There are quite a few ways to activate the Easter egg, which is available to Model S and Model X Teslas as part of software version 2017.50.2. If you navigate over to Tesla’s Easter Egg Menu, you’ll find a reindeer icon — tap it, and you’ll see Santa within your instrument cluster. But if the one-touch activation is too difficult (or you’re driving), there’s an even easier way to bring some holiday cheer into your car — just press and hold your Tesla’s voice command button and say, “Ho ho ho.”
In addition to seeing your car and other cars as Christmas-themed icons, you’ll also find that your digital lane indicators are transformed into an icy road with snowflakes. And anytime you activate a turn signal, you’ll hear jingle bells. Naturally, no Christmas Easter egg would be complete without a rendition of “Run Rudolph Run,” so when you first activate the Santa-mode, Chuck Berry’s classic song will play, too.
According to a cryptic tweet from Elon Musk, that’s not the only Easter egg available. The ever-mysterious CEO noted that there’s another surprise to be discovered, but you may want to steer clear of it since it’s “not funny.”
When you get the new Tesla software update, go Ho Ho Ho. There’s an Easter egg inside the Easter egg, but it’s not funny.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2017
Tesla also featured a Christmas Easter egg last year in the form of a synchronized light show on the Model X, which the company initially teased in 2015 (at that time, it was unclear how drivers could actually activate the hidden feature). But now that the company has made Easter eggs an almost standard feature in its frequent software updates, customers are much more familiar with Musk’s little treats and tricks.
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