One of the most striking things about driving an electric car (any electric car) is that it is quiet and doesn’t make any noise compared to a car with a gasoline-powered engine.
Despite this advantage, some people miss the noise of the engine and some even claim that the relative silence that comes with an electric car can be dangerous as passers-by cannot hear the car while it is driving which can cause unfortunate accidents. That is why I am often asked if it is possible to change the sound of the car in the oh, most popular, Tesla cars.
The answer is, not anymore. The Tesla Boombox feature which allowed Tesla drivers to change their car drive-away sound that would be played through external speakers got recalled after the NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) found it unsafe in the USA.
Some other features, however, can be changed like the horn (only while parking) the signal, and the sound of the vehicle locking and unlocking. All this is done through the Tesla app or the infotainment system of the car.
So if you are one of those people who missed the sound of the roaring engine, and even dreamed of your Tesla sounding like a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, you will have to say goodbye to this dream I’m afraid.
It doesn’t matter which Tesla model you have, whether it’s Tesla Model 3 ( 2017-2022), Tesla Model S (2020-2022), Tesla Model X (2020-2022), or Tesla Model Y (2020-2022) all these cars (over 500,000 vehicles in the USA) sporting the Boombox feature were recalled because of the safety problem created by the shifting driving sound and the horn while the car is in motion, according by the NHTSA. You can check if your car is part of the recall right here on the NHTSA site
The funny thing about this whole story is that Tesla came up with the possibility of adding a driving sound to the car because of a requirement presented by the NHTSA in order to provide a sound that will warn passers-by of an oncoming car. The relative freedom, however, that Tesla gave the car owners to upload almost any possible sound became a problem, the subject of countless pranks that ultimately led to the sad end of that feature.
Can You Still Change Your Tesla Drive-Away Sound? In What Conditions?
The short answer is “not while the car is in motion” which kind of takes the fun out of it in my opinion.
Just recently (on January 29, 2022) Tesla recalled the Boombox functionality in Drive, Neutral, and Reverse modes in an over-the-air software update. So I’m afraid “your horn-making fart sound days” are over.
Tesla founder Elon Mask didn’t really like that decision and made his resentment known on his favorite platform Twitter, where he blamed the recall on the “fun police.”
Conclusion
So no, Tesla drivers can no longer play whatever music they want as a substitute for the traditional driving sound – I guess every dream has an expiration date:) At least they had a good year to fondly remember the good old day with the boombox…
The bottom line is we all agree that safety comes first so let’s put this particular dream in the drawer and focus on all the other wonderful features Tesla has to offer.
Have a safe drive!