Tesla is notorious for offering unique and novel features on their vehicles like flatulence sounds and video games that you can play with the steering wheel. One of those novel features called Boombox has just resulted in more than half a million cars being recalled though. According to the NHTSA, the feature is a danger because the vehicle’s Pedestrian Warning System can be obscured by Boombox.
The PWS is a feature found on all electric cars and even some hybrids and it’s intended to keep pedestrians safe by alerting them to the car’s presence. Typically, it’s pretty quiet though.
Of course, gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles don’t require this system because even the quietest among them makes enough noise that most people nearby can hear them naturally. If you’re following the logic here though this case is a little bit comical.
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Boombox is specifically designed to allow users to broadcast noise and that noise is almost always louder than the normal PWS which should explain our headline. Here’s what Tesla says about it on their site. ” Boombox, an app in Toybox, uses the Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) speaker (if equipped) to play media externally when Model X is parked, when you press the horn, when you drive the car, or when you use Summon to move Model X.” So we wonder if Boombox would be allowed if it used different speakers so that the PWS could continue to function in conjunction to Boombox.
Nevertheless, Tesla is bowing to pressure from the NHTSA on this one. They’ve agreed to send an OTA that will remove the ability for Tesla owners to use the feature while the vehicle is in motion. So if that’s been your jam, sorry, but it’s going away.
As is the case with any recall, letters will be mailed to the owners of all 578,607 vehicles. Unlike the typical recall though, we expect all of these vehicles to have that software update complete before a single one of those letters goes out on April 5th. Do you own a Tesla and use Boombox? Are you sad that you’re losing the ability to actively play custom sounds on the road while you drive?