February 15, 2019
Tesla is now introducing its latest feature, “Dog Mode,” which will allow pet owners to leave their beloved animal in the car without fear of overheating. Gone are the days of leaving your anxiety ridden pet at home, now they can travel with you.
The new feature will keep the car cool for the pet as the owner runs short errands. It even lets passersby know that the dog is safe. The temperature of the car will show on the dashboard screen and say, "My owner will be back soon. Don't worry!" This way no one (well, hopefully, no one) will try to break your car windows to save your pet (which is legal in some states but not in Pennsylvania.)
It will not be immediately available to all Teslas, however. Elon Musk tweets, “It will start out slow to make sure there are no corner case issues and then, if that looks good, speed up next week. We def need to add a 'Request Latest Update' feature!”
Introducing Dog Mode: set a cabin temperature to keep your dog comfortable while letting passersby know they don't need to worry pic.twitter.com/xFU6MGZT53
— Tesla (@Tesla) February 14, 2019
Musk first got the idea back in October when a Tesla fan reached out to him via Twitter asking for a "dog mode," saying "where the music plays and the ac is on, with a display on screen saying, 'I'm fine my owner will be right back'?" Musk responded, "Yes," and another Twitter user commented, "Maybe show current interior temp on the screen as well?" "Exactly," Musk replied.
Tesla already has software in place for "Cabin Overheat Protection." Released in 2016, it aids in keeping the car below 104 degrees Fahrenheit while it's parked.
"Dog Mode" rolled out this week for Tesla Model 3 sedans and will soon be available for Model S and Model X bought after August 2017.
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