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Tesla 'Dog Mode' Will Stop Pets From Overheating In Cars, Elon Musk Says (nzherald.co.nz)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his fleet of electric vehicles will be getting a "dog mode" to protect pets from overheating. The feature, which will be rolled out next week, will be able to detect when a pet is locked inside the car -- and keep the temperature at a safe level. The New Zealand Herald reports: There will also likely be a display or some form of communication to inform passers-by that the dog is safe. The feature was added after Musk was inundated with tweets from customers. In October, one Tesla driver asked him: "Can you put a dog mode on the Tesla Model 3. "Where the music plays and the air conditioning is on, with a display on screen saying 'I'm fine my owner will be right back?'" Musk replied: "Yes."

'Dog mode' will likely be an extension of Tesla's Cabin Overheat Protection System. This already prevents temperatures inside the car from reaching unsafe levels when kids or pets are inside. But the screen in Tesla models is likely to now flash a message to pedestrians informing them that the pet inside is safe. The "dog mode" update will be launched at the same time as a "sentry mode" -- designed to ward off would-be thieves. Sentry Mode will use the dashcam to record footage in the event of an attempted break-in. And it is rumored the car will play loud classical music through the stereo system to draw attention to the intruder and encourage passersby to call the police.

137 comments

  1. You are the dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you buy one of these dystopian surveillance vehicles, you are the dog, at the whim of some billionaire psychopath.

    1. Re:You are the dog. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

      That's unkind to dogs... more like "sheep" or "lemming." For the record, I love the idea of electric cars, it's just that Tesla's surveillance-heavy, repair-unfriendly implementation sucks.

    2. Re:You are the dog. by PPH · · Score: 2

      you are the dog, at the whim of some billionaire psychopath.

      Hey Elon! I just pooped. Grab a plastic bag and get that.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    3. Re:You are the dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Obsessed much?

    4. Re: You are the dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Go away.

    5. Re: You are the dog. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are the dog then you must be bored and get to listen to the most irritating things, like lame ham radio freaks. Hopefully you can tune out anything

  2. Global Warming Solved by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just put earth in a Tesla.

    Elon : 1
    Climatologists : 0

  3. People will leave infants/toddlers in car by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... with dog-mode enabled. When it malfunctions, or they just forgot to turn it on that one time, it will be all over the news. Elon Musk, baby killer!

    1. Re: People will leave infants/toddlers in car by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      exactly. next week dog mode, next month, the first law suit.

      Also, look for law suits from people getting arrested âoh, itâ(TM)s ok officer, the car was in dog mode and only was inside for 6hoursâ(TM)

  4. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know Elon Musk is your personal hero and savior, but to the rest of us he is a scummy salesguy.

    Speak for yourself. I'm not in love with him like Rei, but I also respect what he's managed to accomplish, and where he's choosing to spend his money. I want EVs to succeed, and he's helped that. I want space to be developed more, and he's furthering that.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Baby sitting mode by Kuruk · · Score: 1

    Then Tesla owners can go to Vegas and gamble all weekend :)

    1. Re: Baby sitting mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Totally. I am so sorry for the poor EE majors that have to work on such a thing. They donâ(TM)t deserve it at all

  6. Re:Rei by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    I want EVs to succeed, but I also think his control-freak business model and unfriendliness to right-to-repair makes him a shitty human being.

  7. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Accomplished? Other than coasting on other people's work, what has he actually managed to accomplish? In this case, Tesla was already founded when he attached himself to it, and the company itself would be doing far better without him. Those stupid Hyperloops that he's been pushing, are completely by other people now, he doesn't have any involvement.

  8. Thanks, NZ Herald by viperidaenz · · Score: 2

    For the article about a car you can't buy in New Zealand.
    Tesla will take a reservation payment though, with no promise of delivery or any indication of timing, with no use-of-money interest and effectively a promise that if the company fails, you won't get your money back.

    1. Re: Thanks, NZ Herald by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well... why not move to planet Earth, and quit whining?

  9. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Holy crap your comments are hot garbage. You must have lost a LOT of money shorting $TSLA, poor dear.

    It must drive you utterly mad when another happy Tesla owner rolls by, smooth and quietly, splashing you in the face with a blast of planet-saving on their way to not-the-gas station.

    You suck at everything.

  10. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I don't care about you either. You are another moron on here. Space Nutter. Time to grow up.

    There's only two ways for humanity to grow up. Either reduce resource consumption and energy expenditure dramatically, or expand into space. Any other course of action spells doom.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  11. Baby mode when dad catches a latte by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    with the cute barista, and the vid plays for Jr. They'd just get killed if they called it baby mode. But we know who buys teslas and they'd definitely do this.

  12. exploit waiting to happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long until someone figures out how to use this to steal Tesla's

    1. Re: exploit waiting to happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.leadertelegram.com/news/local/charges-filed-in-theft-of-tesla-service-dog/article_92826b34-2a9f-53f3-a0e6-42c60fd686e6.html

    2. Re: exploit waiting to happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A Chippewa Falls man is accused of stealing a woman’s luxury vehicle and service dog while the vehicle was parked outside an Eau Claire residence. The man then took the dog into an Eau Claire tavern, police said. Nathan R. Hakes, 26, 546 Woodward Ave., was charged Thursday in Eau Claire County Court with a felony count of operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent and misdemeanor counts of second-offense operating while intoxicated and dognapping. A $500 signature bond was set for Hakes, who returns to court Feb. 4. As conditions of bond, Hakes cannot drink alcohol, enter taverns or have contact with the woman. According to the criminal complaint: Eau Claire police officers spoke with a woman who said she parked her Tesla Model S on Sunday in a private parking lot in the 100 block of South Barstow Street while she and her family ate in a restaurant. The woman said personal items and her service dog were inside the vehicle. The woman and her family returned to find the vehicle was gone. The woman used an app on her phone to track the vehicle to the back parking lot of Scooter’s, 411 Galloway St., where she and her husband found the vehicle. The service dog was not in the car. The woman’s husband and father went into the tavern and located the dog in the company of Hakes. The bartender indicated Hakes came into the tavern with the dog. The woman said no one had permission to take the car or the dog. An officer met with Hakes, whose eyes were glassy and bloodshot. A strong odor of intoxicants came from his breath. Hakes denied stealing the vehicle or having been in the restaurant before taking the vehicle. Hakes also denied entering Scooter’s with the dog, even though witnesses saw him there with the animal. Hakes claimed he had been inside The Lismore Hotel and bar and had taken an Uber to Scooter’s. Hakes failed field sobriety tests. He argued to the point that he was refusing to perform a one-legged standing test. He was arrested for vehicle theft, drunken driving and dognapping. Hakes was previously convicted of drunken driving in October 2010 in Eau Claire County. If convicted of the felony charge, Hakes could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

  13. Musk on Joe rogan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If y'all haven't watched. I'd recommend you do. Musk is sooo autistic, sooo brilliant. It's amazing he gets folks to follow him as he's the anthesis of Jobs.

  14. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Accomplished? Other than coasting on other people's work, what has he actually managed to accomplish? In this case, Tesla was already founded when he attached himself to it, and the company itself would be doing far better without him.

    1) I notice you didn't mention SpaceX, since that would completely destroy your argument.
    2) Tesla is a cult of Musk. Everyone but you understands that Tesla would not be doing better without him.

    Those stupid Hyperloops that he's been pushing, are completely by other people now, he doesn't have any involvement.

    So what you're saying is that he catalyzed next-generation transportation? Thanks for agreeing with me.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  15. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=13380708&cid=58101196 - That's "Dunbal" lying and saying human pollution / regulation didn't affect the ozone hole. You think we can ask this lying propagandist faggot to "grow up" and that solves it?

    #strong rope, the only actual solution to lying faggots

  16. Still missing the most important mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pedo mode:

    In this mode, the Telsa OBC detects when its current occupant(s) include Elon Musk and the screen displays "WARNING CHILDREN: PEDOPHILE ONBOARD". And it is rumored the car will play episodes from To Catch a Predator at high volume.

  17. MOD PARENT UP! by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

    Enough already!

  18. Babies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it dog only, or will it work with a baby?

    1. Re:Babies by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Is it dog only, or will it work with a baby?

      According to TFA, there is a sensor to detect if a dog is in the car. It isn't clear if it would also detect a baby. But dogs and babies should have similar sensor profiles, so you should be fine. So, sure, feel free to leave your baby in the hot car. What could go wrong?

      If you can't afford a Tesla, here is a low tech trick to avoid killing your baby: When you put the kid in the carseat, put your wallet & cellphone on the floor next to the baby. Then when you get where you are going and reach into your pocket for your cellphone to check your Facebook status, the phone is NOT THERE! Then you remember that you left your baby in the car. Broiled infant brain avoided!

    2. Re:Babies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's actually good advice to avoid infant hyperthermia. It also serves to put the phone out of reach of the driver.

    3. Re:Babies by atheos · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, so long as the baby barks.

    4. Re:Babies by jeremyp · · Score: 1

      As a bonus when you get back to the car, you'll find it nicely ventilated due to the hole the thief made in the window when they stole your wallet and phone.

      --
      All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
    5. Re:Babies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or maybe if you cant even remember to take your child out of the car you put them in, don't have children.

    6. Re:Babies by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      or maybe if you cant even remember to take your child out of the car you put them in, don't have children.

      Don't underestimate the value of absent minded Aspies. We may not remember to take our kids from the back seat or wear matching socks, but we are responsible for most progress in the world. Archimedes, Newton, Einstein, Adam Smith, were all absent minded.

    7. Re:Babies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There might also be a police officer there ready to arrest you for child-endangerment.

    8. Re:Babies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good thing I already have a Tesla.

    9. Re:Babies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Broiled infant brain avoided!

      Dooooooohhhhh. Now what am I supposed to have for dinner?

  19. You know what this reminds me of? by slashmydots · · Score: 2

    Remember the stories of the self driving cars where people sent their dogs to go get drive through fast food. They trained them to pick up the money in their mouth and hand it over to the person in the window. Epic.

  20. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Salesguy sure, but scummy is probably more a reflection of some deep issues you're harboring.

  21. Re:Rei by Ecuador · · Score: 4, Informative

    Eh, I think you have to separate the two.

    Rei has overdone it, we really don't need any more Tesla news. And we really really really don't need any more Tesla non-news like this one.

    Elon Musk on the other hand single-handedly started the switch-over to electrical vehicles and is leading space launch technology. He is neither "scummy" nor a "salesguy". With all his flaws (stay away from Twitter, dude - no, it's not OK even if the President tweets much worse), he makes a difference, the world would be better off with a few more Elon Musks.

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  22. Ruh-roh! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Can you put a dog mode on the Tesla Model 3. "Where the music plays and the air conditioning is on, with a display on screen saying 'I'm fine my owner will be right back?'"

    That's just silly. Everyone knows dogs can't read.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Ruh-roh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RACIST

    2. Re:Ruh-roh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck you and your stupid dogs.
      Delete that fucking emo bag.
      Get out with real humans.
      You think anyone wants to fucking date your dog, or sleep in the bed with your best friend, have it slobber and ass and hair and mud all over their stuff.
      Get real.
      U fuckin emo bags.

    3. Re:Ruh-roh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Settle down, Muhammad. It's just a pupper.

    4. Re:Ruh-roh! by blindseer · · Score: 3, Informative

      How do you know? On the internet nobody knows if there's a dog posting to Slashdot.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    5. Re:Ruh-roh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's just silly. Why would anyone ever think that a dog could be posting on slashdot? Of all the crazy, ludicrous, far-fetc.... SQUIRREL!

    6. Re:Ruh-roh! by infolation · · Score: 1

      a display on screen saying 'I'm fine my owner will be right back'

      This is like schrodinger's dog, with passers-by unable to determine whether it's 'dead' or 'just fine and sleeping'.

    7. Re:Ruh-roh! by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Have you browsed at -1? I think it's clear dogs are posting on Slashdot.

    8. Re:Ruh-roh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doh! The display is to warn that the dog is still rare and, for the impatient, how much you have to wait to get it medium or well done.

    9. Re:Ruh-roh! by Tom · · Score: 1

      Technically, at least one body knows - the dog. So it's actually (nobody - 1).

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  23. Cat mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The mode that prevents the car battery from overheating due to spontaneous cat pile-over.

  24. Re:Rei by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    Other than coasting on other people's work, what has he actually managed to accomplish?

    Successful people delegate. Failing to leverage the work and expertise of others is the shortest path to entrepreneurial failure.

  25. Re:Rei by Brett+Buck · · Score: 0

    Elon Musk on the other hand single-handedly started the switch-over to electrical vehicles and is leading space launch technology. He is neither "scummy" nor a "salesguy".

          Singlehandedly? "leading space launch technology"? What are you, 12? Nothing Musk does is new, and most of it isn't even interesting from an engineering standpoint, and only the most naive could possibly believe otherwise. Learn some technology history from *before* people started equating "techology" with "computers".

              He's a classic nouveau riche dabbler/boor, initially using his own overnight wealth and now using federal subsidies as a piggy bank. He is one step from the "Rich Texan" on The Simpsons.

  26. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Which is why Musk often sleeps at the factory for days - weeks - on end to make sure things happen. Delegation at its finest, right?

  27. Brett Buttfuck, space pioneer/inventor here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Elon Musk has nothing on Brett Buttfuck, just ask him about himself. Oh he's got nothing to say? He's just a loudmouth faggot denialist without any science credentials wasting his methed-out days in a red state lavatory? Oh. Kinda sad.

    Moving right along...

  28. Sentry mode should.... by sethmeisterg · · Score: 1

    Play a sample of someone screaming and yelling "DONT LET THIS PERSON STEAL ME!!"

    1. Re:Sentry mode should.... by sg_oneill · · Score: 1

      "KEEP SUMMER SAFE."

      --
      Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
  29. Toddler mode by quenda · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It is really "toddler mode", they just can't call it that for legal reasons.

    On a related note, I know some parents who put their baby in the car and drove laps just to get the baby to sleep. Now they can stay home while the car does that!

    1. Re:Toddler mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Toddler or baby mode should consist of a gun that fires 2 bullets. One through the head of the "adult" that leaves the kid in the car and one through a window to let air flow in and out.

    2. Re:Toddler mode by stooo · · Score: 1

      you're dangerous.

      --
      aaaaaaa
    3. Re:Toddler mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They can't really call it dog mode either. Where I live it's flat out illegal to leave your dog in the car unattended. If you do, there's a good chance you'll come back to a broken window, your dog missing, and a ticket telling you where you can pick him up after you've paid the necessary fines and attended an animal welfare class.

    4. Re:Toddler mode by AmiMoJo · · Score: 0

      How is it different to the old dog mode? They announced the this years ago and I was under the impression that it has been available for a long time.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  30. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Calling others 12 year olds when your reply is kindergarten material.
    You have no idea what you are talking about. Although the subsidies mention might also mean you know you are BSing, but you have a specific agenda.

  31. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    First off, SpaceX wouldn't destroy my argument, the technology necessary to send people into space is decades old

    That's not the argument.

    and at any rate, he's behind Blue Origin.

    How many orbital flights has Blue Origin made?

    Rather than hiring competent people to help set up the assembly line and whatnot, he's been calling for excessive increases in capacity above and beyond what they could reasonably achieve.

    He tried lots of automation, he backed off from that, now they're producing lots of vehicles for their size. Naturally he hopes to get there eventually, like every manufacturer.

    As for the Hyperloop, that's not a next generation transportation technology. He had the idea, but it's so bad that even Musk has backed away from it. They still aren't anywhere near competitive with regular high speed rail, let alone that maglev stuff that the Japanese already have in service.

    Rome wasn't sacked in a day.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  32. Re:Have the Car Babysit, by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    While in the Bar... a 70's child :)

    --
    [($)]
  33. Evolution of the feature by steveha · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Using the Tesla mobile app, it has been possible for at least a couple years to leave the air conditioning on inside the car while leaving the car. I read about a Tesla owner who had a note taped to his car window: "This is a Tesla and its air conditioning is running. The dog is fine. Please don't break my window."

    More recently Tesla added a feature where you could use the touchscreen to do the same thing. In the climate controls dialog there is a button, "leave climate control running when car is stopped."

    Now the screen will be used to display a message telling people that the pets are fine, please don't break the window. Why not!

    This is one of those emergent features that nobody predicted years ago.

    Another one: Elon Musk wanted the Model 3 to have a clean look, so Tesla engineers wound up inventing a computer-controlled steerable air blower for the dashboard. You don't have to touch louvers to direct the air, you use a GUI on the touchscreen. This not only looks cleaner, but the computer remembers the air settings per driver, so if a husband and wife want different settings the car just handles it.

    One day someone on Twitter said "Hey Elon Musk, when I use the mobile app to turn on the air conditioning and cool down my Model 3 when it's been parked in the sun on a hot day, how about pointing the air blowers at the seats to cool them down?" And Elon Musk replied "Great idea, I'll make it happen." (Quotes paraphrased from memory.)

    --
    lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
    1. Re:Evolution of the feature by jabuzz · · Score: 2

      Except the airflow in at least a Model S is really poor in the trunk, ot the point where even with the air con going your dog is going to at best have a very unpleasant time in the back, along with any kids in the optional trunk seats. See the Rich Rebuilds video on this.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    2. Re:Evolution of the feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The trunk is for bodies and people you've kidnapped, not your dog and baby!

    3. Re:Evolution of the feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope someone broke his window.

      Why? The air conditioning was running. The back seat of a Tesla with the air conditioning running is comfortable.

      'Dog mode' should detect a dog left alone in the car, wait ten minutes then unlock the car and set off the alarm.

      Why... to make sure the dog doesn't get too comfortable?

      Two minutes later the doors should open.

      Oh, I get it now, to make sure the dog runs away. Do you hate dogs?

      Works for toddlers and babies too.

      Oh, you just hate everybody. Why are you such a hater?

    4. Re:Evolution of the feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The trunk is for bodies and people you've kidnapped, not your dog and baby!

      A Tesla Model S is really a hatchback. There's a foot-well in the back, and there was an option for rear-facing child seats. The seats were not big enough for adults, but that's how a Model S was said to seat up to 7 people (two of the 7 had to be kids).

      Tesla has stopped selling the child seats; they say if you want to carry 7 people, get a Model X.

      Pretty sure anyone bringing a dog would have the dog in the back seat or would have the whole rear section folded flat. If someone put the dog in the "trunk" (the section at the rear of the car and covered by a privacy screen) I'm pretty sure the dog would not be happy about it.

      But yeah, if someone has the child seats and straps the dog into the child seats, I imagine the air conditioning might not work very well all the way in the back of the car. Has anyone done this even one time ever?

  34. Re:Rei by Excelcia · · Score: 2

    I want EVs to succeed, and he's helped that..

    I want EV's to succeed as well, but as much as I respect SpaceX and some of Musk's other accomplishments, I don't see Tesla as furthering the progress of EV's. The poster who called them a dystopian surveillance vehicle wasn't wrong. Tesla knows where you are at all times. They can listen to you. They can push over the air updates to individual cars that you can't block or, potentially, even know about. Which means they can literally take over your vehicle at any time. This isn't tinfoil hat stuff. This is functionality they have publicly demonstrated. You aren't buying a car, you are paying them to give them your personal information and rent a ride.

    These vehicles are the surveillance state's wet dream.

  35. Forget Dog Mode by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 2

    Let me know when Tesla enables God Mode.

    1. Re:Forget Dog Mode by mentil · · Score: 1

      Noclip might be more practical.
      Actually, playing Rise of the Triad in Dog Mode was pretty fun.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    2. Re:Forget Dog Mode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Going through other traffic without damage would ease the traffic congestion in cities.

  36. What could go wrong? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All good.... until you run out of battery. I am thinking this system will result in more dead dogs than if it were never added as a feature.

    1. Re:What could go wrong? by stooo · · Score: 1

      Better have a dead battery than a dead dog.

      --
      aaaaaaa
    2. Re:What could go wrong? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      Take too long and you might have both.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    3. Re:What could go wrong? by stooo · · Score: 1

      The battery will last much longer than the dog.

      --
      aaaaaaa
    4. Re:What could go wrong? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      The dog can probably go a couple days without charging. How long is your battery going to last blasting AC? Unless you leave it plugged into a charger you're already going to be down the power used to drive you there. How much juice does the AC use? Probably the biggest power drain after actually moving the vehicle.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  37. So now we know - Rei has a dog by ChesterRafoon · · Score: 1

    The only explanation.

  38. What does the dog want? by schwit1 · · Score: 1

    A real dog mode is the car driving around with the windows down so it can stick its head out

  39. Dog overheating by Z80a · · Score: 1

    Don't forget to replace the thermal paste on your canine from time to time, and if you're running a really hot dog, you should consider using a watercooling solution.

    1. Re:Dog overheating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've always preferred mustard on my hot dogs.

    2. Re:Dog overheating by mentil · · Score: 2

      I used liquid nitrogen on my dog. Now it seems to make a weird smell unless I reapply it regularly. It's a racket I tell you.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  40. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I want EV's to succeed as well, but as much as I respect SpaceX and some of Musk's other accomplishments, I don't see Tesla as furthering the progress of EV's. The poster who called them a dystopian surveillance vehicle wasn't wrong.

    This is the future of automobiles, like it or not (and I don't.) Every vehicle which adopts true level 3 autonomy (unlike Tesla, so far) will be spying on you and exchanging information at all times. Major automakers have already made agreements for information sharing with other automakers, and the companies they've agreed to use to transfer the data are poised to sell that information — which you can be sure will be insufficiently "anonymized". Tons of GM and Subaru vehicles have OnStar and are already [capable of] doing the same kind of spying, even if you don't have a subscription. They can't exactly "take over" your vehicle, but they can shut it down, and they can listen in on your conversations.

    Meanwhile, I have a car that doesn't even have a PCM. The only electronics needed are in the glow system timer, and that could literally be replaced by a wind-up motor with a cam which actuates a switch. Engine shutoff is done with a vacuum switch attached to the rear of the ignition lock. There IS a computer attached to the motor... to activate the EGR system. It's irrelevant, and trivially bypassed with a BB. There is no computer to operate the transmission, which communicates with the engine via a steel cable, and a vacuum line — yet it has a hill sensor. If privacy is important to you, allow me to suggest you get such a vehicle (W126 300SD) while they're still cheap. 30 mpg freeway when the valves are nicely adjusted, not bad around town, pretty comfortable, phenomenally smooth ride as the factory shocks are Bilstein HDs. You can even get them with ABS, if you like. They're kind of a dog but with sufficient effort you can double their horsepower (to a whopping 240, heh. But they have boatloads of torque.)

    With that said, I'd swap it for any credible EV (not a Leaf) in a heartbeat, so I never had to dick with the ICE again.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  41. Re:One thing Tesla's don't need - Trump mode. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Whew, for a minute I thought we were going to have no mention of Trump in a thread that isn't about Trump.

    You're doing the spaghetti monster's work, anon. I salute you.

  42. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Which is why Musk often sleeps at the factory for days - weeks - on end to make sure things happen. Delegation at its finest, right?

    On one hand, that probably is a bad idea. On the other hand, Tesla buyers love it. They see it as a sign of commitment, not that he should be committed.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  43. Re:Have the Car Babysit, by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    While in the Bar... a 70's child :)

    My father took me into the bar, in the 80s, you insensitive clod! My brothers had to wait in the car and then sometimes drive him home, too, in the 70s.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  44. Re:Rei by baker_tony · · Score: 1

    LOL!

  45. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want EVs to fail miserably.

  46. This tech is too high for me. by swell · · Score: 1

    I know that many of you avoid 'smart' TVs for various reasons. I'm struggling with my 'smart' phone that seems to do things whenever it pleases despite my preferences. I don't want a car that decides for itself what it should do. I don't want a car that connects to the internet whenever it, or some outside intelligence, wants it to.

    I'd much prefer a 1956 Corvette, dumb as a bucket of rocks, to the smartest car on the market.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
    1. Re:This tech is too high for me. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      A 1956 Corvette also handles like a box of rocks by modern standards. Pretty, though. In the last decade, shitboxen like Corollas have caught up even to the cars of the eighties.

      If you want a dumb car, get an eighties diesel Mercedes, or build a kit car. Nothing else really makes sense. If you power your kit car with a pre-1970s engine, you can get away without any computers at all. Of course, unless you use a diesel, you'll be throwing away fuel, due to the nature of non-computerized tuning. Even with mechanical fuel injection. Diesels run lean all the time, gassers don't.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:This tech is too high for me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A 2019 Corolla is also within 0.2 seconds on both 0-60 and 1/4 mile of the 1956 Corvette.

  47. Re:Rei by whoever57 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Please show us on the doll where Elon touched you.....

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  48. autopilot car ride! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm looking forward to the day that a Tesla passes me on the highway with no one in it except a dog near the steering wheel

  49. Re:Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    30 mpg? That comes with extremely steep penalties for being a gas guzzler over here in Europe. You pretty much need 53 mpg to be able to sell cars over here. (Not to mention gasoline prices are the same in the US and EU; except prices are per gallon (US) or liter (EU))

  50. "Pedo Mode" Up re by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It will loudly call anything that competes with your Tesla a PEDO and remind the world what a douche you are for buying a car with no resale value and toxic hazardous battery fires for the rest of us to breath in on your coal-powered "eco" car. You dumb fucking asshole.

  51. Baby Mode? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's next, Baby Mode? :)

  52. Re:Rei by micheas · · Score: 2

    Although to counterbalance if you brick your model 3 while preparing for own2p0wn they will reflash the car for you and have declared that you are not voiding your warranty, so, half a brownie point?

  53. Re:Rei by mentil · · Score: 2

    Expanding into space doesn't excuse the ones who remain on Earth from ruining it, or exempt them from doom.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  54. Re:Rei by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    OK, Rei - I think we have had enough Tesla "news" to last a lifetime.

    Given that this guy is making the biggest impact in the world of mobility, is using technology to do so, and his company is constantly featured in news could I suggest rather than complain to Rei (who didn't post this story) you instead consider digging a hole and burying yourself in it?

    That way you may escape Elon Musk. ... just check with the local government if the Boring company is due to come by anytime soon.

  55. Re:Rei by inking · · Score: 1

    It’s not “his” money, Einstein.

  56. Choices by stealth_finger · · Score: 0

    Dead dog or dead car when you get back. Potentially both depending on how long you've been and how much charge you had.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  57. Re:Rei by stealth_finger · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't care about you either. You are another moron on here. Space Nutter. Time to grow up.

    Pack up the show lads. This random twat on the internet doesn't care about it.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  58. Re:Rei by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    splashing you in the face with a blast of planet-saving on their way to not-the-gas station.

    You suck at everything.

    Where does the electric come from?

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  59. Re:Rei by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    Those stupid Hyperloops that he's been pushing, are completely by other people now, he doesn't have any involvement.

    So what you're saying is that he catalyzed next-generation transportation? Thanks for agreeing with me.

    The 'hyperloop' is never going to happen. It would have happened a long time ago if it was. It's not a new idea and they figured out it was a non starter 100+ years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  60. Re: Rei by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think being a shitty human is what makes him a shitty human...

  61. Eyeroll by sjbe · · Score: 1, Insightful

    For the record, I love the idea of electric cars, it's just that Tesla's surveillance-heavy, repair-unfriendly implementation sucks.

    Right because all the other car makers are just killing it with their EVs implment... oh that's right they barely exist. I think you need to take off the tinfoil hat. If you don't like/want a Telsa for whatever reason that's fine. But their cars are clearly popular and people find them good value for money. The notion that it is some unrepairable, Orwell-mobile is just absurd.

    Whatever you think of Tesla, if you think the other automakers won't do approximately the exact same things Tesla is doing you are delusional. It just didn't occur to them to really try. Tesla just gets the advantage of starting with a clean slate and not having to answer to shareholders demanding steady quarterly profits to deal with.

    1. Re: Eyeroll by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      We have been repairing cars for 100 years. Tesla has come along and made sure that's a thing of the past. Keep playing. The future won't look anything like the past.

  62. Bad at snark by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Accomplished? Other than coasting on other people's work, what has he actually managed to accomplish?

    Oh he seems to have accomplished a thing or two...

    Founded Zip2 and sold it to Compaq for $307 million
    Founder of X.com and CEO of Paypal - sold to eBay for $1.5 billion
    Chairman and CEO of Tesla motors since 2008 - company now worth $52 billion as of this post
    Founder of Solarcity
    Created concept of Hyperloop
    Founded OpenAI research corporation
    Founded Neuralink
    Founded The Boring Company
    Founded SpaceX and got the first privately financed orbital rocket into space and has driven down the cost to orbit dramatically.

    My question would be what have you accomplished besides being bad at snark on the internet? Name me one person who has actually accomplished more than Musk has in the last 20 years.

    1. Re: Bad at snark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He didn't create the concept of hyper loop.

      The only thing he deserves credit for on your list is founding companies and then selling them.

    2. Re: Bad at snark by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He didn't create solar city. He bought it.

  63. You expect me to trust that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What if I an the only passer-by who cares about the dog in the car? I walk away, the battery dies because the owner forgot, got distracted, etc. and the dog perishes in the hot car? I do not trust Musk or his allegedly smart cars. What if the dog goes to sleep, and stops moving around? The car will detect that and keep the AC on? What happens when these Muskmobiles start stranding their owners because they park them somewhere in the sun for hours, and the car erroneously believes there is a dog inside, and keeps the AC running for a day?

    Owner comes out, ready to drive home, and the puny little battery has been wiped out trying to keep a nonexistent dog safe. I am just glad I was never dumb enough to waste such a huge amount of money on one of these glorified go carts.

  64. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    "30 mpg? That comes with extremely steep penalties for being a gas guzzler over here in Europe."

    It's from 1982, dude. The newest it could have been from its model and my description would have been 1985. That means it's coming up quickly on being four times as old as the average vehicle in the US fleet. vehicles consume about a third of their lifetime energy consumption in production. And I have so far resisted commuting, which I can hopefully carry forwards. And it's a full size car with room for both my head and my legs even though I'm two meters tall, and it's got crumple zones and a fully high strength steel unibody - W126 does very well in crashes.

    But like I said, even though it has a stunningly reliable engine, and the transmission is still soldiering on (it's even one of if not the first automatics to let you hold the vehicle on a step hill with the throttle without potentially damaging your slush box, AND you can pull start through it) I'd rather have an ev.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  65. Liability by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    On the one hand, I have no problem with people leaving their pets or children briefly unattended in a car with the A/C on. At the same time, making âoedog/child modeâ a feature adds liability when (not if) things go wrong, so Iâ(TM)m not sure why Tesla (or anyone else) would want to do this. The first time someoneâ(TM)s battery or A/C fails and it leads to a fatality, thereâ(TM)s going to be a public uproar and lots of negative attention.

  66. Re:Have the Car Babysit, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait, it's not allowed to bring toddlers/children into bars in the US?

  67. Is Elon dyslexic? by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    I was crying "God Mode! God Mode! God Mode!" out there, even at Burning Man, until I realized that I was but a voice crying out in the wilderness...

    The Musk Man might have twitted back, but being disconnected/ offline at the time, I could not receive any objections...

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
  68. Re:Have the Car Babysit, by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    "Wait, it's not allowed to bring toddlers/children into bars in the US?"

    That's correct. You can bring them into a restaurant with a liquor license, but not into a bar (even with food). The distinction is, I believe, whether their income is dominated by food or alcohol. Not profit, of course, since alcohol has big margins.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  69. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Technology has moved quite a bit in a hundred years. Nothing musk has done is a new idea, he's just been more timely than others. That is valuable, however. He's still a little early on some things, but he seems to be parking those things in a fairly timely fashion.

    Timing isn't everything, but it is critical.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  70. Remind me of... by technix4beos · · Score: 1
    --
    user@host$ diff /dev/urandom /dev/uspto
  71. Sentry Mode "Classical" music; Star Trek Beyond by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Perhaps Tesla will take one from Star Trek Beyond, where (classical song) “Sabotage” literally saves the Federation. 'Sabotage' is a Beastie Boys song from 1994 that protects the population of Yorktown from Krall’s Swarm. If it's good for Yorktown, it's good enough for us.

  72. What's the legalese on this? by HockeyPuck · · Score: 1

    So when you put your car into dog ("infant") mode and it fails and your dog ("child") dies of heat exhaustion. Tesla won't claim any responsibility for this.

  73. Re:Rei by swillden · · Score: 1

    splashing you in the face with a blast of planet-saving on their way to not-the-gas station.

    You suck at everything.

    Where does the electric come from?

    Depends where you live. But even where it's mostly fossil fuels, the power generation produces less pollution per mile than an ICE does, because of the efficiencies achievable by large power plants. And, of course, electricity can be and increasingly is produced by non-polluting processes.

    That said "planet-saving" is a phrase that really rubs me the wrong way. We can neither harm nor save the planet. We can, and do, rearrange some bits of it, and impact the biosphere, but it's unlikely that we're currently capable of destroying even that. What we are doing, on the other hand, is making the planet much less pleasant for humans to live on. So it's not about saving the planet, it's about saving humanity from massive dislocation, economic destruction, and loss of life (due mostly to famine and wars, but also some to more direct effects).

    If we keep on our current course, the planet will be fine, the biosphere will recover, and even humanity will almost certainly survive. It'll just set our economic progress back by decades and make our lives very unpleasant.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  74. Car Mode by iliketrash · · Score: 1

    Love the symmetry since dogs have at least one car mode.

  75. Re:Oh Thank You by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    The good old days...

    --
    [($)]
  76. Re:Ya so just try it by wolfheart111 · · Score: 1

    They'll probably let ya.. get hosed then walk out to your car with your kid and drive away... no biggie. :)

    --
    [($)]