than five months after the tweet, and Elon Musk has announced their brand new dog mode.
What Is Dog Mode?
Unfortunately, it’s not as exciting as your dog being able to take the wheel and drive themselves to doggy day care. However, it is an extremely smart addition to the Tesla vehicles – especially as it is so simple. Dog Mode turns on the air conditioning to ensure that your dog remains at a comfortable temperature whenever you step out of the car.
This means that your beloved pooch won’t get too hot, which is something that can lead to people breaking car windows and rescuing poorly dogs. In fact, knowing that this is a possibility, the central screen display actually lets passers-by know that Dog Mode is on, and that any pets in the car are being kept cool.
How To Get It
Elon Musk announced that Dog Mode was being rolled out via Twitter (as you do), and that it is available for all Model S, Model 3, and Model X vehicles that have Autopilot 2+ hardware. So, most Tesla owners should be able to activate Dog Mode very soon! This is just in time for those long, hot summer days.
Let’s just hope that other car manufacturers sit up and take notice of this clever addition, so we no longer have to worry about dogs getting too hot in cars – or broken windows.